Youth Sports

[Norm]

This is primarily directed towards baldy but I seem to recall that we have someone else amongst us with kids in the organization. East Cobb Baseball... from my outsider’s perspective, I believe the name to be a collective and there are many teams within it and the collective has multiple teams covering virtually all age ranges. Correct me if it’s needed. I’d wager that even the casual baseball fan anywhere in the Southeast without a playing family member is at least vaguely familiar with the name East Cobb Baseball. With good reason I’d say. Now, to the more formal baseball fan with a playing family member who plays tournament ball, we’re perhaps much more familiar with it.

All of this preamble to say; there is a couple here who are absolutely delusional about their child and his abilities. He’s big for his age. He’s hit lots of homers over the years because that’s what he’s taught by daddy to do. 100% of his AB’s he’s swinging for the fences. His Avg has steadily declined over the years because of it. As if this isn’t enough; he has little coordination, no flexibility, and sloth-like speed. So, you can’t play him anywhere but First and if it’s not right at him, it’s probably going by him. Now please don’t get the wrong idea, I really like the boy. He’s just not a long term ball player. Which is fine. Perfectly. But, refer back to the ‘delusional’ descriptor of his parents. They’ve burned their way through multiple Travel Ball teams over the years and I (along with most of the local sports dads) maintain it only takes one Season for a coach to lose interest in his abilities and his cancerous parents.

So; supposedly he was going to play for East Cobb last year. That didn’t happen “because they didn’t have a team age-appropriate for him”. The kid is 13 by the way. But this year he’ll play for them after JV Season is over. I’ve never looked into it personally but anecdotally I understand that the $ to participate with some of those teams can equate that which you could spend on a Used Car. Fine, no problem there. But as for me and my house, I’m not going to seek that out on my own. (if F4* gets their attention and they contact me...) I believe that there’s a team within the ECB organization who’ll be glad to take several thousand dollars out of rural Pike County, AL and offer no guarantees of a level of participation for this kid.

Am I off base on any of this?

[ehyou]

Excellent topic. Here's a sweet serve against Admiral Moorer Middle School.

[bubbs]

Since the topic is here.... Let me just say that it's mildly frustrating for your kid to have a coach know a lot less than you do about your kid's chosen sport. Or maybe they know and just don't care?

On the upside, it means I get to be Jr.'s private running coarch. He's already faster than the high school kids on the XC team. Which is not to say he's especially gifted or fast. The other kids just aren't being coached or worked.

[Jet]

As for my family, I was the unathletic one of the three children. My son got my genes and then some. None of this I had to worry about. But I do identify with sloth-like speed.

[baldy1]

Oct 7, 2019 10:21:23 GMT -6 Norm said:

This is primarily directed towards baldy but I seem to recall that we have someone else amongst us with kids in the organization. East Cobb Baseball... from my outsider’s perspective, I believe the name to be a collective and there are many teams within it and the collective has multiple teams covering virtually all age ranges. Correct me if it’s needed. I’d wager that even the casual baseball fan anywhere in the Southeast without a playing family member is at least vaguely familiar with the name East Cobb Baseball. With good reason I’d say. Now, to the more formal baseball fan with a playing family member who plays tournament ball, we’re perhaps much more familiar with it.

All of this preamble to say; there is a couple here who are absolutely delusional about their child and his abilities. He’s big for his age. He’s hit lots of homers over the years because that’s what he’s taught by daddy to do. 100% of his AB’s he’s swinging for the fences. His Avg has steadily declined over the years because of it. As if this isn’t enough; he has little coordination, no flexibility, and sloth-like speed. So, you can’t play him anywhere but First and if it’s not right at him, it’s probably going by him. Now please don’t get the wrong idea, I really like the boy. He’s just not a long term ball player. Which is fine. Perfectly. But, refer back to the ‘delusional’ descriptor of his parents. They’ve burned their way through multiple Travel Ball teams over the years and I (along with most of the local sports dads) maintain it only takes one Season for a coach to lose interest in his abilities and his cancerous parents.

