50% Rule & Summer Baseball

[BBC]

I noticed that there was a load out cry against TSSAA on the 50% rule. Many of you expressed concern that only the wealthy kids or priviledged few will be able to play. I have worked in the recruiting and scouting field for many years. First let me state that really what brought this on for Baseball was the High School Coaches who were demanding that there players play for them in the summer. The summer High School Leagues are pitiful when it comes to level of pooled talent. Most College coaches or pro scouts will gladly tell you that they will not drive 5 minutes to see a high school summer league game, unless they know a kid is pitching who is upper 80's plus. The top players need to play for top teams against other top players. Scouts want to see how your son matches up against the best and against other talent who will play at the collge level. The last thing I want to see is a stud junior facing a average or below average Soph or Fresh. It tells me absolutely nothing about his ability to deal with high level talent It has always been my experience that, if it is not financial posible for your son to play for an elite team and he actually has the talent to play, the team will make accomidations for that player. I have NEVER and I mean NEVER seen a kid tunred away because his family absolutely can't afford for him to play.

 

Every kid should not play on travel teams. Most players are well suited playing in a local recreational league. This brings me to another issue, the status of saying your child plays travel ball. There are way to many travel teams. I have seen many travel teams who could not compete against low level red teams, but there is always a dad somewhere with enough green to pay somebody to caoach a team so his son can be the shortstop.

 

My suggestion to all would be seek out the good travel teams if you think your son is capable of playing at that level. Most of the top teams are coached by well qualified coaches who are good talent evaluators. MOst of these guys are constantly looking ofr talent. If they don't need your soon they will gladly steer you in the direction of another coach. I can assure that if your son has the talent the financial issues can be worked out.

 

Another tip would be to go to an open pro tryout. These camps are held every summer all around. The scouts who conduct these camps are excellent at giving you good feed back, just be willing to hear the truth.

 

I am all for this rule because it frees up the talented players to play against other talentd players and will no longer allow the high school coaches to mandate your son play for there summer team.

 

BBC

[davidlimbaugh]

QUOTE(BBC @ Mar 23 2007 - 02:33 PM) 826421120[/snapback]I noticed that there was a load out cry against TSSAA on the 50% rule. Many of you expressed concern that only the wealthy kids or priviledged few will be able to play. I have worked in the recruiting and scouting field for many years. First let me state that really what brought this on for Baseball was the High School Coaches who were demanding that there players play for them in the summer. The summer High School Leagues are pitiful when it comes to level of pooled talent. Most College coaches or pro scouts will gladly tell you that they will not drive 5 minutes to see a high school summer league game, unless they know a kid is pitching who is upper 80's plus. The top players need to play for top teams against other top players. Scouts want to see how your son matches up against the best and against other talent who will play at the collge level. The last thing I want to see is a stud junior facing a average or below average Soph or Fresh. It tells me absolutely nothing about his ability to deal with high level talent It has always been my experience that, if it is not financial posible for your son to play for an elite team and he actually has the talent to play, the team will make accomidations for that player. I have NEVER and I mean NEVER seen a kid tunred away because his family absolutely can't afford for him to play.

 

Every kid should not play on travel teams. Most players are well suited playing in a local recreational league. This brings me to another issue, the status of saying your child plays travel ball. There are way to many travel teams. I have seen many travel teams who could not compete against low level red teams, but there is always a dad somewhere with enough green to pay somebody to caoach a team so his son can be the shortstop.

 

My suggestion to all would be seek out the good travel teams if you think your son is capable of playing at that level. Most of the top teams are coached by well qualified coaches who are good talent evaluators. MOst of these guys are constantly looking ofr talent. If they don't need your soon they will gladly steer you in the direction of another coach. I can assure that if your son has the talent the financial issues can be worked out.

 

Another tip would be to go to an open pro tryout. These camps are held every summer all around. The scouts who conduct these camps are excellent at giving you good feed back, just be willing to hear the truth.

 

I am all for this rule because it frees up the talented players to play against other talentd players and will no longer allow the high school coaches to mandate your son play for there summer team.

 

BBC

 

 

 

Only problem is that the 50-50 rule only applies to fall ball (after school starts). And some high school summer ball teams compete pretty well with some great summer-traveling teams. And summer ball and fall ball help build a sense of community among the parents because of the traveling and fun times had together.

[thewarlord]

The 50% rule only applies during the school year. It is not in effect during the summer. In baseball it only applies to fall leagues.

[davidlimbaugh]

Where the wealthy vs the 'non-wealthy' will truly suffer in baseball with the new rules in place are during these

dates:

 

http://www.tssaa.org/Handbook/2007BBCalendar.pdf

 

July 30 to August 19

 

August 20 to October 28

 

October 29 to November 18

 

November 19 to December 31

 

The 'well-to-do' kids will still be able to attend the local 'Hitting Academy' or 'RBI School' or 'K Zone'. But kids in the

rural communties or kids without the means for personal trainers and these places will be at an even greater disadvantage now.....

[ksgovols]

Well, instead of a few fall league games, there'll be private pitching or hitting lessons between August and January. I agree with davidlimbaugh. Those without access or funds will be the ones that suffer.

