Rifle:

[Marine03]

I know you played baseball, so I'll direct this question to you. My son is 7, he's a very good baseball player and he's been asked to play travel ball and house ball next season. That equates to about 35-40 games as an 8 year old between both leagues. The travel team practices year round but I won't let him drop other sports to play baseball exclusively. Do you think that many games at that age is beneficial or too much for a kid that young? It's all different from when I played, we all played house and then All-Star and after that you're done. My fear is a burnout early, what do you think?

 

[i am herdman]

I coached them at that age for several years and older ages. My opinion at 7 it is too much. But, that is just my opinion. rifle, may have a different opinion as a high level player. 7 year olds don't have much attention span and you don't want to burn him out early on.

Smart move not making him focus on just one sport at that age.

 

[CockyHerd]

I only speak from personal experience.

My son played big time travel baseball from age 9. Even though he still played multiple sports, he was burned out on baseball by age 16. He quit following a Summer in which he was named to the AAU Nationals 1st Team. Broke my heart but he was mentally done. (He was a left handed pitcher) Several of his teammates are currently playing in the minor leagues.

Every kid is different but personally I think we started too soon. There were times that he would go straight from baseball to basketball practice.

Honestly in my opinion no one knows how good a kid is going to be until they move up to the big field at 12 or 13. Anything prior to that should be fun and build upon a love of the game. By age 14-15 my kid didn't love it anymore, it had become a job. He loved basketball and golf and still plays both as an adult. He ended up working in the golf industry.

Just my 2 cents.....

 

[i am herdman]

Travel Ball at 7? No way, i would get involved in that crap.

 

[Dreh_Nagi_HC_IM]

Travel Ball at 7? No way, i would get involved in that crap.

It's a money grabbing scheme. I was doing this woman several years back, and her daughter was like 9 years old and joined a travel volleyball team. I'm talking spending thousands and thousands of dollars traveling almost every weekend to places across the midwest. Couldn't pay her damn mortgage or utilities, and cut off cable TV, but dammit, her daughter and her traveled the country. Good woman to have sex with from time to time, but I can't live without cable tv.

 

[WV-FAN]

It's a money grabbing scheme. I was doing this woman several years back, and her daughter was like 9 years old and joined a travel volleyball team. I'm talking spending thousands and thousands of dollars traveling almost every weekend to places across the midwest. Couldn't pay her damn mortgage or utilities, and cut off cable TV, but dammit, her daughter and her traveled the country. Good woman to have sex with from time to time, but I can't live without cable tv.

pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Dreh_Nagi_HC_IM]

pics or it didn't happen.

I'm not lying. Here you go.

 

[WV-FAN]

I'm not lying. Here you go.

 

[herdfan429]

Travel ball at that age is a joke. No way should the kid be playing both travel ball and local ball. Good for you for not forcing him to specialize. I've said for years to parents they shouldn't specialize until high school unless they are lebron James.
Rifle will probably disagree but coming from the injury side of things to much repetitive over head throwing at that age can cause some injuries down the line.

 

[HerdBuckeye]

I'm not lying. Here you go.

Could have guessed this without a photo.

 

[C.K. Ocsevol-Evad]

I'm not lying. Here you go.

Decent face for her age.

 

[Marine03]

Decent face for her age.

Is that the fat kid from the Goonies with a mullet?

 

[i am herdman]

She has to give good head.

 

[sistersville]

In the good days before women came to every practice the kids played liitle leauge from 10 to 12. That group of 7 year olds would play what we call minor leauge. The 10 to 12 group can make it to williamsport. The all star teams that travel really are not kids picked by the leauge. Usually a father who has a very good son playing will hand pick the best players they can get. When the saeson is over then its football season so i would hope they would play football. I have read the cream rises to the top and with these kids that is true. Kids SOMETIMES get the big head about playing on these travel teams. They need to practice more too. It doesnt help a kid to only play one sport is my opinion. Marine that is awesome you behind your son. Baseball is a skilled sport. Its a tougher came to play than football or basketball. Its the eye hand cordination some kids cant conquer. I would say My dad hit me 500,000 ground balls. His main rule was to charge the ball and not sit back and wait. I learned early to throw on the run and cross my body. I have my 2 year old grandson swinging a bat and hitting a wiffle ball. I hope most of all he takes his school work seriously and goes to college. He wont lay around the house and play video games.

