Cincy Flames 7/8u 2023

Philly_Cat said:
Some, but a very small few have paid coaches. Those that do have paid coaches are 99% true select teams. On the other hand, those with a parent head coach are a 50/50 chance, at best, of being a true select team.

With that being said, a team could be a parent coached team, not a truly select team, and still be run by parents with proper intentions and not simply disgruntled and wanting more playing time for their kid. The problem is the snowball effect of so many kids leaving local leagues for greener pastures. At some point, even if you're kid isn't elite, the community league has gotten so dry of talent, you're put in a position to move your kid to travel ball even if he's just average or a little better than average, just to get him around half decent competition.

In my opinion, 80% of all travel ball kids should be playing in their local league, instead of "traveling" and playing against the same kids they would play if they were all at home. The cost to play youth baseball would fall dramatically, and would make the sport more accessible to a lot of talented kids that are priced out right now. Kids that could contribute significantly to the sport, but are instead finding homes at more welcoming sports.
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Great points and you're correct on all of it.

Everyone thinks they're kid is getting college money, and that's honestly what drives alot of this at a younger age. And by the time they're in high school, it's "well, we've come this far, we have to keep playing", even though most people truly know they're kid isn't getting college money. They aren't honest with themselves and their kid.

We all know kids that have played select baseball since 4th grade. We would all also admit a large percentage of those kids never made it anywhere close to any college baseball field, at any level. Same is true for basketball, but even tougher for those kids.

They've destroyed their local leagues and it honestly was never necessary. It just made them feel better being on a "special" team - and that's the honest truth for 95% of them, even though they will come back and tell us how much fun they had while doing it. OK then - just be honest - you did this to take multiple vacations with families you like hanging out with.
 
Philly_Cat said:
Some, but a very small few have paid coaches. Those that do have paid coaches are 99% true select teams. On the other hand, those with a parent head coach are a 50/50 chance, at best, of being a true select team.

With that being said, a team could be a parent coached team, not a truly select team, and still be run by parents with proper intentions and not simply disgruntled and wanting more playing time for their kid. The problem is the snowball effect of so many kids leaving local leagues for greener pastures. At some point, even if you're kid isn't elite, the community league has gotten so dry of talent, you're put in a position to move your kid to travel ball even if he's just average or a little better than average, just to get him around half decent competition.

In my opinion, 80% of all travel ball kids should be playing in their local league, instead of "traveling" and playing against the same kids they would play if they were all at home. The cost to play youth baseball would fall dramatically, and would make the sport more accessible to a lot of talented kids that are priced out right now. Kids that could contribute significantly to the sport, but are instead finding homes at more welcoming sports.
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think this was the 5th summer of fleecing, first with a non parent as a coach and to be honest with ya.........the main coach that was there most of the time by himself was.....um.....very bad.

There was actually 2 of them, one rotated amongst the other teams. He was very, very solid. When he was there it was like a different team.
It was uncanny the difference. He was not a parent either.

When the other was in charge, not a parent as well..... Trainwreck. Run rule after run rule after run rule. It was embarassing.
The good coach won as many games in two tournaments he was in charge of than the other one who was in charge for 5 others.

So......one was def better than any of the dad coached teams and the other was.....well....worse than any of the dad coached teams!
 
Thavoice said:
I think you really mean: How much money will this team make the organization.
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No that’s not what I mean. I know exactly how the Flames organization makes their money. I do believe 11 Players is not enough for a Team that young to play that many games.
 
In my experience most non-rec or non-local teams are not coached by dads.
AllSports12 said:
They sure remind the umpires of their resume. ;)
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Right? I am glad to see someone on here said it was not common because in my neck of the woods it's the norm. I like seeing some of the college players coach that know me from spring NCAA ball and immediately they behave themselves.

