Wilson Vols Posted September 29, 2006 Report Share Posted September 29, 2006 I have an 8U travel team in Wilson County, in Mt. Juliet. I received an online registration for a tryout from a family who lives in Camden...2 hours away. Thinking this was a mistake, I called to let him know the distance, and he still wants to try out Sunday. I do not want him to put his child through 4 hours of driving at night just for 8 yr old baseball. There has to be travel teams around Camden; maybe in Jackson or in Paris--the problem is I do not know of much in West Tennessee. Can someone PLEASE help me with a database, or a list of some travel/tournament teams that will not cause his family so much disruption. THANK YOU!!! Mark Hill Wilson Vols 8U Basebal Club www.wilsonvols.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksgovols Posted September 29, 2006 Report Share Posted September 29, 2006 I have an 8U travel team in Wilson County, in Mt. Juliet. I received an online registration for a tryout from a family who lives in Camden...2 hours away. Thinking this was a mistake, I called to let him know the distance, and he still wants to try out Sunday. I do not want him to put his child through 4 hours of driving at night just for 8 yr old baseball. There has to be travel teams around Camden; maybe in Jackson or in Paris--the problem is I do not know of much in West Tennessee. Can someone PLEASE help me with a database, or a list of some travel/tournament teams that will not cause his family so much disruption. THANK YOU!!! Mark Hill Wilson Vols 8U Basebal Club www.wilsonvols.com 8U travel ball? geez....... Camden has a pretty good LL program from what I understand. No need to do more than that at 8 years old IMHO. The key to any successful youth baseball coach is getting them back the next year. Don't burn 'em out before they get off the 60 ft. bases guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slider24 Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 I know this is not why you posted.....but, I agree. 8U travel ball is ridiculous. This is the reason many kids are burned out before they reach high school. Let the kids be kids....there is plenty of time for travel ball when they get older. How warped are we becoming when we put the demanding strain of extreme competition on kids that are a couple of years removed from having diaper rash. FRUSTRATING......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksgovols Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 (edited) Yeah. Just from experience I don't see many of the phenoms from Pee Wee football on the high school team either. They get discouraged before they even get hair under their arms. Keep 'em interested in athletic programs and let them develop at their own pace. Some will be good athletes in high school and some will not and some kid you never thought would amount to anything will be the leading tackler or clean up hitter. 8U travel teams are a mistake by definition. 'Experienced tournament players'? Keep some kind of perspective. Edited December 9, 2006 by ksgovols Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montague1 Posted June 19, 2007 Report Share Posted June 19, 2007 Yeah. Just from experience I don't see many of the phenoms from Pee Wee football on the high school team either. They get discouraged before they even get hair under their arms. Keep 'em interested in athletic programs and let them develop at their own pace. Some will be good athletes in high school and some will not and some kid you never thought would amount to anything will be the leading tackler or clean up hitter. 8U travel teams are a mistake by definition. 'Experienced tournament players'? Keep some kind of perspective. Some kids just love playing baseball. Am I supposed to tell my son that he can't play travel ball because he might get burned out? I don't push him to play, but if he wants to play, I'll let him. Right now he's going to football camp 3 hours a day and to baseball practice 2 hours a night, BECAUSE HE WANTS TOO. He asked us if he could add the football camp, and when its over he plans on going to basketball camp for a week. Some kids just want to stay involved in sports. Nothing wrong with offering an 8U team for kids who want to play. So, if anyone knows of a 8U team in West Tennessee let me know, because my son wants to play. I don't care either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksgovols Posted June 24, 2007 Report Share Posted June 24, 2007 Some kids just love playing baseball. Am I supposed to tell my son that he can't play travel ball because he might get burned out? I don't push him to play, but if he wants to play, I'll let him. Right now he's going to football camp 3 hours a day and to baseball practice 2 hours a night, BECAUSE HE WANTS TOO. He asked us if he could add the football camp, and when its over he plans on going to basketball camp for a week. Some kids just want to stay involved in sports. Nothing wrong with offering an 8U team for kids who want to play. So, if anyone knows of a 8U team in West Tennessee let me know, because my son wants to play. I don't care either way. Staying involved in sports and playing a travel ball schedule are 2 different things. Most travel ball teams play 30-40 games minimum. My 15 year old does, but at 8 he didn't know what a travel ball baseball team was. It's hard to believe that any 8 year old comes up with that idea on his own. My 7 year old plays in the local LL and goes to all of the older sons travel ball tournaments and games and he's never approached me about playing for a 7 year old travel team. Most kids that age are perfectly happy to play a dozen or so games with their buddies from school and maybe an all star tournament at the end of the year. Yeah, he does football and basketball and sometimes soccer too. All at the local level with his friends. I don't buy that 2nd and 3rd graders are coming up with this idea on their own. