From what I can gather this guy is a very popular coach with the parents and the kids, and is pretty successful at this level as well.

I also gather the whole thing is rather tongue in cheek and the parents and kids take it that way as well.

I'm sure a lot of "Everyone gets a participation trophy" people hate him.

Well, it is Decatur. Bunch of pussybaby liberals over there.


Seriously, that's just mind-boggling. Bunch of us were playing around once before a Punt-Pass-Kick event at the football stadium with a ball, sort of a "smear the queer" kind of game like rugby-death-kids having fun kind of deal. Middle school kids just having fun, laughing and such.

One guy's mother came down from the stands and told us to quit playing around so rough because her son or someone could get hurt. Her son was mortified. Imagine being with 8-10 of your friends and your mother doing that. I mean, the sheer embarrassment on his face was terrible. AND THEN we gave him hell about it for weeks.

Sensitive. Holy crap. Don't yell at my son because he's sensitive. Then he needs to get the hell off the baseball field and go paint flowers or something.

Smear the Queer is how we weeded out the weak ones. Man we use to get in so much trouble for targeting some particular kids.

Travel ball is a business now days. Any one who wants to form a travel ball team can now. If you don't believe they give out participation trophies(rings) in travel ball tournaments you are wrong. There are so many teams involved in it now that it's not the elite vs the elite. There are definitely some very good teams but the majority are not better than a good rec team. Most kids that are playing it now are doing it because it's the it thing to do.

Travel ball is watered down with average teams right now I agree. My granddaughter plays , but when she is playing Rec it takes alot of the fun out of it for alot of the girls cause they can't hit off of her. Alot of it is what tournaments you enter. We try to watch and go where the better teams are. And your right about pitching,its limitations and mechanics.

Kid's sports..... this thread might overtake the corporate worship thread.

More often than not it's a mess in my town. Daddy ball, crazy parents, coaches being paid big money under the table to influence tryouts, league board members favoring their kids that hurt the majority of participants - I've seen it all.

It's just up to the parents to find a way for the kids to learn something from it when things do get ratcheted up.

the funny ones are the dads trying to live through their kids. they can be spotted a mile away.

I'm mostly wanting to get him into a better situation to improve.. The set up he's in now is literally a chit show!!! The kids don't want to be there.. We had to ask kids to play outfield last night.. That's the summary of rec league now days.. Not telling little Johnny to get his ass in right field, but making sure he's ok with it and that his parents agree..haha..

Eli has played travel ball for 3 out of the 4 past seasons. He loves it and the competition at the travel ball level is much better then our local rec league. As of next year he will have the option to try out for the middle school team but he wants to stay in travel ball instead of playing for the school.

As for pitching at the travel ball level they are limited by the number of innings they can pitch not a actual pitch count. As a parent of a pitcher if you are allowing your child to be coached by someone that is not keeping up with their pitch count you need to find a new coach. Elis coach also gives pitching lessons and he is not going to let any pitcher on the team throw more then 75 pitches on any day! The team is 12 years old and the 75 is a max so far this spring he is changing pitchers around the 55-60 pitch count. There is a ton of information and studies being done on youth pitchers and any parent that has a child pitching needs to read all the information you can find about pitch counts.


I personally know a kid now that won't ever pitch at the high school level because of overuse by a coach. The kid at 9 yrs old was allowed to throw 102 pitches in less then 12 hours absolutely ridiculous!

After the first month of the season travel ball team will be classified by how good they are. Single A ( being the worse) , AA ( most teams in the state will be in this group and for the most part these games will be very competitive), then there is AAA & majors classification I have seen them play and they are the best of the best of the age group and look like miniature college teams.

Well, kids' sports are a religion to some folks who have been dunked in the vat of ballpark soda.

It's the combination of pitching, lifting weights, year round sports, that finally ruins the arm. Younger kids should not be allowed to throw curve balls. Overtime, this puts a lot of strain on the "Tommy John" tendon. A change up is just as effective and does not cause the wear and tear on the arm. My son pitched a lot in travel ball and when he got in high school, there was constant use of the arm, whether it be weight lifting, summer varsity baseball, throwing footballs, spring baseball, etc..His arm never got to rest. Andrews Institute says that a kid needs to do nothing with his arm for at least three months out of every year. (thats not happening anymore)My son was clocked at 91mph as a sophomore in HS and by his third year playing at FSU, he could not reach 82! He underwent major shoulder surgery. The surgeon told us that he used to do one of these surgeries a year and now he does them everyday. He commented that it was complete over use of the arm while in the developmental stages. Fortunately my son bounced back because he was not a pitcher, and worked his way in to a top five round pick. A few weeks before the draft, he reinjured his shoulder. (career over)!! I know I am ranting, but I have seen first hand what can happen and do not wish this on any of you. Pro scouts would much rather have a pitcher these days that grew up in the North, playing hockey and very little baseball due to weather. Their arms are simply not going to wear out.

I agree with a lot of what you said Peach, but then again the Japanese throw 200 pitch bullpens.

HA! I am sure they have it down to a science. There were days in the summer where my son would go in for a football weight workout, then go throw footballs, then go to baseball practice, then play a double header that night. The four players that were in his same situation, all ended up with surgeries in college.Its just too much.

In regard to overuse, I'm always amazed at how refreshed NFL, NBA or MLB players look and perform after 6-8 months off due to rehab. Their bodies can heal and rest, they get normal sleep (sometimes) and diet, basically they get realigned.

Marshawn Lynch is thinking of returning to the NFL with the Raiders. He's been out for a year or so. I'll bet he will sign a 3-5 year deal and be a beast for about two seasons, then start to taper and retire for good.

Very good point!!

This may not be a bad idea depending on the school and the coach. My youngest is playing 7th grade ball at the middle school this year and I can say it is like playing rec ball. I have kept this group of 7 kids together since they were 5 years old playing travel ball and now in school it is lets let everyone play. Sorry but when you get to this level it is about winning and not feelings.

I will agree that is way too much use

I got no kids in travel ball, so I don't really know much about it. But I can tell you that wearing out a kid's arm is nothing new. Dallas County had good baseball teams in the late 60s; may have won the state one year. But they only had one pitcher. Their coach pitched him every game. I know that at least once he pitched both games of a double-header.

He seldom threw a fastball, just a lot of junk pitches, but he was good enough to have played college ball. I never heard if he played after HS, but I doubt his arm held up. I think it was soon after that the state put in some limits on how much a kid could throw.

You are right on the ranking most teams are AA and they are some that are pretty good but most are just average. The major teams are a different story and something to see! Most people hear travel ball and assume it's a huge step up from rec ball and that is not always true.