 

[GK4Herd]

I coached travel ball for years. I have mixed emotions. I think there's good and bad. I coached a group of girls that we kept five or six together from 8u up to around 16u. I can honestly say that the 8 year old group was the most enjoyable. We played a slate of local tournaments and had a few road trips (Columbus, Lexington) that were within three hours. We were very good and it was low pressure and the kids enjoyed it.

As we moved up to 10 and 12 it involved a lot of travel, year round practice, and money. Another dynamic kicked in around this age too...parents. If you pick the right coach and not become one of those parents that put pressure on your kids and coaches I think it can be a rewarding experience. I encouraged my players to play other sports. I had kids that had basketball overlap with softball and we sat down and scheduled to accommodate both. Sometimes they missed a weekend game or two. Who cares...kids don't know what direction they'll go in high school. No way they should specialize at that age. Make sure you pick a coach that can work with different sports. Some won't allow it.

Some kids decide it isn't for them. Some kids gets passed up physically by other kids and leave the sport (my daughter). But some kids go on to the college level. It's a thrill to be asked to speak at their high school college signing ceremony. There's three kids on Marshall's softball team that were on one of my teams at one point. I watch them smiling and it looks like they still have a love for the game and several have been playing year round since they were seven or eight.

So if you find a coach that stresses fundamentals and teaches rather than yells, it can be rewarding. Also it means you have to keep your emotion out of it as a parent. I'd say the biggest burnout factor came with kids who had dads or moms whe chastised mistakes and put pressure on the coaches to give their kids preferential treatment. The worst thing for the game was that group of dads who couldn't volunteer their time but loved to huddle along the fence to second guess every decision the coach made and to yell at their kids for making mistakes.

Baseball and softball is a game and should be fun. If you pick the right situation it can be beneficial.

 

[big_country90]

Baseball is the only sport I know where every player (tee ball, minor league age, at least) on the field doesn't want to be there. "Are we done coach?" "When do we get to go home, coach?" It's so funny.

I've coached the last two years in Hurricane since my son started playing. He really likes baseball and has gotten pretty good...and he is only 5. In the Hurricane Baseball League, halfway through the tee ball season, they start using the pitching machine. It's been really good for the kids as their hand/eye coordination improves with each game.

My son made all stars this year. I'm a proud dad. But after this weekend's all star game, we're done for a while. I'm letting him be a kid. Travel ball is too much this young. We can always go to the batting cages or practice in my yard.

 

[herdfan06]

I'm not lying. Here you go.

Is that you or her?

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

Overuse injuries are becoming the norm for older kids and teenagers these days. Sports are year round - school, travel, practice, tourneys, etc. Kids have to have time to be kids and just chill out. If not, they'll get nagging injuries and constantly be in pain, or burn out at 13 or so.

 

[i am herdman]

I'll never forget when my son was wrestling in high school when the baseball coach wanted the baseball players to work out with the wrestling team during the baseball teams offseason to condition. Not one baseball player could hang through the wrestling conditioning and that was just the part before the wrestling practice. LOL

 

[GK4Herd]

I'll never forget when my son was wrestling in high school when the baseball coach wanted the baseball players to work out with the wrestling team during the baseball teams offseason to condition. Not one baseball player could hang through the wrestling conditioning and that was just the part before the wrestling practice. LOL

People who have never experienced wrestling have no clue how tough and miserable the sport is. After wrestling in high school and college I have no desire to even watch the sport on tv.

 

[Marine03]

People who have never experienced wrestling have no clue how tough and miserable the sport is. After wrestling in high school and college I have no desire to even watch the sport on tv.

I got out of it for years but now I'm entrenched in it. My son wrestles and I'm taking over the Club after this season. My daughter is signed up also. It's always been a family sport for me though. Where did you wrestle at College?

 

[wvkeeper(HN)]

This thread is part of the reason I am reticent to put my kids in youth sports. I'm pretty serious about "family time" and if you are at a ballpark, field, gym, etc... 7 days a week it makes it difficult to spend any real time together as unit.

Real lack of true "rec league" sports, especially for baseball/softball, in my area just creates more of a disincentive.

This comes from a guy who played collegiate soccer and knows what "travel league" does to a family's pocketbook, and that was 25 years ago when it was 2% of what the nuttiness is now.

 

[GK4Herd]

I got out of it for years but now I'm entrenched in it. My son wrestles and I'm taking over the Club after this season. My daughter is signed up also. It's always been a family sport for me though. Where did you wrestle at College?