 

BBC made some good points about 'travel ball'. It's watered down in alot of instances for the social status among the 'rec league' crowd. Let 'em play. The kids will figure out who can play and who can't. There's all sorts or phenoms that burn out before they ever get to the big bases. It's a fun game. It's meant to be played for fun. Competitive drive isn't something that most 9 and 10 year olds have..........naturally. Travel ball coaches also don't typically have anyone to answer to beside the parents whose kids they recruited. That's a minus in the parking lot after a highly contested tournament game. Two egos that don't see eye to eye on how the game went.

 

Let's face it, almost all baseball with high school aged kids includes 'travel'. The rate of diminishing returns dictates that only a few in every community will be left to play and they'll have to 'travel'. Find a good coach and the team will take care of itself. That might be the high school coach. What did the scouts do before they had all the elite 18 year olds in one place? Traveled.....

[davidlimbaugh]

QUOTE(ksgovols @ Mar 23 2007 - 08:20 PM) 826421272[/snapback]Well, instead of a few fall league games, there'll be private pitching or hitting lessons between August and January. I agree with davidlimbaugh. Those without access or funds will be the ones that suffer.

 

BBC made some good points about 'travel ball'. It's watered down in alot of instances for the social status among the 'rec league' crowd. Let 'em play. The kids will figure out who can play and who can't. There's all sorts or phenoms that burn out before they ever get to the big bases. It's a fun game. It's meant to be played for fun. Competitive drive isn't something that most 9 and 10 year olds have..........naturally. Travel ball coaches also don't typically have anyone to answer to beside the parents whose kids they recruited. That's a minus in the parking lot after a highly contested tournament game. Two egos that don't see eye to eye on how the game went.

 

Let's face it, almost all baseball with high school aged kids includes 'travel'. The rate of diminishing returns dictates that only a few in every community will be left to play and they'll have to 'travel'. Find a good coach and the team will take care of itself. That might be the high school coach. What did the scouts do before they had all the elite 18 year olds in one place? Traveled.....

 

 

great hearing from ya ksgovols! I think we may be seeing a return to 'rec league' ball - at least at the younger ages - and I am glad to see that. Do you see that happening in your neck of the woods?

[ksgovols]

Yeah. For the simple reason that the travel leagues had to distribute the talent to A, AA, AAA and Majors. What's that all about? Well, it's about finding the niche' where you can compete. Alot of these teams are playing the same 5 or 6 teams on a regular basis in tournaments. Same as a rec league, only with travel.........and expenses. I'm a rec league guy on the 60' bases. I don't think 12 and under have the desire for more competition so much as their Dads do. I see the attraction. Personalized bat bags, 3 or 4 uniforms. I get it from a kid's perspective. From a parent's point of view, I like the new pitch count regulation that Little League is implementing. Who's taking care of the travel ball arms? When I was a LL prez, I liked to say that a successful coach was the one who had the most players sign up to play the next season. It's a marathon, not a race. The kids will sort themselves out when they get on the big diamond. Just let 'em play!

 

All this being said, my oldest plays travel ball. He waited until he was 13 though and the rec league was having a hard time fielding a team to boot. Plus....they were traveling. What's the difference? He could play, so I thought he should have the opportunity to play on a more competitive team that played a more challenging schedule. Still, I don't think you do that at 10 for the most part.

[riverdaleman]

I agree with yall totally about rec ball and travel...We sawa former rec ball player get a base hit today with the phillies(brennen king) and we had a lot of other kids that are playing pro ball or going to college that played rec ball i made the mistake with mynow freshman when he was 10 by putting him in travel ball and i darn near lost him as a baseball player ...look kids just want to play ball they dont care about playing 60 games or some people i have talked to play almost 100 games all under the age of 12 thats ridculous they want to play against and with their freinds i dont mind playing all stars after the season i think that is fun and te kids love it too but to play tournaments like that every weekend is way too much in m opinion

[BBC]

%0% rule will apply to summer baseball in the 08 summer. begins 07 fall.

[davidlimbaugh]

QUOTE(BBC @ Mar 27 2007 - 03:51 PM) 826424193[/snapback]%0% rule will apply to summer baseball in the 08 summer. begins 07 fall.

 

 

It will never apply to summer baseball/softball. Only applies from when school starts (Aug/Sep) until

Jan 1.....

 

The HUGH question mark is FACILITIES.... This is where some folks may be looking for some legal remedies down the road????

[riverdaleman]

QUOTE(davidlimbaugh @ Mar 27 2007 - 09:15 PM) 826424496[/snapback]It will never apply to summer baseball/softball. Only applies from when school starts (Aug/Sep) until

Jan 1.....

 

The HUGH question mark is FACILITIES.... This is where some folks may be looking for some legal remedies down the road????

 

That is one of my questions also...we have invested all that money into the kidsa nd the programs and now they are telling us we cant use them?....does that make sense...also i am worried about 6th period i think that is gone also until Jan 1

[LSMFT]

BBC,

One last time - SUMMER BASEBALL IS NOT AFFECTED BY THE 50% RULE.

 

riverdaleman,

Don't understand the comment about 6th period. My understanding of the rule is you can have an athletic period BUT you can't do anything sports specific when your sport is not in season. EXAMPLE - you can't practice hitting during 6th period in Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.