A fun, family-friendly, reasonably affordable activity you can do with the kids? Welcome to Libertyville Little League's Home Plate Registration for the 2023 Spring Season Opens December 1st We are excited to be kicking off 2023 Libertyville Little League registration. I do offer the opportunity to advertise your league and ask that you share it here and anywhere possible. Northern Virginia Travel Baseball League. He wasnt laughing with his buddies, and the kids on the team who were already part of the travel ball program viewed him as a kind of an outsider. Travel ball is being on the right team, knowing the right people, and working on your skill set; not that much different from academic pursuits really and more so I suppose. Mid-way through the season, I asked the coach if there would be an opportunity for some kid pitching. In Pony baseball, players are put into divisions by age groups of two years. A lot of travel baseball programs have their own training facilities where players have excellent conditions to develop their skills. Certainly, both travel baseball and Little League proponents have some valid arguments and Ill try to dig a little deeper and explore the advantages and drawbacks of both systems. I agree with some that was said. Travel-ball costs are more substantial. She got to have some really good conversations with the moms who really didnt understand the philosophy behind Upward as a result. Scratch. Travel Ball Travel ball softball is the next step up from recreational softball. -ta. You explain it t the tee for me and cant thank you enough . Gallatin Little League Baseball: T-ball, Coach Pitch & Baseball You can print a registration form (PDF). Small town kids grow up playing lots of sports not getting burnt out playing the same one all year round. No. Because COVID, This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Third, most days my family enjoys family travel ball, together. Its only about winning and not developing. But if you don't make it into your dream team, the loss is much heavier on people's pockets as well as their minds. Once-proud public institutions are being privatized, with many unintended consequences. Manage Settings All of the travel players MUST play rec ball. (And options do exist that dont cost an arm and a leg.) Id venture no but the travel ball experience can be quite beneficial to that pursuit can it not provided travel ball doesnt become a means to an end which, unfortunately, it often is. First some background, my son is in his third season of playing ball. Well, this certainly diverged off the main topic of traveling versus rec sports, but I hope it provides a little more to talk about, especially among family members. I dont know. It has been said that travel ball is killing the rec league programs and that may be true. Were seeing some growth in her skills and she loves the game. My arm hurt all the time, and I wasnt a pitcher. I do wonder though as a parent of a child who did play travel ball and also ended up as a D1 athlete if we arent typically just exchanging one pursuit of excellence for another. I was recently Contemplating to start travel ball from my son recently and for some reason Ive been holding back . We dont win Non-Christians by showing them how little we care about worship and the assembly of believers, we win them through honoring God as better than all other appetites. Not criticizing anyone not on same path, but if they want it, you wont stop them. I agree 100% with your article. I have been wanting to put my son on a travel team. In volleyball and soccer, maybe cheer, but most other sports they don't. FieroCoug. In the end, it should all come to what the kid wants. | GWG Clips #2 from GWG episode #1| Daniel Otero and Ty Osborne - YouTube Blessed to have Tyrone on with us for this episode! This is great information, but unfortunately rec ballaka little leagueis a political nightmare where I am from and for many others. Travel ball, by contrast, is not cheap participation fees average about $2,000 per player per year. In addition to a spring season, PSLL offers a summer league, summer camps, fall ball, and a winter skills clinic. Legalism requires perfection, and Im not perfect, Jesus is. Every year, various baseball organizations, including USSA, AAU, or Perfect Game, organize hundreds of these tournaments across the whole country. Anthony Lynn, who remembers his Little League days so vividly, told me that he thinks travel ball is cynical. I traveled an hour each way for three days a week for practice. For decades, NASCAR was a working class, southern sport. Ryan E. I think this is a good post and is great advice. I find it filled with some great thoughts based on extreme examples and false assumptions. Travel with extended families and make bonds with good people. Applaud effort and celebrate results for both dugouts. Falls Church Klwanis Little League. Learn from others short comings and honor God with your precious time on the field. LL was the emphasis, there were only a couple of travel teams. No doubt there are exceptions, but I havent personally witnessed one. But heavens know there has to be a way to save the sport of baseball. However, they are much more severe. This question reveals how far our cultural worldview has intermixed with a Christian one. On the other hand, if the goal is for the kid to have some fun while learning the fundamentals of baseball, Little League is the way to go. In Little League baseball, ages can vary as much as three years in a division, with 9-year old players in a division with 12-year olds. I chase my boys all over creation and its very taxing in many ways. This is the one your wife wants you to care about. There doesnt have to be a life lesson constantly pointed out. Is Travel Ball killing little league and organized baseball? I think God led me to this article to reassure me that we are doing right. NOW PLAYING: little-league-player-surprised-after-marine-dad-takes-the-mound Stoneman Douglas vs Doral Baseball 2-28-2023 Scorebook Live Al Mohlers Culture Shift I had to pay a