Lack of Integrety in Baseball

[BigFanTN]

This does not apply to all teams, coaches, parents or tourn directors; however the way I see it...pretty dang near all of um! Boys mature physically at different ages than girls and this really becomes a problem starting around age 11. It's hard to believe that some of these "kids" we're seeing in the 13u age bracket are age appropriate, especially when director not one tourn asked for proof! When these kids are driving trucks to the field and smoking a cigarette, that usually leads us to wonder? Many of these kids are sporting a nice mustashe to boot. You can't tell me that there are that many kids 6'2" 180 with lightening speed still able to compete with the chubby little immature 13 yo kids in middle school. Coaches....just because they're in the 7th or 8th grade doesn't mean their of age! I know this sounds like sour grapes, however the frustration is so great for our kids that they'll not likely play again after this struggle is done. You also have to worry about injuries when these manly 13yo's (?) are pitching...which they usually are....strikes one of these younger kids with an 80mph slider in the head.......The teams are legondary and pride themselves on their trophy collections...such as the Cyclones, Chiefs, Tigers, etc.....What is the lesson we're teaching our kids....winning is everything! Be realistic, exactly how many of these young "super stars" actually make a living playing sports? Need to probably spend a little more time teaching them values and integrety....not to mention reading, writn, and arithmatic!

[glock22]

You can drop the Cyclones off of your list.

 

Their teams are age appropriate and have been since they started.

[take2andhittoright]

Sounds like you may have put your team in the wrong tournament. Sounds like you might be concerned about winning too. If your kids are going to quit because they lost some games maybe they don't care about integrity and they would like for you to acquire some of them illegal players. If you where in a legit trny and your coach had some reason to think they were too old then he goes to trny director and team in question presents birth certificates. In fact your post doesn't even seem real. I'm mad at myself for even responding. My bad.

[rookie420]

Don't know about the other two teams you mentioned but the Cyclones are age appropriate just like Glock 22 mentioned. What tournaments are you entering with 13 year olds that you are running into older players? If it is an 18 U tournament then 18 years olds can play.

[ksgovols]

I think once they're high school age, it shouldn't matter. Play to get better or to get college looks. Unless you're playing in the AlphabetSoupYouCanWin(Buy)aStateChampionship tournament, then it's not all that impressive to most of us. There are places for sanctioned tournaments with birth certificates, proof of residency and all that and there are fundraiser tournaments where the host is going to take all comers to get enough teams. The teams entering the tournaments have the control to get in or get out. Shouldn't be any whining after the fact if a 16U team shows up at the MyHighSchool Classic and faces a 17 or 18 year old senior to be from a high school summer team. Heck, there's kids playing for 3 and 4 teams in the summer. You have to decide if you're playing summer ball to get better or to see how many trophies you can put on your resume. Whichever floats your boat.

[HeavyHitter71]

Driving trucks and smoking cigarettes. Lol sounds like Kelly Leak. Ha ha.........

[Soxfan1]

I think once they're high school age, it shouldn't matter. Play to get better or to get college looks. Unless you're playing in the AlphabetSoupYouCanWin(Buy)aStateChampionship tournament, then it's not all that impressive to most of us. There are places for sanctioned tournaments with birth certificates, proof of residency and all that and there are fundraiser tournaments where the host is going to take all comers to get enough teams. The teams entering the tournaments have the control to get in or get out. Shouldn't be any whining after the fact if a 16U team shows up at the MyHighSchool Classic and faces a 17 or 18 year old senior to be from a high school summer team. Heck, there's kids playing for 3 and 4 teams in the summer. You have to decide if you're playing summer ball to get better or to see how many trophies you can put on your resume. Whichever floats your boat.

Great post...once you are in High School, age group ball is just Daddy ball. Trying to win the

"whatever tournament" for 16u or 17u is just silly.