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Post by retired on Apr 25, 2021 20:14:00 GMT -6
Just a question for the baseball fans of the board here. Travel Ball is quite prevalent in the Southeastern portion of the state, so much so that many travel teams are so diluted they aren't really that good. In this area 25 years ago, there were multiple high schools winning multiple state baseball championships or advancing deep in the playoffs in 5A, 4A and 2A and all the players came from the same rec league park. Now with "super travel ball", nobody cracked a 20 seed in the playoffs.
Just curious what they do in Barbe, WM, etc?
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Post by chalmetteowl on Apr 25, 2021 20:19:31 GMT -6
Just a question for the baseball fans of the board here. Travel Ball is quite prevalent in the Southeastern portion of the state, so much so that many travel teams are so diluted they aren't really that good. In this area 25 years ago, there were multiple high schools winning multiple state baseball championships or advancing deep in the playoffs in 5A, 4A and 2A and all the players came from the same rec league park. Now with "super travel ball", nobody cracked a 20 seed in the playoffs. Just curious what they do in Barbe, WM, etc? Barbe and the LC area is notable for the South Lake Charles Little League... I think the Catholic League (and St Paul’s) isn’t just killing 8-5A but now 6-5A and 7-5A. The Northshore teams not being good is one of the more inexplicable things I’ve ever seen Also teams from elsewhere in the state are making more of an effort to play a 34 game season... NOLA area teams mostly fell short of that, and some 8-5A teams didn’t even play 20 |
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Post by retired on Apr 25, 2021 20:41:13 GMT -6
Just a question for the baseball fans of the board here. Travel Ball is quite prevalent in the Southeastern portion of the state, so much so that many travel teams are so diluted they aren't really that good. In this area 25 years ago, there were multiple high schools winning multiple state baseball championships or advancing deep in the playoffs in 5A, 4A and 2A and all the players came from the same rec league park. Now with "super travel ball", nobody cracked a 20 seed in the playoffs. Just curious what they do in Barbe, WM, etc? Barbe and the LC area is notable for the South Lake Charles Little League... I think the Catholic League (and St Paul’s) isn’t just killing 8-5A but now 6-5A and 7-5A. The Northshore teams not being good is one of the more inexplicable things I’ve ever seen Also teams from elsewhere in the state are making more of an effort to play a 34 game season... NOLA area teams mostly fell short of that, and some 8-5A teams didn’t even play 20 Yes, you honed in on the area to which I was referring. 25 years ago, the local rec organization on the east side of that area would have 8-12 teams for each age-- 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s and probably 6-8 for 12s and 13s. Now they are combining ages, and getting very few players out and etc because all of the "good" players have been playing "travel ball" with "superior coaching". This has not really produced superior results regarding the quality of baseball at the HS level |
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Post by chalmetteowl on Apr 25, 2021 20:48:39 GMT -6
Barbe and the LC area is notable for the South Lake Charles Little League... I think the Catholic League (and St Paul’s) isn’t just killing 8-5A but now 6-5A and 7-5A. The Northshore teams not being good is one of the more inexplicable things I’ve ever seen Also teams from elsewhere in the state are making more of an effort to play a 34 game season... NOLA area teams mostly fell short of that, and some 8-5A teams didn’t even play 20 Yes, you honed in on the area to which I was referring. 25 years ago, the local rec organization on the east side of that area would have 8-12 teams for each age-- 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s and probably 6-8 for 12s and 13s. Now they are combining ages, and getting very few players out and etc because all of the "good" players have been playing "travel ball" with "superior coaching". This has not really produced superior results regarding the quality of baseball at the HS level I think the players are still getting developed, but kids are sitting the bench that would be good players at other schools |
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Post by knightdynasty on Apr 25, 2021 21:00:38 GMT -6
Just a question for the baseball fans of the board here. Travel Ball is quite prevalent in the Southeastern portion of the state, so much so that many travel teams are so diluted they aren't really that good. In this area 25 years ago, there were multiple high schools winning multiple state baseball championships or advancing deep in the playoffs in 5A, 4A and 2A and all the players came from the same rec league park. Now with "super travel ball", nobody cracked a 20 seed in the playoffs. Just curious what they do in Barbe, WM, etc? I know in the BR area a lot of the bigger schools are keeping their kids together in middle school and playing select ball. They are running it just like they would their high school team |
