MarathonMike
Diamond Member
I wrote a similar post awhile back, but now that my son has graduated college and his baseball days are behind him, I feel compelled to give you a first hand perspective into the very costly, stressful world of club sports.
My son was a pitcher since he was 9. He is left handed and was always better than most of the kids he played with, even as a hitter up through high school. We joined our first club ball team when he was 10. Going from the mellow world of Little League, we weren't ready for the nasty, ego driven, psycho parents of club ball. I mean WOW. The original coach left and the assistant who took over made his son the number one pitcher even though he would average about 6 walks and 2 hit batters a game. We paid a total of a couple thousand dollars in coaches fees, tournament fees, uniform fees, field fees etc. That was just one season and the cheapest by far.
Over the next few years it was a combination of Little League and club ball teams. Out of state tournaments, national tournaments, lessons, cage time, baseball bats, etc. etc. etc. Cha Chiing Cha Cha Ching. Yes by the time he was in high school we were in to the tune of a bout 20 thousand. Then came high school ball which was pretty great. For the first time in 10 years his team made a deep run for the state championship. He had the good fortune to start against and beat the defending state champion pitching a complete game. I have never NEVER been more nervous in my entire life for anything. And never been happier when he got the last out.
I'll probably remember that day on my death bed.
But there was also still club ball teams and American Legion teams and as always the cash register was still ringing. By the end of high school the tally was probably well over 30 thousand.
So what's my point? It is this. Even though my son had all the experience and was a proven Division 1 level pitcher, ranked in the top 5 he wasn't picked by any D1 school Why? He wasn't over 6 feet tall and he didn't throw 90 MPH. Period. So after all the hype and expense and travelling he ended up going to small colleges to play ball where he probably could have gone without all that fuss.
I look at a couple of my relatives who are neck deep into club sports with their kids and I see myself 10 years ago wigging out every time my kid didn't play or was dissed by some coach. It's all about ego really. At any club tournament you go to there are hundreds of kids playing right? Out of those hundreds of kids maybe 3 or 4 will make it to a D1 school. And out of all the D1 kids, maybe one or two per team will have some minor league career. A pro career is a 1 in 100,000 shot. Or worse.
Just be honest with yourself and your kid. If you buy into the hype that your kid is going to be a pro or even D1, he better be a straight up beast otherwise you will be in for a surprise. For division 1, they recruit based on projectability, not on your kids stats. They will give full ride scholarships to some kids who have barely played the sport but have such speed size and strength they gamble they can teach him. I talked to one coach who was recruiting my son for a D2 school and he said they picked up a couple Canadian hockey players because of how fast their reflexes were even though they played almost no baseball!
My son was a pitcher since he was 9. He is left handed and was always better than most of the kids he played with, even as a hitter up through high school. We joined our first club ball team when he was 10. Going from the mellow world of Little League, we weren't ready for the nasty, ego driven, psycho parents of club ball. I mean WOW. The original coach left and the assistant who took over made his son the number one pitcher even though he would average about 6 walks and 2 hit batters a game. We paid a total of a couple thousand dollars in coaches fees, tournament fees, uniform fees, field fees etc. That was just one season and the cheapest by far.
Over the next few years it was a combination of Little League and club ball teams. Out of state tournaments, national tournaments, lessons, cage time, baseball bats, etc. etc. etc. Cha Chiing Cha Cha Ching. Yes by the time he was in high school we were in to the tune of a bout 20 thousand. Then came high school ball which was pretty great. For the first time in 10 years his team made a deep run for the state championship. He had the good fortune to start against and beat the defending state champion pitching a complete game. I have never NEVER been more nervous in my entire life for anything. And never been happier when he got the last out.
I'll probably remember that day on my death bed.
But there was also still club ball teams and American Legion teams and as always the cash register was still ringing. By the end of high school the tally was probably well over 30 thousand.
So what's my point? It is this. Even though my son had all the experience and was a proven Division 1 level pitcher, ranked in the top 5 he wasn't picked by any D1 school Why? He wasn't over 6 feet tall and he didn't throw 90 MPH. Period. So after all the hype and expense and travelling he ended up going to small colleges to play ball where he probably could have gone without all that fuss.
I look at a couple of my relatives who are neck deep into club sports with their kids and I see myself 10 years ago wigging out every time my kid didn't play or was dissed by some coach. It's all about ego really. At any club tournament you go to there are hundreds of kids playing right? Out of those hundreds of kids maybe 3 or 4 will make it to a D1 school. And out of all the D1 kids, maybe one or two per team will have some minor league career. A pro career is a 1 in 100,000 shot. Or worse.
Just be honest with yourself and your kid. If you buy into the hype that your kid is going to be a pro or even D1, he better be a straight up beast otherwise you will be in for a surprise. For division 1, they recruit based on projectability, not on your kids stats. They will give full ride scholarships to some kids who have barely played the sport but have such speed size and strength they gamble they can teach him. I talked to one coach who was recruiting my son for a D2 school and he said they picked up a couple Canadian hockey players because of how fast their reflexes were even though they played almost no baseball!