So; supposedly he was going to play for East Cobb last year. That didn’t happen “because they didn’t have a team age-appropriate for him”. The kid is 13 by the way. But this year he’ll play for them after JV Season is over. I’ve never looked into it personally but anecdotally I understand that the $ to participate with some of those teams can equate that which you could spend on a Used Car. Fine, no problem there. But as for me and my house, I’m not going to seek that out on my own. (if F4* gets their attention and they contact me...) I believe that there’s a team within the ECB organization who’ll be glad to take several thousand dollars out of rural Pike County, AL and offer no guarantees of a level of participation for this kid.

Am I off base on any of this?

Yes, there are a number of teams at East Cobb that will take a player like this. They really only have two teams in each age group that are their top tier teams (Astros and Colt 45s). We don’t even try out for the Astros as they’re mostly prima donnas looking to say their kid plays for the elite Astros team. Many of those kids live out of state and just come into town on the weekends to compete in tourneys. (My kid plays for the Colt 45s - we’ve been together for several years and the coaches are awesome. But we really only have a handful of “elite” players on what’s supposedly an “elite” team. But there are probably 6 other teams in our age group at east Cobb that aren’t “elite” (it’s become a money grab) and I’m confident if he’s ANY good, he would get an offer from ONE of them if they had space available. They’d take his money and he’d get a few innings here and there and he could now crow that he plays for east Cobb. (He’d have to go through a tryout, and they’d figure out what team he best fit.)

We pay $3,800 a year to play on our team, So yeah it’s expensive. Plus we travel several week long trips a year to big tourneys in Florida and Birmingham. Generally stay local otherwise.

For them to say they don’t have an “age appropriate” team is total BS. Age isn’t a factor there. Skillset is. If you’re good enough to play for a team, you play for them. You can play up (a 14 year old can play for a 15 year old team) or in your age group, so that comment from them is BS.

The fact he’s been on several teams is also a warning sign as kids that hop teams typically move because a) they’re delusional about their kid who isn’t getting “adequate” playing time or b) they’re delusional about their kid who isn’t getting “adequate” playing time.

In JV and at age 14, those bats that he’s been hitting homers with now change to a -3 bbcor bat and there is zero spring effect on those bats. Enjoy being babe Ruth in 12u and 13u as that changes in 14u. Plus the fences move out to 300-350, so he won’t be hitting anymore homers. Basically this kid’s major strength (hitting dingers) is now muted due to this and I suspect he’ll be sitting and out of baseball within 2 years. From a fielding perspective, He has to be able to play first base effectively and if he’s uncoordinated, he won’t survive. He’ll lose out to others quickly as there’s only 9 spots and chances are there are other kids that can indeed play the position decently.

Side note: By the by, we played THE elite team in our age group yesterday - a team from Peachtree City that won the Little League World Series a few years ago on esPn. They have three 14 year old kids that throw in the mid 80’s or above. (My kid is a solid pitcher but he maxes out at about 77 mph which is solid for his age group. Most kids on his team throw mid 60’s to low 70’s). The pitcher we faced yesterday actually hit 87 mph yesterday. 87 mph. At 14 years old. Pretty incredible. (Some of the kids on that team will be at the next level for sure). I was pretty happy my kid only gave up two runs to them in a few innings as they’re gooood. Anyway, the reason I mention them is that you can find PLENTY of elite teams in this age group outside of east Cobb. As they get older though, most of them do seem to matriculate to east Cobb.

[ehyou]

Norm, do the righteous thing and tell the parents their kid will be out of baseball in a couple of years anyway so he might as well quit now.

[Jet]

Norm, leave "Big Al" and his family alone.

[API]

Oct 7, 2019 13:52:59 GMT -6 ehyou said:

Norm, do the righteous thing and tell the parents their kid will be out of baseball in a couple of years anyway so he might as well quit now.

This is the only sensible thing to do. I'd add that some family friends had their kid in baseball back in MGM and we put them up when they came to play a tourney in East Cobb several years back. The kid was a good hitter, average fielder, but was painfully slow running bases. He was good enough to get a scholly for one year at Alexander City JC and was the last guy cut the following year. He's married now(to an Auburn Veterinarian), has a baby and lives in Texas. Baseball is just part of his childhood/early adulthood and is in his past. I have no idea what the family spent on private coaches, travel ball, and all of that, but it was probably more than one year's tuition at Alexander City JC. I may buy an occasional lottery ticket, but I've probably never blown more than $30 in a year 'chasing a dream.'

