EyesWideOpen

No doubt! I have lost count on the number of kids that had to drop the travel/select ball due to burn out or injuries. I had 8 brothers and sisters growing up...you think my parents would have gone for the costs? There are coaches (MS/HS) out there that can identify "potential" of the kid so they are looking 3 maybe 4 years down the road with him. He get selected for the MS or JV team and the parents whose kid just got cut are miffed because the spent $$$ on their kid through these select/travel teams. Now, that IS truly funny when it happens and it happens often!

I agree entirely with this about having a kid that enjoys playing but would rather not give up his entire weekend that he uses to do "other kid stuff" like scouts, swimming, bike riding....etc. However, the problem is in the statement made earlier about travel teams being put together at an early age....then many of those players are the ones that play together on the H.S. team. More often than not it's their chemistry w/ each other that makes them look better or more comfortable with each other. It helps if you know where (fielding drills) other gut is going to be, what they are good at and what they are not good at....it's a trust issue. You bring a new kid into that....they won't look as good or as comfortable. Most coaches don't know how to pick up on that, especially if you are one of those MS coaches that hold one-day tryouts that last about 2 hours. The kids that have been playing together for years SHOULD look better playing together. Then again, they could and often do grow to not like one another as much.

The game itself has not changed. The rules on how to play are pretty much the same. Now, the attitudes around youth sports in general are different, usually driven by delusions of fame & fortune. Baseball used to be a sport that anyone as kid could play (fat, skinny, tall, short...) and it was relatively inexpensive to do but with the advent of "select/travel" teams it's quickly becoming a game for the affluent. These "select/travel" teams are not good for the game overall....it's for parents that want the trophy OR are vicariously attempting to re-live their "glory" days. I have my kids participate for the physical activity and if by chance some friendly competition errupts from that...great! Your kids are not you but how they behave, reflects greatly upon you as a parent.

They all actually live on the mountain, right?