IS TRAVEL BALL leaving people/players/rec & school behind...OR...

[nixxy311]

I see some of these girls on top TB teams going to college camps every weekend - several states away. And a lot of these girls are still in middle school. Good for them that their parents can shell out this money. So ofc when they get old enough they are going to be noticed by all of the college coaches - meanwhile you have those who cannot afford it and won't get noticed bc they also don't have that top TB jersey on. Yes they should get themselves noticed but if you've got a college coach who has seen these 5 top TB girls for years and someone who is finally able to afford it - who is the college coach going to notice?

 

[Towny9]

That's my point. Just to give an example, our town soccer club has a rec and travel program. On the rec side, at the younger levels (K-2) the 30 minutes of every match is spent with a travel coach doing drills. Then the final 30 minutes is a game. But there is a big emphasis spent on development WITH someone who is knowledgeable in the game. It also gives the club an opportunity to develop and identify younger players for the travel side.

On the opposite side you have rec softball. They make 2nd graders play a 90 minute softball game where, if you're lucky, a few balls get hit into the infield. If you're an outfielder you're sitting there pulling grass. Why not take the emphasis away from playing and make it learning the game instead??

I hate that I am going to compliment soccer, but the academy programs you describe have it figured out. My youngest plays travel soccer and she started in an academy program and then graduated to 7v7 and then 9v9. She won’t play full field 11v11 until U12

 

[Vertigo]

I never dis counted your response.
You seem to be focused on College. The conversation was not about that

Is your standpoint income disparity is the sole reason for the demise of Rec ball and school ball?

No, earlier in the discussion I answered that question as well.

 

[radness]

No, earlier in the discussion I answered that question as well.

Oops excuse me no I was commenting to Pattar

Pattar bringing up income disparity
I never discounted his response.
the question is do does he think it's because of income disparity that is the demise of rec ball and school ball?

 

[_MIA_]

I never dis counted your response.
You seem to be focused on College.

Is your standpoint income disparity is the sole reason for the demise of Rec ball and school ball?

The demise of rec ball is mostly due to being more options than there used to be. Like I said, kids have always sought out the best place to play...there are just more shiny objects now then there used to be.

 

[Vertigo]

Is it really an issue though? Are there players being denied the opportunity to play in college because they can't afford travel?

I find there are varying levels of travel for everyone. With the limited number/dollars of college scholarships for softball it's not clear what's being denied.

It is an issue when I had a player from LL who just wanted to continue to play TB after 12U and couldn’t afford it. Another reason why I formed a more affordable TB team and subsidized this player’s fees.

 

[radness]

The demise of rec ball is mostly due to being more options than there used to be.

There ya go! Not income based

Like I said, kids have always sought out the best place to play...there are just more shiny objects now then there used to be.

Shiney object based!

 

[radness]

It is an issue when I had a player from LL who just wanted to continue to play TB after 12U and couldn’t afford it. Another reason why I formed a more affordable TB team and subsidized this player’s fees.

 

[Vertigo]

View attachment 25202

And sadly once dd and I moved on to another travel team that player had to stop playing because she had no where else to go and other coaches would not subsidize her fees.

 

[Towny9]

Strawman argument. My point was that if a kid and a family wanted to do so there could possibly be hurdles which have nothing to do with talent or work ethic. If you don't think that is the case then you are certainly entitled to that opinion. I also said in the bigger scheme of things it isn't a huge problem.

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book “outliers” he discussed youth hockey in Canada. The finding was basically that if you didn’t have a Jan-March birthday, which made you the oldest in the league at a young age, leading to more success early, to better coaching, and to even more success, that it created a ripple effect. Your chances of making the NHL decrease with every month later you are born in the calendar year. This same effect can be found in European soccer and baseball here in the US. We are most definitely leaving kids behind for many reasons. Any teacher can tell you the importance of a good teacher on a young kid. Kids that are exposed to great coaches earlier have a much better rate of success than kids who aren’t.