[Norm]

It’s sad really. He’s a generally good kid but I’m afraid he’s bought into his parents’ delusion. They’re awful baseball parents in all aspects. I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard dad direct kid to ignore instructions from coaches, especially those relating to when he’s at the Plate. I know full well her statement about not having an age-appropriate team was BS. Just as much BS as he didn’t play much in JV last year because 7th Graders don’t play. I eagerly await her reactions this coming season as F4* and at least 5 of his classmates will likely get more playing time than her son and they’re in 7th Grade.

Kid’s a decent Rec-Ball player, I see nothing more than that in his future. Though, he was “invited” to participate in some HR Tourney coming up which will be held in the Diamondbacks park. I suspect though that there’s some back room dealing and/or “golden handshake” which took place to secure that invite.

[Jimmy]

[allend]

Or, kid could stick with it, grow into his body and be what he wants to be. Sometimes it takes a bit for the kid to catch up to the body (looking squarely at you B1), sometimes it take the body a bit to catch up to the kid. I was a shortish, fast, strong armed wanna be QB in an era where they’d started deciding they wanted tall QBs.

Parents divorced while I was in high school, I didn’t get a push to stick with it and quit playing - had a late growth spurt halfway through HS (a reasonable one, not B1 level growth spurt).

Became a sand lot junkie playing anything / anywhere I could, always wish I’d continued playing HS ball all of the way through.

Dunno, ...until he’s declared unfit, I give the kid benefit of the doubt. He’ll know when time comes, and it’s ok to try until then.

[baldy1]

Oct 8, 2019 6:18:30 GMT -6 allend said:

Or, kid could stick with it, grow into his body and be what he wants to be. Sometimes it takes a bit for the kid to catch up to the body (looking squarely at you B1), sometimes it take the body a bit to catch up to the kid. I was a shortish, fast, strong armed wanna be QB in an era where they’d started deciding they wanted tall QBs.

Parents divorced while I was in high school, I didn’t get a push to stick with it and quit playing - had a late growth spurt halfway through HS (a reasonable one, not B1 level growth spurt).

Became a sand lot junkie playing anything / anywhere I could, always wish I’d continued playing HS ball all of the way through.

Dunno, ...until he’s declared unfit, I give the kid benefit of the doubt. He’ll know when time comes, and it’s ok to try until then.

’Tis certainly true he could become a player. Just depends on how hard he works. We have a kid that is the tallest kid in our middle school by 4-5 inches. He played on my kid’s middle school basketball team last year and improved a little bit but was mostly painful to watch because he was so klutzy. His dad has been telling him he’s one of the top players in the county, mostly because of his size. He had a few decent games and has potential IF he worked hard. He didn’t work in the offseason, showed up for tryouts last week out of shape and guess who got cut? (It helped that another large kid HAD been working hard and showed up in shape.)

I was a y’all klutzy kid and I put in the work and ended up doing ok in athletic endeavors as a kid. We coulda won state if coach put me in.....(lol). My older kid is also a testament to what hard work can do as he isn’t a natural athlete like my younger one but he works his butt off and it’s looking like he could make varsity basketball in 10th grade in a 7A school with TONs of athletes. It can be done. (In some schools, younger kids playing varsity is the norm, but at our school, it’s not. Our coach won’t usually invite but one or maybe two 10th graders to join varsity annually as he has tons of older talent to choose from.)

This kid’s biggest disadvantage is his parents whispering in his ear that he’s the best instead of pushing him a little to work on his craft. If he wants it, it’s possible with work. Therefore, I believe in work. Hard work.....

Side note - if I’m coaching and a dad told his kid to ignore me, that kid would ride the bench the rest of the season.

[allend]

Oct 8, 2019 9:56:05 GMT -6 baldy1 said:

Oct 8, 2019 6:18:30 GMT -6 allend said:

Or, kid could stick with it, grow into his body and be what he wants to be. Sometimes it takes a bit for the kid to catch up to the body (looking squarely at you B1), sometimes it take the body a bit to catch up to the kid. I was a shortish, fast, strong armed wanna be QB in an era where they’d started deciding they wanted tall QBs.

