[pscates2.0]

I've had my eyes opened recently...the costs, the "competition", the removal of "it's a game for kids to have fun" aspects, etc. that were all not this way when I played 30+ years ago.

My sister's two kids, a girl and a boy, both play. And I was talking with Dad about the costs involved and how it's just such a completely different thing than all I've ever known.

When I played, we had our own gloves. And we had to pay for a little team T-shirt and hat (and a fuller uniform, once I progressed up a bit). But helmets, bats, etc. were always provided by the coach. Now I hear that parents (including my sister and her husband) are spending $60-80 per bat, per kid, and funky helmets (apparently nothing is provided anymore, and the parents are pretty much on the hook for everything) and then they go play on a Saturday all day long (these "elimination" tournament things that keep you at the ball field for 9-12 hours every week...my mom goes and stays the entire time). How do you get other things done? Birthday parties, yard work, and just normal "kid/family" stuff?

And they travel too. Several times a season they'll go hours away to play in some tourney, but it's always a two-day affair which requires overnight lodging, etc. If I knew the money my sister's family has spent just so her kids could "play little league ball", I'd probably have a cow and keel right over. Easily well into the four figures at this point. They'll spend close a grand each season because I know there is some sort of $300-ish fee, there are team pictures, uniforms, you pay to play on a certain kind of league, you have to buy the gear (and kids at that age outgrow shoes and stuff in months, they grow like weeds).

It's all made my head spin!

The fees to even play, period, are outrageous.

I don't have kids of my own so I've never had to encounter this. In my naive way of thinking, I just assumed it was all "the way it used to be".

I can't buy into such a fun, pure thing taking on this type of stuff...

What do poor kids do? They can't afford to play on these teams and buy the gear. And everyone's outfitted like little 40-pound major leaguers now.

Was talking with Dad a few weeks ago and I said "I'd like to just start a 'normal' little league, that's truly about the game and actually learning the fundamentals and how to play the game...", which brings me to my final point that really blew me away: Dad says nobody knows what they're doing. He goes and watches the kids play, and they have like three coaches on the field and every time there's a hit, catch or play, the kid looks to the coaches for "what to do", and the coaches all yell "throw it to second" or "tag up and run" or whatever.

Isn't that the kind of stuff that should be covered and drilled in practice, so when you get on the field to play a game, it's just the kids putting what they've learned at practice into play for real?

So for all this money and outlay and time spent, it's just these "trappings"...you look the part of a ballplayer, you've got the (expensive) gear, but you don't really know what to do once you catch or scoop up a ball, or how to respond in various situations and plays? We learned the hell out of that stuff, even when I was 5-6. I don't ever recall coaches actually on the field, telling us what to do every step of the way. I knew, as a third base or shortstop, what to do in any number of scenarios. That is not the case here, from what I hear.

But, don't worry...everyone, every team, gets a trophy.

I nearly fell off my stool at that.

So...we've dumbed it down, paid hundreds of dollars to buy all the right "stuff", kids have no idea what to do on the field, parents and coaches are acting like raving shitheads the entire game and there's no real incentive for anyone to play or try harder than the rest because at the end of the season or tournament even the losing teams all get trophies (okay, they're 1" shorter - and slightly less ornate - than the winning trophies, so there's that). God forbid it's taught that "you win some, you lose some...try harder next year so you can earn that big trophy next time".

There's your incentive and motivation, built right in. Doesn't cost one extra dime either.

"Here's something you want - this trophy...work for it! Try harder, play better, learn how to hit and throw better. It could really pay off!"

I've learned all the above in just the past 6-8 days, all these crazy things. Blew my mind, people.

[RowdyScot]

You think that's bad? Look into the costs of youth hockey. Dwarfs baseball.

[pscates2.0]

Well, hockey doesn't get much traction down here (nobody in Tennessee grows up playing/loving that sport like they might in Canada or the northern U.S.) so I wouldn't know. But yeah, I'm sure it would because there's just as much, if not more, gear involved.

[RowdyScot]

It's the same for all youth league sports anymore, unfortunately. One of the reasons I left coaching youth hockey. That, and watching people spend over $6000+/season for travel hockey on their kid who wouldn't go beyond the HS/juniors/college club team level was depressing.

Parents scream at everyone about everything. I got death threats on multiple occasions. There may be skills passed on, but so few of these kids will legitimately move beyond a certain plateau, and the parents are doing nothing more than trying to impose their own dreams on their kids.

[pscates2.0]

Exactly. xEleventy.

Grown-ups pretty much ruin everything for kids.

[Eugene]

It depends on where you live. Here it starts with T-Ball and then there's A-AAA, Minors and Majors. T-Ball through AA are pretty relaxed affairs, one practice and one game a week. Given there are 6 levels to go through, it shouldn't be a surprise how competitive the endgame gets.

And yeah there's local Little League and then there's 'travel baseball' or 'showcase baseball.' These kids are being groomed for collegiate play or more after all.

Bats and helmets can be shared, though gloves are usually a lot more personal...

[pscates2.0]

Definitely. I had my own glove(s) during my play because things like fit and comfort, size, etc. all factor. But helmets and bats can be a little more shared (only so many size heads at that age). I remember our coach showing up to practice and games with an old olive green sea bag with about 10-12 bats. I had a favorite, but others would use it too, of course. But I'd aways try and get it. I had my own bat, but I used it at home and to play with the neighbors. They were always provided in all the years I played little league.

I didn't realize what a big, serious thing it had become.

On a somewhat-related note, I caught the last 45 minutes of The Bad News Bears the other day on AMC(?). Such a good movie. This was the original one with Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal, not the recent remake with Billy Bob Thornton. It was a favorite as a youngster, and I found myself still laughing at Tanner Boyle and the little bad-ass Kelly Leak. When I was little I thought he was so big and mean ("he's older...he smokes and rides that motorcycle!"). He's like a little 5'2" twerp! Oh, and the hottest mom ever to grace the screen. Look for the scene where the Yankees coach, played by Vic Morrow, slaps his son who is the team's picture. Check out his wife who his son leaves with. Damn, the 70's had it going on when it came to butt-enhancing jeans and midriff-baring blouses. EDIT: YouTube is awesome. That is all.

[Eugene]

I made you a glove.

[pscates2.0]

Ha. My first glove, as a little one, was blue and orange! It was a gift. Spalding or Wilson, I can't remember. Had it for a long time, even though it was kinda small (got it when I was four, I think). In my final two years, I wound up using my Dad's glove from his childhood. It was larger, but brown and, naturally, all broken in and soft.

[Eugene]

http://carpentertrade.com/

Thought this was pretty cool...one-man operation making completely synthetic 'vegan' gloves. Basically he's saying that even boutique leather from Horween is inferior quality to the old stuff due to the meat industry and how cows are raised for slaughter.