High school sb

[YOCOACH]

The disparity in wealth or lack of it, both at the personal level and school district level definitely comes into play. That said, at least around my area, youth sports infrastructure plays a major roll if not more so. Around here, there are many large rec programs that also have, what I would call, intermediate teams. These teams play in 5-6 local TB tournaments throughout Summer after their rec ball season is over. The schools that benefit from these rec programs usually make it to playoffs and several compete each year in the state super-regionals. Granted, the programs are loaded with TB players as well but if those programs are lacking at a certain position, many times I will see or hear about one of those former or current intermediate players filling the gap and doing a credible job of it. LEsoftball brought up a valid point earlier. One doesn't need a whole bunch of money to be good at a sport; even an expensive one. Sometimes it just comes down to proper coaching and work ethic. A good example in my mind are the Williams sisters in tennis. They never had much money and practiced at the local gang infested local public park courts for years. It's because of that work ethic that their father was able to parlay that into where they are now.

 

[_MIA_]

LEsoftball brought up a valid point earlier. One doesn't need a whole bunch of money to be good at a sport; even an expensive one. Sometimes it just comes down to proper coaching and work ethic. A good example in my mind are the Williams sisters in tennis. They never had much money and practiced at the local gang infested local public park courts for years. It's because of that work ethic that their father was able to parlay that into where they are now.

You won’t find a more “dig it out of the dirt” person than me but realistically how many good pitchers teach themselves to pitch nowadays? I know they were pushing that Odecci Alexander story last year but she would be a unicorn if the story was completely true (and not exaggerated to make for good copy) That said, I am sure if a kid wanted it bad enough it could happen.

 

[flash277]

T

The poorest school in our conference is a regular state champion/final 4 participant. And it's not just a relative measurement. They have very serious funding issues and haven't passed a levy for years. Priorities I guess.

That's the softball team?

 

[NJSwampdragons]

I live in a wealthy town with a good school system that has had some really good softball programs. However, changing demographics and sports apathy are making things go downhill for softball and many other sports.

 

[YOCOACH]

You won’t find a more “dig it out of the dirt” person than me but realistically how many good pitchers teach themselves to pitch nowadays? I know they were pushing that Odecci Alexander story last year but she would be a unicorn if the story was completely true (and not exaggerated to make for good copy) That said, I am sure if a kid wanted it bad enough it could happen.

Believe it or not, it happens more often than we think. I remember a post on here fairly recently where a member told the story of this really good little pitcher they would watch. Through the years, she just kept improving to point of being one of, if not the top pitcher in the area. While talking to the father, the father told them she never had one pitching lesson in her life. She learned how to pitch watching some tall skinny guy's videos on how to pitch on YouTube. It was Bill Hillhouse.

Between the small city where I live and the next small city over, there are 5 urban high schools. All 5 have SB teams and all 5 are competitive. They don't reach playoffs but they are mostly .500 teams. All 5 have pitchers that pretty much work on their own and are, for the most part, self-taught since those HS coaches know nothing about it but certainly know YouTube Also, 4 out of 5 didn't start pitching until they were Freshman in HS. The other started in 8th grade since her sister was a pitcher for one of those schools. Are they ever going to pitch for a college team? Extremely Doubtful. But that isn't their goal.

 

[Palmer Square]

I'd have to look to see how many 4A private schools there are, but I think that number is pretty small. There was only one other private school in their sectional.

In 3A, there were two private schools in the final 16, and the state title went to a public school, same for 2A and 1A. I get it that there might be some big disparity in other parts of the country, but not here in Chicago/IL. Also travel ball here is fairly cheap outside of the bats.


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[_MIA_]

In 3A, there were two private schools in the final 16, and the state title went to a public school, same for 2A and 1A. I get it that there might be some big disparity in other parts of the country, but not here in Chicago/IL. Also travel ball here is fairly cheap outside of the bats.


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Do those public schools reside in South or West sides of Chicago?

 

[Palmer Square]

Do those public schools reside in South or West sides of Chicago?

Ya, the 4A winner. I grew up on the south side so don’t need a lecture on being poor.


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[_MIA_]

Ya, the 4A winner. I grew up on the south side so don’t need a lecture on being poor.


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Well that is good to hear. Who is lecturing?

 

[benjey]

Maybe In your world softball is some exclusive sport. Not here

Moving on from the juvenile name calling and getting back to the topic. I think your experience is more of an outlier. Softball/baseball are expensive sports and while not the exclusive domain of high net worth families it is clearly not often played at the highest levels by those on the lower end of the income spectrum. I consider it a middle to upper middle class sport due to the realities of the time/expense necessary for players to acquire skill competence before reaching the HS level. This is especially true for pitching.

Does this mean we can't find examples where this isn't the case? Of course not but I am confident if you could survey all travel softball players you would find the median income well above that observed in poorer school districts.