Parents divorced while I was in high school, I didn’t get a push to stick with it and quit playing - had a late growth spurt halfway through HS (a reasonable one, not B1 level growth spurt).

Became a sand lot junkie playing anything / anywhere I could, always wish I’d continued playing HS ball all of the way through.

Dunno, ...until he’s declared unfit, I give the kid benefit of the doubt. He’ll know when time comes, and it’s ok to try until then.

’Tis certainly true he could become a player. Just depends on how hard he works. We have a kid that is the tallest kid in our middle school by 4-5 inches. He played on my kid’s middle school basketball team last year and improved a little bit but was mostly painful to watch because he was so klutzy. His dad has been telling him he’s one of the top players in the county, mostly because of his size. He had a few decent games and has potential IF he worked hard. He didn’t work in the offseason, showed up for tryouts last week out of shape and guess who got cut? (It helped that another large kid HAD been working hard and showed up in shape.)

I was a y’all klutzy kid and I put in the work and ended up doing ok in athletic endeavors as a kid. We coulda won state if coach put me in.....(lol). My older kid is also a testament to what hard work can do as he isn’t a natural athlete like my younger one but he works his butt off and it’s looking like he could make varsity basketball in 10th grade in a 7A school with TONs of athletes. It can be done. (In some schools, younger kids playing varsity is the norm, but at our school, it’s not. Our coach won’t usually invite but one or maybe two 10th graders to join varsity annually as he has tons of older talent to choose from.)

This kid’s biggest disadvantage is his parents whispering in his ear that he’s the best instead of pushing him a little to work on his craft. If he wants it, it’s possible with work. Therefore, I believe in work. Hard work.....

Side note - if I’m coaching and a dad told his kid to ignore me, that kid would ride the bench the rest of the season.

Instead of sentencing the kid to the bench for his father’s transgressions,..you could maybe, you know.. coach him...just a thought. Or at least off to the side tell him - “coaches way or another way....I know which one gets playing time...that whole “team” thing”

[API]

Oct 8, 2019 14:29:01 GMT -6 allend said:

Oct 8, 2019 9:56:05 GMT -6 baldy1 said:

’Tis certainly true he could become a player. Just depends on how hard he works. We have a kid that is the tallest kid in our middle school by 4-5 inches. He played on my kid’s middle school basketball team last year and improved a little bit but was mostly painful to watch because he was so klutzy. His dad has been telling him he’s one of the top players in the county, mostly because of his size. He had a few decent games and has potential IF he worked hard. He didn’t work in the offseason, showed up for tryouts last week out of shape and guess who got cut? (It helped that another large kid HAD been working hard and showed up in shape.)

I was a y’all klutzy kid and I put in the work and ended up doing ok in athletic endeavors as a kid. We coulda won state if coach put me in.....(lol). My older kid is also a testament to what hard work can do as he isn’t a natural athlete like my younger one but he works his butt off and it’s looking like he could make varsity basketball in 10th grade in a 7A school with TONs of athletes. It can be done. (In some schools, younger kids playing varsity is the norm, but at our school, it’s not. Our coach won’t usually invite but one or maybe two 10th graders to join varsity annually as he has tons of older talent to choose from.)

This kid’s biggest disadvantage is his parents whispering in his ear that he’s the best instead of pushing him a little to work on his craft. If he wants it, it’s possible with work. Therefore, I believe in work. Hard work.....

Side note - if I’m coaching and a dad told his kid to ignore me, that kid would ride the bench the rest of the season.

Instead of sentencing the kid to the bench for his father’s transgressions,..you could maybe, you know.. coach him...just a thought. Or at least off to the side tell him - “coaches way or another way....I know which one gets playing time...that whole “team” thing”

If the kid isn’t following the coach’s instructions, that’s on the kid. Sure, he’s caught in the middle, but if he’s going to follow outside coaching, maybe he ought to play on an outside team.

[Jet]

Benched by your sports coach?

Call me, kid.

Alexander Shunnarah!