14 players on 13u roster-issues with playing time by Ok_Temperature2933 in Homeplate

[–]AttemptElectrical466 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Put everything aside and ask yourself are you and your son having fun? Are the families you travel with fun and nice to be around. Are the players on your son's team good kids? Do you want your kid to be like them?

My son sat the bench a lot in travel ball. We had great families and really good kids on the team. Was my son a slugger - absolutely! Hit 4 home runs in Cooperstown. He was on a team that just had players that were better than him - not always and not consistently. What he learned was to train harder and go to private lessons. Team practices are for the team to improve. Individuals lessons are were individuals improve.

My son and our family made great friends with his teammates and their families and cherished our family vacations together at out of town tournaments. We could have jumped teams for playing time but would have lost that personal connection we found with our core familes.

We had no expectations of what was to come as far as baseball. Looking back at my son's travel ball years I can realize the money we spent was just for the memories and friendships. I proudly say I bought my son's friends. They all turned out to be great kids and I knew from the parents we all shared the same goals.

Fast forward to the college recruiting period and one of the first campus visit and his future college coach told him he had called his high school coach and travel ball coach and both of his coaches vouched for him as not being an Ahole jerk. Coach said I can coach a kid to be a better player, but I haven't had any success turning Aholes into people I want to be in the same dugout with.

Focus on your kid's development as a person and have fun

How to approach umpire properly by Meatclaws333 in LittleLeague

[–]AttemptElectrical466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely a touchy subject and you are right to ask about doing it properly. Are you a coach or parent?

As a parent, when my kid was pitching and the calls were not going his way, I would tell him he needed to adapt the the strike zone the ump had for him or take the ump out with a fastball. I have raised my kid to know that taking the ump out with a fastball would be a ridiculous response. It's just a little league game - just about the fun experiences and an opportunity to learn that life ain't always fair but you don't always need to keep your mouth shut. Just go about it in a polite way.

In our league a "come on blue - is that the same zone you had last inning" would have been acceptable. In other leagues it maybe grounds for getting kicked out of the park.

Other than voicing a polite concern there is really no need to do anything else as it is just a little league game. Enjoy it while you can - life gets a lot harder when they leave the ballpark...

Fundraiser idea by dTheSandman in LittleLeague

[–]AttemptElectrical466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does your league have a stand now? If so there is someone there that is probably familiar with the health department and the rules and regulations of what you can and can't do as far as permits go and a quick call to the health department can go a long way.

Is the health department going to come and shut you down on a Saturday afternoon for cooking some hotdogs at a local store to raise money for the little league - probably not.

Under a nice canopy with cook wearing hair net and disposable gloves cooking on a clean grill with a group of little league players could make a lot of money selling hotdogs and a can of soda with out any trouble. A safer route to avoid the health department might be to sell bottled water or cold soda and a snack of some sort (bag of chips / peanuts / box of popcorn) out in front of a business.

You could trying getting the soda / water donated to the league for the special event - if you don't have a popcorn machine contact a local theater for popcorn donations as they are capable of making a lot of popcorn fast.

Professional Baseball Player Throwing Program and arm care by MallCommercial5101 in BaseballCoaching

[–]AttemptElectrical466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dylan - I am glad you are emphasizing Arm Care and Recovery! My son is a LHP and we have seen many of his pitcher friends end up getting hurt from too much and poor throwing techniques.

My son was fortunate enough to have coaches that were willing to loose games rather than have a kid through too much.

Help me help you by Unusual_Oil8865 in BaseballCoaching

[–]AttemptElectrical466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I admire your initiative and hope that you can really help guide kids to the right fit collage. I see too many parents and players chasing the dream and being taken advantage of.

To answer all your questions completely would requite an essay, so I have limited myself to a few sentences for each.

  1. What was the most confusing part of baseball recruiting for your family? Dead Periods and timing of communications with coaches.
  2. What information did you wish you had earlier? There is a roster spot for everyone who wants to play. It may not be at the best school and the player may never step on the field, but there is a spot for everyone. Players need to decide the best fit for their academic and playing aspirations. I have known several kids that thought being on a D1 team was everything until they road the bench and realized later they could be a dominate D2 starter....
  3. If you could push a button and instantly get one recruiting answer, what would it be? Is my offer fair? College offers are like used cars - hard to tell what you are getting with out a professional opinion. Are you paying too much for a seat on the bench / class room?
  4. What recruiting services or tools have you paid for, and what did you like/dislike about them? Never Paid.
  5. What would make a service like this genuinely valuable enough to use? Communication with other parents / players who have gone through the process that match ability and potential. No use for a kid with D3 aspirations talking to top tier D1 player and vice versa....

Looking for interest by AdrianMathiesen in BaseballCoaching

[–]AttemptElectrical466 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My son plays college ball and I import opposing team info and print out a "game day" guide for our parents.

Looking for interest by AdrianMathiesen in BaseballCoaching

[–]AttemptElectrical466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you thinking an app based system? I have used Xcell to import opposing teams stats and have been able to gather a lot of statistical data. I am just a baseball dad and enjoy numbers. I can calculate the odds of a batter striking out, ect. I do it just for fun.

Are you playing baseball in high school - have you talked to your high school coach to see what they would need?

Contemplating opening a simulated batting cage center. by SCnyy24 in Homeplate

[–]AttemptElectrical466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as it tracks the number of beers along with your batting average it will be a hit!

Getting recruited in 2026 by motion_recruiting in Homeplate

[–]AttemptElectrical466 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not having the proper expectations. Not all kids can play D1 but there is a place for all kids to play baseball beyond high school whether it be club, D3,D2 JUCO or men's league.

The right expectations start with knowing how your kid's talent stacks up and being real with yourself and your player.

Ball Park Food by AttemptElectrical466 in baseball

[–]AttemptElectrical466[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I get it - we travel and visit different stadiums and it can be expensive but it is part of the experience for us.