What's funny is there is a guy in the Dayton/Cincy area who legit did play MLB and he is the most humble one out there. Great with the kids, treats the umpires well, and they do great on the field.
 
umpire16 said:
To be fair, knowing how to run Game Changer is kind of a plus...
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If only tournaments, of which ya pay a lot of $$ to play in, would actually use their freakin scoreboards then fans wouldnt have a need.

I guess it is good for the other family members who cannot attend teh games, but I refuse to follow games on GC when I am there. I dont wanna get on my damned phone during games.

Hence....I lose track of the score often and honestly dont care!


This thread is epic though, HoF Yappi material!

How many of these 7/8 yr olds are gonna have those stupid oven mitts to run the bases!!!! Saw an ump who made each one ensure it was totally in their pockets when at bat. It was quite funny and I think a few started to say screw it and didnt even bring em to the plate!


I wonder when the next evolution of players will be upon us. You know, those with 6 bats hanging out their bat packs! Just 4? Must be poor.
 
Thavoice said:
If only tournaments, of which ya pay a lot of $$ to play in, would actually use their freakin scoreboards then fans wouldnt have a need.

I guess it is good for the other family members who cannot attend teh games, but I refuse to follow games on GC when I am there. I dont wanna get on my damned phone during games.

Hence....I lose track of the score often and honestly dont care!


This thread is epic though, HoF Yappi material!

How many of these 7/8 yr olds are gonna have those stupid oven mitts to run the bases!!!! Saw an ump who made each one ensure it was totally in their pockets when at bat. It was quite funny and I think a few started to say screw it and didnt even bring em to the plate!


I wonder when the next evolution of players will be upon us. You know, those with 6 bats hanging out their bat packs! Just 4? Must be poor.
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How can you ensure that the routine popup that dropped between the rubber and 2nd base is scored a hit because "no one touched it" when your kid is AB, but the scalded one-hopper to the 3B playing in for a bunt is scored an error for the kid that subbed in because "it was right to him?"

I have seen mothers almost get into fist fights over this because " the coaches look at that, you know..."
 
green_genes said:
I have seen mothers almost get into fist fights over this because " the coaches look at that, you know..."
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During my last summer of working youth ball I was helping an assigner out on a late emergency cancellation. It was a 13u tournament game.... one of those "world series" tournaments.....

On the day of the finals we had to hold up a game until the police arrived to break up a serious fight between two women. One of the women was the official scorer (from the other team) and the other didn't like the fact that her little Johnny didn't get credit for his "grand slam" (an infield single with two throwing errors) he "hit" the day before.
 
green_genes said:
How can you ensure that the routine popup that dropped between the rubber and 2nd base is scored a hit because "no one touched it" when your kid is AB, but the scalded one-hopper to the 3B playing in for a bunt is scored an error for the kid that subbed in because "it was right to him?"

I have seen mothers almost get into fist fights over this because " the coaches look at that, you know..."
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I record our games. I have someone do gamechanger during the game to ensure we are keeping up with the basics of the game (score, outs, inning, etc), amd for parents that can't be there. I then watch the game back at home and do my own book for it. The gamechanger stats are meaningless for me, my stats matter. FYI, I only share my official stats with the coaching staff, and occasionally with a parent to settle a problem (playing time, averages, etc)
 
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Philly_Cat said:
I record our games. I have someone do gamechanger during the game to ensure we are keeping up with the basics of the game (score, outs, inning, etc), amd for parents that can't be there. I then watch the game back at home and do my own book for it. The gamechanger stats are meaningless for me, my stats matter. FYI, I only share my official stats with the coaching staff, and occasionally with a parent to settle a problem (playing time, averages, etc)
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Sounds like you have good system for accurate stats.

My son just got back from playing for the league champion Anchorage Glacier Pilots of the Alaska Baseball League. The Pilots stats keeping was simply awful. They used some complex system called Point Streak and usually entered the plays post game by someone that did not know what they were doing. Many times they mixed up who was pitching and how many innings, recorded advancing on an error as a stolen base, etc. It was hard watch, especially for a league of this caliber.

