Travel/Select/Rec League Discussion

I guess the 30 yr old memories of "this date in history" have gotten your jet propulsion cranked up. (hey, I was 8 and lived 15 miles from the Cape--and remember it all from Apollo 7-17: saw them all!)

Anyhow, I think RAD is talking about on a routine day-to-day basis. Sure, you're going to have your great all-star teams that can compete with, and even beat the great travel teams (would love to see last years SD Stars vs Tom's Creek--that'd be a dandy). However, the travel teams practice and compete at the high level, with little difference between 1-12 on a daily basis, almost. THAT is the huge difference between a regular season rec. team. I get scared sometimes seeing the 12 yr old whose never played facing an 11 yr old with a 60+ heater. I hate to hear that my travel players get bored because some of their rec league teammates are so weak, and that the travel guys can't cut loose in infield for fear of beaning the 1B. Those are true tales (I'll video it next year for factual data :)

Not to dismiss the all-star experience completely, but think of all the 2 or 3-and-out teams that play, vs the travel teams that play in legit tourneys for 50-75 games. I'll use my son as an example (also see all-star rantings below in RE: Coach Molly). We shut down my own AAU team so that most of our kids could play all-stars. I was able to place my son on a team about 85 miles away. He's new, he's got to work to earn PT--everyone knows that he's temporary until after the season is over--2 K's against him, there). Well, he's busted his butt, and played literally every positon except C/1B with only 2 errors since joining up in mid-May. He hasn't hit well (in rec ball hit .548 as an 11 in 11/12 majors), so his role is a late inning PR who moves to "wherever needed" as a defensive replacement. Thus, he's become more motivated to really work on his hitting, which is improving daily. He might not see the instant gratification that a kid seeks (a starting spot), but I know he'll see the results when our team gets back to practicing. Now, would he have developed more on his 2-and-out all-stars, or busting his hump in 3 day-a-week AAU practice, with all the extra at home hitting? JT