After a long weekend of baseball games in Jacksonville (four games in two days), South Florida Thunder players piled into their parents' cars on a recent Sunday afternoon for the 480-mile trip home.
If they had made it to the finals, they would have played Game 5. But now, with a 2-2 record and a loss in the semifinals, it's time to return to Palm Beach County. The boys needed to rest and prepare for school the next morning.
Most are second year students.
Welcome to the world of Coach Pitch Travel Baseball. This isn't your dad's Little League, where neighborhood kids get together to play friendly games against each other representing teams sponsored by the local hardware store or pharmacy. This is a higher level of competition for her six-year-olds, who are recognized as “elite.”
During a travel team game in West Palm Beach in March, a 6-year-old boy was hit in the chest by a baseball and went into cardiac arrest. Six-year-old Oscar Steube was playing center field for a travel team at Phipps Park when he was hit by a “plain” pop fly and fell to the ground, his father, Riley Steube, told WPB-TV. said in an interview. TV channel operated. Oscar recovered, but some wondered why a 6-year-old would play travel ball.
Most teams that coach pitch are in the 8U (8 and under) division, but there are approximately 34 7U teams registered in the state, some of which play in the South Florida Travel Baseball League. Including 5 teams. The South Florida Thunder, who practice in North Palm Beach, field two 7U teams, including one that played in Jacksonville.
“Over the last 20 years, travel ball has evolved into this beast,” says Palm Beach Gardens High School coach Matt Judkins. “The age issue has gotten completely out of hand.”
That's one perspective. Some say players should be given the opportunity to compete at a higher level, even as sophomores and juniors.
“If you're a really good kid at the 8U level, it doesn't make sense to play rec ball with kids who can't catch the ball and might get hurt,” Lake Worth owner Oscar Santaro said. A travel baseball league based in South Florida.
While the debate continues, both sides agree that more young children are playing travel ball, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down.
How young is too young?
Joey Nearing coaches the South Florida Thunder Black, one of the top 7U teams in the area. His son plays on the team and often competes with (or wins against) his 8U team.
Nearing acknowledged that there are “definitely some conflicting views” on when kids should start playing travel ball. But his son actually spends less time on the field with the Thunder than he did last spring, when he played T-ball and was named to the All-Star team.
“We were out six days a week,” he said. “Now it's usually four days a week, with two practices and two games, or sometimes just one game.”
The trip to Jacksonville was the first true road tournament of the season, Nearing said. With so many opponents available, teams typically play opponents from Palm Beach County or the Treasure Coast.
“They are now more developed,” he said. “It's how you look at it. … I really think it's a great experience for our boys, and they seem to like it.”
Jerry Parker is in his first year coaching the West Boynton Cobras 8U team. Most of his travel coaching experience has been at the 10U and 11U levels, and he faced some distinct challenges when working with younger kids.
“One of the things we struggled with with this 8U team was getting parents to understand that travel ball is more structured and advanced than a typical Little League coach's pitch,” he said. said. “It's harder to confine kids and give them attention the younger they are.”
Still, Parker says, “If the talent level is there, the parents and the kids are committed, and the kid wants to go to middle school or high school and become a baseball player, I think a 7- or 8-year-old is fine.” . (To start) I'm young. ”
At the other end of the spectrum is Judkins, who works with the older age groups in travel ball as they prepare players for high school.
“I'm an old-school guy,” he said. “I grew up in Maine and in high school he played four different sports. I'm definitely against any age group below 12U.”
travel ball business
Chad Mills is in a unique position to comment on the changing nature of travel ball, serving as both the vice president of the Wellington Colts and head baseball coach at Benjamin.
Mills is 13 years oldth Spent the season with the Colts. He interviews and hires travel coaches, organizes tryouts, and oversees social media.
“We're still old-school travel,” Mills said, explaining that the Colts employ only volunteer coaches and are one of the few organizations to require travel players to compete in spring recreational leagues.
The trend for new travel teams is to hire paid coaches, thereby increasing the amount teams can charge parents, and to incorporate players into travel-only schedules. Mills said the Colts were unable to field 8U and 11U teams this spring because they were unable to find a coach.
“We’re losing kids and sometimes entire teams because they think they’re missing out on opportunities,” he said.
Parker said West Boynton operates in a similar manner, but teams are not required to play in a recreational league. “We are a nonprofit organization,” he said. “We calculate our expenses for the month, divide it by 12 players, and that's our dues. We don't make any money on it. The coaches don't get paid anything. yeah.”
But the Colts and Cobras are among the travel world's elder statesmen. New teams are emerging all the time. More and more parents are interested in letting their children play travel ball. Competition for players is wide open, even at the 7U and his 8U levels, and the gap between the haves and have-nots seems to be widening.
“In the past, we had more quality kids, kids who were more advanced for their age,” Parker said. “Nowadays, I think it's become a lot more tenuous, and almost anyone can say, 'Okay, I want to pretend I'm traveling.'
“I knew someone who didn't like the travel team they were on because their kids weren't playing in the infield, so they started a whole new team. Now they've got 12 more players on there. It's probably something you probably shouldn't have been on the travel side of things. ”
Mills summarized this as follows: “Now anyone can have a team. … Youth baseball has become a business. The sooner you get kids into the program, the more money you can make.”
more:4 things to know about Ole Miss committing Jackson Miller as Dwyer baseball heads to regional semifinals
Discussion of single-sport vs. multi-sport athletes
One criticism of travel ball is that children are confined to one sport from a young age, which can lead to early burnout, especially during the fall and spring seasons. But league coaches and officials say that's not the case.
Nehring, the Thunder coach, said his son also plays basketball and football. Two of his teammates travel to play his hockey.
Mills emphasizes the need for coaching candidates to be flexible with multi-sport athletes. “It's not common sense to have kids only play one sport at 8, 10 or even 12 years old,” he says.
Mills extends that philosophy to high school coaching. Benjamin, one of the top programs in the county, also has players in basketball, soccer, tennis and swimming.
more:Playoff Softball: Five local teams still in contention heading to Clermont for state title
“During fall practice, sometimes we only have a few kids because other kids are out playing other sports,” he said. “For me, that's great.”
The spring travel season is now over, and Memorial Day tournaments are unofficially over. A 7-year-old and her 8-year-old are taking a few months off to enjoy summer vacation. And it's time to start preparing for fall.
Travel ball is here to stay, for better or worse.