My son had a great season with an actual ERA under 1.50, a 5 - 0 record, and the 3rd most appearances in the league. He only played when the game was tight or in a sticky situation, which was often. The league stats had his ERA at 2.83, 4 wins instead of 5, less innings and strike outs than actual, more runs than actual, etc. This sloppiness was helpful to a couple other pitchers whose runs were assigned to other pitchers and cost my kid league honors.

At this level, the stats are important as they stick with the player permanently through baseball-reference.com. Also important as they are trying to build a resume for a higher quality summer league the next year.

Wish you were the Pilots stat keeper Philly Cat.

BTW, those that have never heard the the Alaska Baseball League, look it up....rich history. The Glacier Pilots alone have many very well know MLB stars including Randy Johnson, Mark Maguire, Tom Seaver, and some dude named Judge that plays in NY.
 
AllSports12 said:
During my last summer of working youth ball I was helping an assigner out on a late emergency cancellation. It was a 13u tournament game.... one of those "world series" tournaments.....

On the day of the finals we had to hold up a game until the police arrived to break up a serious fight between two women. One of the women was the official scorer (from the other team) and the other didn't like the fact that her little Johnny didn't get credit for his "grand slam" (an infield single with two throwing errors) he "hit" the day before.
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This stuff all reverts back to, can’t fix stupid!!
 
Not to be a jerk here, but whatever happened to someone actually.....doing the book?
Ya know, someone who knows what is going on

Wait.......these games only get parents so........yeah. We always had a guy who did our books. The coach would go through and double take after the games and it wouldnt be uncommon to see a hit or two taken away as he was a stickler of what plays should be made!
 
AllSports12 said:
During my last summer of working youth ball I was helping an assigner out on a late emergency cancellation. It was a 13u tournament game.... one of those "world series" tournaments.....

On the day of the finals we had to hold up a game until the police arrived to break up a serious fight between two women. One of the women was the official scorer (from the other team) and the other didn't like the fact that her little Johnny didn't get credit for his "grand slam" (an infield single with two throwing errors) he "hit" the day before.
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A good reminder that this thread originated as a tryout invitation for a 7U/8U travel team. It's interesting to read the last couple of posts, and while I am not familiar with Alaskan summer league baseball I am familiar with the danger of extrapolating from small sample sizes. The reason baseball is such a stat-driven sport is because of the extraordinary number of events that take place during a season. You can draw conclusions about players after, say, 1800 recorded at bats against professional pitching or after 300 innings on the mound.

100 at-bats from a youth baseball player is meaningless in the context of determining how good he is or how good he can be. You don't know if it was raining, if the kid pitching was from a "super duper elite" team or had to arc the ball to get it to the catcher on the fly, if the umpire had a date lined up 2 hours after the first pitch, etc.

If I had to project high school success at 8 years old, I would ask if the parents had athletic backgrounds and what their height/weight was at 15 years old before I even bothered to watch them swing a bat or throw a ball.
 
green_genes said:
A good reminder that this thread originated as a tryout invitation for a 7U/8U travel team. It's interesting to read the last couple of posts, and while I am not familiar with Alaskan summer league baseball I am familiar with the danger of extrapolating from small sample sizes. The reason baseball is such a stat-driven sport is because of the extraordinary number of events that take place during a season. You can draw conclusions about players after, say, 1800 recorded at bats against professionalAt pitching or after 300 innings on the mound.

100 at-bats from a youth baseball player is meaningless in the context of determining how good he is or how good he can be. You don't know if it was raining, if the kid pitching was from a "super duper elite" team or had to arc the ball to get it to the catcher on the fly, if the umpire had a date lined up 2 hours after the first pitch, etc.

If I had to project high school success at 8 years old, I would ask if the parents had athletic backgrounds and what their height/weight was at 15 years old before I even bothered to watch them swing a bat or throw a ball.
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At the young age it is apparent what kids that have dad's who bring them out routinely to throw, hit and field.
For three summers growing up I worked/ran the peewee/minor league system in our town. Great HS job....L O V E D it. Three days a week, during the day so very little parental involvement.....