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Post by retired on Apr 25, 2021 21:05:57 GMT -6
Yes, you honed in on the area to which I was referring. 25 years ago, the local rec organization on the east side of that area would have 8-12 teams for each age-- 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s and probably 6-8 for 12s and 13s. Now they are combining ages, and getting very few players out and etc because all of the "good" players have been playing "travel ball" with "superior coaching". This has not really produced superior results regarding the quality of baseball at the HS level I think the players are still getting developed, but kids are sitting the bench that would be good players at other schools At what school? Are you saying the kids are crossing the lake and sitting the bench at Jesuit, Bro Mart, HC, etc? |
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Post by chalmetteowl on Apr 25, 2021 21:09:36 GMT -6
I think the players are still getting developed, but kids are sitting the bench that would be good players at other schools At what school? Are you saying the kids are crossing the lake and sitting the bench at Jesuit, Bro Mart, HC, etc? Parents who don’t like the public recreation system probably don’t like public schools that much either |
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Post by cjr3888 on Apr 26, 2021 6:33:33 GMT -6
Just a question for the baseball fans of the board here. Travel Ball is quite prevalent in the Southeastern portion of the state, so much so that many travel teams are so diluted they aren't really that good. In this area 25 years ago, there were multiple high schools winning multiple state baseball championships or advancing deep in the playoffs in 5A, 4A and 2A and all the players came from the same rec league park. Now with "super travel ball", nobody cracked a 20 seed in the playoffs. Just curious what they do in Barbe, WM, etc? They play travel ball just like everyone else. The rec leagues aren't what they were 25 years ago. The kids you see in the World Series on TV are all travel ball players. Many of them only play the minimum number of rec league games to qualify for the All-Star team. If a high school isn't cracking the top 20, it's the coach/administrations fault and not the travel teams in the area. |
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Post by cjr3888 on Apr 26, 2021 6:37:48 GMT -6
Just a question for the baseball fans of the board here. Travel Ball is quite prevalent in the Southeastern portion of the state, so much so that many travel teams are so diluted they aren't really that good. In this area 25 years ago, there were multiple high schools winning multiple state baseball championships or advancing deep in the playoffs in 5A, 4A and 2A and all the players came from the same rec league park. Now with "super travel ball", nobody cracked a 20 seed in the playoffs. Just curious what they do in Barbe, WM, etc? I know in the BR area a lot of the bigger schools are keeping their kids together in middle school and playing select ball. They are running it just like they would their high school team You make a great point. The middle school team is where you build your varsity program. You need to get as many young kids playing in the park or on travel teams. Once they get to middle school, that's where the school team mentality is instilled in the players. I've coached rec, travel, elementary, and middle school teams. I've had players from rec leagues out perform travel players when the goal is winning for the school. However, no matter what their playing background, the team concept needs to be the focus once they get to the school teams. |
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Post by knightdynasty on Apr 26, 2021 9:55:03 GMT -6
I know in the BR area a lot of the bigger schools are keeping their kids together in middle school and playing select ball. They are running it just like they would their high school team You make a great point. The middle school team is where you build your varsity program. You need to get as many young kids playing in the park or on travel teams. Once they get to middle school, that's where the school team mentality is instilled in the players. I've coached rec, travel, elementary, and middle school teams. I've had players from rec leagues out perform travel players when the goal is winning for the school. However, no matter what their playing background, the team concept needs to be the focus once they get to the school teams. I agree with you as well. So much focus today is on the rings they win in usssa tournaments (which are bigger than a state championship ring) and not developing the kids. I like the idea of keeping them together all going to the same school. Kids don’t care about chasing the ring in high school bc they get one every weekend in mom and pop select tournaments. The system is flawed. I have a kid in middle school at LCA and I know Coach Fontenot is in the process of keeping the kids together to put in their system throughout middle school. |