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montague1 Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Staying involved in sports and playing a travel ball schedule are 2 different things. Most travel ball teams play 30-40 games minimum. My 15 year old does, but at 8 he didn't know what a travel ball baseball team was. It's hard to believe that any 8 year old comes up with that idea on his own. My 7 year old plays in the local LL and goes to all of the older sons travel ball tournaments and games and he's never approached me about playing for a 7 year old travel team. Most kids that age are perfectly happy to play a dozen or so games with their buddies from school and maybe an all star tournament at the end of the year. Yeah, he does football and basketball and sometimes soccer too. All at the local level with his friends. I don't buy that 2nd and 3rd graders are coming up with this idea on their own. Sorry. A lot of his friends play on one, and we are playing in a different county this year. Thats what got the whole thing going. He knew Lexington had a travel ball team before I did because of interaction with his friends. We played in Lexington last year and he wanted to play travel ball with a group of kids he knew. They already have a team going strong, so we have to look elsewhere. If they play 30-40 games minimum, then its not even something I want to pursue. He'll just have to wait until next year. I was under the impression that the team here just played a couple of weekend tournaments a month. I thought that was the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TF38478 Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 I agree that 30 or 40 games is way to much for a 7 year old. My 7 year old played league ball and then he is going to play in a couple of All Star tournaments. He knows several kids that play on a travel team he has never asked to play with them but he has been asked by the coach. This is my response I have no problem traveling and playing every once in a while but it will not be every weekend or 3 or 4 tournaments but 2 or three is fun. The kids enjoy going and being together they could care less about the games they go and play get better and have fun. Then go back to the hotel and go swimming and the parents sit and talk about all the good things there children did that day. So if it is wrong for kids to have fun playing a game. Whats the harm. If parents dont push it and let them be kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksgovols Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 I think the same can be accomplished in a league format with some tournaments during the all star period at the end of the season. I'm looking at my 15 yr old's 7 year old all star team photo that I framed and put in the office because we were the first all star team from our league to win a championship in several years. We're a small league in a district with some much bigger leagues. These guys won 5 games, all but one by the mercy rule and repeated as 8 year olds. Today 4 of the 14 are on the high school baseball team, 7 of the 14 play high school football, 3 play high school basketball, 3 wrestle, one plays soccer and 3 aren't involved in sports at all. Five play multiple sports. One moved out of the area. My point is that noone can project what kind of baseball players 7 year olds are going to be in a few years. Three of the 4 that are still playing baseball weren't the top 4 players at 7. They just stuck with it, didn't get alot of pressure on them coming up through the league and more or less survived because they weren't pressured or they handled the pressure from parents and youth coaches. A successful coach is the one who has the most players continue to play the game the next season. Alot (not all) travel teams start because a coach doesn't like the constraints of the local league or how the talent is distributed or simply to have more control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montague1 Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 I think the same can be accomplished in a league format with some tournaments during the all star period at the end of the season. I'm looking at my 15 yr old's 7 year old all star team photo that I framed and put in the office because we were the first all star team from our league to win a championship in several years. We're a small league in a district with some much bigger leagues. These guys won 5 games, all but one by the mercy rule and repeated as 8 year olds. Today 4 of the 14 are on the high school baseball team, 7 of the 14 play high school football, 3 play high school basketball, 3 wrestle, one plays soccer and 3 aren't involved in sports at all. Five play multiple sports. One moved out of the area. My point is that noone can project what kind of baseball players 7 year olds are going to be in a few years. Three of the 4 that are still playing baseball weren't the top 4 players at 7. They just stuck with it, didn't get alot of pressure on them coming up through the league and more or less survived because they weren't pressured or they handled the pressure from parents and youth coaches. A successful coach is the one who has the most players continue to play the game the next season. Alot (not all) travel teams start because a coach doesn't like the constraints of the local league or how the talent is distributed or simply to have more control. I don't really care if he sticks with baseball or not. . Wouldn't bother me if he did or didn't play travel ball, I stated that in my first post. Of course if its a 30-40 game schedule then I won't let him play. We are in All-Stars now, but he wants to play travel ball because of his friends. Thats just to many games for me though, my 4 year old starts soccer this year and we don't have time. I know he might totally forget about baseball, thats fine with me. I did too. He wanted to play, and I thought it might be a great idea since I have been his football coach for the last 2 years, and he really needs a break from me in the fall. Of course, I would be a little upset if he tried to quit football for good. That just wouldn't go over to well in my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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