It ran from kindergarten to I think 3rd grade...right before they went to little league levels. You could pick out the players immediately who had parents who took them out and played ball with them. Those who didnt......yeah...no bueno.

So.........dads/moms......get your kids out throwing, hitting and fielding at a young age. You can buy a couple dozen cheap baseballs for that age (Just give up your tall cafe mocha latte cappuvagino for a week), and take them out to the local diamonds. Only takes a couple hours a week.
 
Thavoice said:
At the young age it is apparent what kids that have dad's who bring them out routinely to throw, hit and field.
For three summers growing up I worked/ran the peewee/minor league system in our town. Great HS job....L O V E D it. Three days a week, during the day so very little parental involvement.....

It ran from kindergarten to I think 3rd grade...right before they went to little league levels. You could pick out the players immediately who had parents who took them out and played ball with them. Those who didnt......yeah...no bueno.

So.........dads/moms......get your kids out throwing, hitting and fielding at a young age. You can buy a couple dozen cheap baseballs for that age (Just give up your tall cafe mocha latte cappuvagino for a week), and take them out to the local diamonds. Only takes a couple hours a week.
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Yep. I'd say 30 minutes every day > than 2 hours once a week.

Better yet, a neighborhood full of kids and an empty field less than a bike ride away. Just push them out the front door with a ball and a bat and tell them not to come home until dinner time.
 
green_genes said:
Yep. I'd say 30 minutes every day > than 2 hours once a week.

Better yet, a neighborhood full of kids and an empty field less than a bike ride away. Just push them out the front door with a ball and a bat and tell them not to come home until dinner time.
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This is the thing I hate about the so called practices some of these teams have.

Drive 30-45-60 minutes for the practice. Get a round of BP, maybe some ground balls, come home. All in-----3-4 hours of time for a little bit of BP/maybe ground balls.

Lots of wasted time when the kid can stay local and get much more out of that time......
 
green_genes said:
Yep. I'd say 30 minutes every day > than 2 hours once a week.

Better yet, a neighborhood full of kids and an empty field less than a bike ride away. Just push them out the front door with a ball and a bat and tell them not to come home until dinner time.
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The strike out box on Raymer School taught me how to pitch.
 
irish_buffalo said:
The strike out box on Raymer School taught me how to pitch.
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Coldwater still has two....I used it often growing up...learned pitching and then of course fielding on 5he way back. Used to often as an adult getting ready for the season to throw BP.
 
PaulieD said:
Miss those! Did you throw with one of those old time rubber balls like I did.
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Two local carryouts, just blocks away in opposite directions (M&M and Charlies) carried them. .25 a ball.

We would also play "lob" baseball on the blacktop. Full 9 on 9 games with ages 11-18 participating. No umpires. Talk about learning social skills. lol
 
Thavoice said:
Coldwater still has two....I used it often growing up...learned pitching and then of course fielding on 5he way back. Used to often as an adult getting ready for the season to throw BP.
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I was a Tiger fan but Nolan Ryan was my favorite pitcher. Saturday morning before the parking lot playground would be full of kids I'd run over there and pretend I was him pitching. Thinking through the game and facing imaginary batters. Too bad my fastball eventually only topped out around 75 on a good day. ?

It is one aspect lost on travel ball. Kids playing travel ball have to be taught everything including how to think the game. It amazes me how poor so many kids are at thinking the game but that is learned from playing all of the time on your own with other kids. Even a game as simple as rundown, or as my Michigander cousins called it, "pickle," made me a great base runner. I knew my limitations. Two steps safe, three steps off good, four steps 50/50. I knew which side to slide on or if I needed to go head first and hook. No one taught me that. I coached so many kids that could fly that were awful base runners because they did not understand the nuances.
 
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