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Post by retired on Apr 26, 2021 17:48:14 GMT -6
You make a great point. The middle school team is where you build your varsity program. You need to get as many young kids playing in the park or on travel teams. Once they get to middle school, that's where the school team mentality is instilled in the players. I've coached rec, travel, elementary, and middle school teams. I've had players from rec leagues out perform travel players when the goal is winning for the school. However, no matter what their playing background, the team concept needs to be the focus once they get to the school teams. I agree with you as well. So much focus today is on the rings they win in usssa tournaments (which are bigger than a state championship ring) and not developing the kids. I like the idea of keeping them together all going to the same school. Kids don’t care about chasing the ring in high school bc they get one every weekend in mom and pop select tournaments. The system is flawed. I have a kid in middle school at LCA and I know Coach Fontenot is in the process of keeping the kids together to put in their system throughout middle school. I agree that the whole "'ship" thing and being awarded rings on an almost weekly basis is absolutely asinine. I think the whole travel ball concept has become an instrument for the coaches to feed their egos instead of the players to learn a love of baseball. The amount of games they play is counter productive, and the burn out is a real concern. I disagree with the idea of trying to form a "little varsity" at 10,11,12 years old and trying to keep the team together moving up. I do realize that rec leagues are not all organized the same due to a multitude of reasons, but the rec organization for the area I am talking about had it set up very nicely a quarter century ago, and it yielded great results. As I mentioned, probably 8-12 different teams for each age (7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s, 12s, -then a 13-14 combo). This meant that when kids started pitching at 9 years old, you were developing at least 16-20 different pitchers for each age, and the same for short stops, catchers, first basemen etc. You played your 10 -12 game regular season, then had a month of all stars, and then a month of downtime. Each year was a fresh start. One year Johnny and Jimmy were on the Cardinals, playing against Jason and Joey on the Yankees and Jeff and Jared on the Sox. Next year Jimmy was on the Angels with Jeff, Jared was playing with Joey on the A's, and Jason and Johnny were on the Blue Jays- along with Kevin who was a marginal player as a 10 year old, but worked hard and became an all star as an 11. I don't think you get that with this travel stuff. |
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Post by unbiasedobserver on Apr 26, 2021 22:25:10 GMT -6
I agree with you as well. So much focus today is on the rings they win in usssa tournaments (which are bigger than a state championship ring) and not developing the kids. I like the idea of keeping them together all going to the same school. Kids don’t care about chasing the ring in high school bc they get one every weekend in mom and pop select tournaments. The system is flawed. I have a kid in middle school at LCA and I know Coach Fontenot is in the process of keeping the kids together to put in their system throughout middle school. I agree that the whole "'ship" thing and being awarded rings on an almost weekly basis is absolutely asinine. I think the whole travel ball concept has become an instrument for the coaches to feed their egos instead of the players to learn a love of baseball. The amount of games they play is counter productive, and the burn out is a real concern. I disagree with the idea of trying to form a "little varsity" at 10,11,12 years old and trying to keep the team together moving up. I do realize that rec leagues are not all organized the same due to a multitude of reasons, but the rec organization for the area I am talking about had it set up very nicely a quarter century ago, and it yielded great results. As I mentioned, probably 8-12 different teams for each age (7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s, 12s, -then a 13-14 combo). This meant that when kids started pitching at 9 years old, you were developing at least 16-20 different pitchers for each age, and the same for short stops, catchers, first basemen etc. You played your 10 -12 game regular season, then had a month of all stars, and then a month of downtime. Each year was a fresh start. One year Johnny and Jimmy were on the Cardinals, playing against Jason and Joey on the Yankees and Jeff and Jared on the Sox. Next year Jimmy was on the Angels with Jeff, Jared was playing with Joey on the A's, and Jason and Johnny were on the Blue Jays- along with Kevin who was a marginal player as a 10 year old, but worked hard and became an all star as an 11. I don't think you get that with this travel stuff. I cannot state how much I agree with every single word of this post. You absolutely nailed it. |
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