sign-up fee of $750. Today, participation is seen by many as a near necessity for talented players to develop their skills and hone their game against the best competition they can find. . The Fall baseball/softball season includes league play at all division levels. I left registration, and pulled him from the Little League program. It was excellent, by the way. Girls have been admitted since 1974. If youre not ready to make certain sacrifices, then this form of baseball is probably not for you. Waiting lists for leagues. sacrifice your sons childhood on the altar of the hope, each team is allowed a maximum of 11.7 scholarships, Dont Play Travel Ball: Stay in the Rec League | For His Renown | Pastor John Reading List, http://kristenanneglover.com/my-kids-dont-play-sports/#comment-6411, 6-String Salvo, February 12, 2016 Mike Lee, The Daily Discovery (February 12, 2016) - Entreating Favor, More Great Reading | Second Chance Pastor, Todays Links // 4 Free Kindle Books, Worship Songs, Socialist Millennials, Buy a Friend App, Freedom from Anxiety | Word + Life | KevinHalloran.net. Being part of a team, no matter how long its for, isnt permanent, so as nice as it is to identify with activities that we love, we dont want them to define us or our kids. They play the same. Little League wants parents to understand the potential dangers of allowing a child to participate in programs in which limited rules and regulations may exist while recognizing our programs rules that are designed to protect players from injury, such as Pitch Counts and equipment rules. They have grown together, developed rapport and strong friendships. Please advertise when you have this league so I can get the 70 or so kids I will bring with me to get in registration line. In raising our children in a world where developing a one-sport athlete is pushed to the extreme, we both were counter-culture, and we have happy, well-adjusted kids now, all of whom continue to pursue fitness as a lifestyle. Again, like you said, church should not be sacrificed by families of 8, 10, and 12-year olds, and oftentimes not even by families of high-schoolers. Please dont mortgage your home on a dream that your kid might be good enough to go pro. But my friend who suggested that I do this also told me what was going to happen: he said I needed to understand that the other travel ball teams werent going to be low-key, so we would get pummeled at tournaments and probably lose every game. Think brands like Mercedes-Benz. I am confident that there are better ways to steward those thousands of dollars. Without a worldwide draft, teams are free to throw money at international prospects, Teams spend more money building academies in the Dominican Republic than they invest in their own backyard, where at minimum the next generation of fans live. Because COVID, America sold out Little League through the widespread adoption of high-dollar travel baseball, Major League Baseball has its RBI Program, providing year-round instruction in the game, I wrote about this for Camden Chat in 2016. Do I think that she will go pro? My son had the same coach as the year prior. I disagree with the idea that the sport is entirely a white elitist sport. After all, scores of players are of Latin American descent, including some of the games top superstars. Every year, MCLL designates players in our All-Star Tournament teams to represent MCLL in the Little League Tournaments within various age groups. It also has a successful 18u rec program. But, the worst part of it all was that my son was clearly not having the same amount of fun he had in Little League last year. Now, the league has grown a bit but has 190 kids playing travel ball, with multiple teams at 12u, 14u, 16u, and 18u. These are good thoughts. And if I had any skill to make some of that money working in baseball, I wouldnt have a day job. And something that we will continue to do playing baseball, watching baseball, playing catch, playing wiffle ball, etc. Wow this article really spoke to me. Its about the fact that fewer and fewer kids are playing baseball every year. It doesn't take much and Rec Leagues would be greatly improved. AAA Evaluations - 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. ). As expected, my son got limited playing time during the season. We have expanded our season to now include winter training, a competitive league spring travel schedule, tournament season as well as a competitive league fall schedule. Baseball cant raise the dead, but Jesus will do just that when he returns to make this world into the new heavens and new earth. Its not the uniforms, its not bat flips or the lack thereof, its not the shift, its not the pace of play. Generally speaking, these parents dont do the Sunday sports to evangelize. Dads get into it for a little better competition not meaning for it to take over their lives, and the next thing they know their schedule and wallet are dominated by travel ball. Our time in sports opened up a world of opportunities, and more importantly taught us much about life, ourselves and God, so we are very pro-sports. We dont have Sunday games and Id venture that shes in the lower end of competitive teams. Rec ball is where they develop and We still put prior commitments first and the coach understands that we cant make all games/practices as a result. He didnt make the middle school team as only travel ball kids only made it. Here at Select Baseball Teams, we have worked hard to comprise one of the most comprehensive lists of Alabama travel baseball teams looking for players. Really great article Dr. Hamilton! Little League now includes a senior division for players age 13 to 15 and a big-league division for age 16 to 18. General Little League to Travel Ball and Back Again February 7, 2017 I started my son in the Little League Tee Ball program when he was four. Enjoyment: Help your children enjoy a sport for the simple joy of the sport. Its hard to see him play so well and knowing we dont have the funds as most to do travel ball. 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