Marshall. Under Bob Barnett and my senior year Ezra Simpkins.

 

[i am herdman]

My son finished up his senior year of football and weighed 210 or so. Went into wrestling season and he was their 195. Or he would sometimes bumpeople up wrestle 220. Then they came email to him due to some injuries and told him to get 182 for a couple of duals meets.

He said football practice was a cakewalk compared to wrestling.

 

[herdfan429]

My son finished up his senior year of football and weighed 210 or so. Went into wrestling season and he was their 195. Or he would sometimes bumpeople up wrestle 220. Then they came email to him due to some injuries and told him to get 182 for a couple of duals meets.

He said football practice was a cakewalk compared to wrestling.

Highly doubt he would have been able to get to 182 legally if the nchssa requires weight certification.

 

[Marine03]

Highly doubt he would have been able to get to 182 legally if the nchssa requires weight certification.

Depends on the time he was in school. I went from 185 to 152 my junior year in the early 90's.

 

[herdfan429]

Depends on the time he was in school. I went from 185 to 152 my junior year in the early 90's.

Which is exactly why the new weight certification rule was put into place. And his son just recently graduated

 

[i am herdman]

Highly doubt he would have been able to get to 182 legally if the nchssa requires weight certification.

Well he did

He weighs 187 two years later and being in the military. He wrestled 197 in college and was down in the 180s.

 

[i am herdman]

Which is exactly why the new weight certification rule was put into place. And his son just recently graduated

You can go up and down a weight class. When he wrestled 182 it wa at the part of the season where there was a pound or two allowance

He was a state qualifier at 195 and was about 187 at that point.

 

[herdfan429]

​

Well he did

He weighs 187 two years later and being in the military. He wrestled 197 in college and was down in the 180s.

When did he do his weight certification? Is there a variance given later in the season? I'm not questioning you and whether or not he did it. I am responsible for doing weight certifications and have a pretty good idea of what should usually happen with how much weight they can drop etc

 

[i am herdman]

When did he do his weight certification? Is there a variance given later in the season? I'm not questioning you and whether or not he did it. I am responsible for doing weight certifications and have a pretty good idea of what should usually happen with how much weight they can drop etc

I don't know the exact date he did his certification. It has been a couple of years ago. Yes, there is a late season variance. He weighed near 210. Got down to 195 pretty quickly. Then he went down to about 187 or so. He only wrestled 182 in one or two matches and had the late season variance.

He dieted and drank ass tons of water. And like I said wrestling conditioning was a different animal. Although he played football he would not be in wrestling shape during football season. He dropped maybe 20 lbs. Not like that is astronomical

He said wrestling helped more than any other sport.

 

[GK4Herd]

I wrestled 132 all three years in high school. I played football up to my junior year and finally got tired of coming out of football weighing 160-165 and having to lose down to my class. In college I wrestled 142 and 150. My natural weight was way above that mark. In retrospect it wasn't very smart to lose that kind of weight. But this was the 70s and we were just coming out of the period where coaches thought giving you water was making you a sissy. I never loved anything more (at the time) and regretted it even worse after I got older and looked back.

I can remember waking up in Hodges in the middle of the night and my tongue would be stuck to the roof of my mouth it was so dry. I walked into the hallway to the water fountain (this was before bottled water) and I would rinse my mouth and spit it out. I didn't even drink it in fear of not making weight. Dang that was stupid. When coach Barnett retired I decided not to go out my senior year, but during the summer I got a call from "Bear" Simpkins ( the new coach) and he talked me into going back out. He fired me up so much on the phone I took a garbage bag out, tore arm and head holes in it and took off running at 10:00 at night.

Good lord...youth makes you stupid. But I will say this. When I got into the work world and saw people folding and whining over the slightest things I realized the value of sports. A little adversity certainly didn't phase me.

 

[wisemaniac]

I wrestled 132 all three years in high school. I played football up to my junior year and finally got tired of coming out of football weighing 160-165 and having to lose down to my class. In college I wrestled 142 and 150. My natural weight was way above that mark. In retrospect it wasn't very smart to lose that kind of weight. But this was the 70s and we were just coming out of the period where coaches thought giving you water was making you a sissy. I never loved anything more (at the time) and regretted it even worse after I got older and looked back.

I can remember waking up in Hodges in the middle of the night and my tongue would be stuck to the roof of my mouth it was so dry. I walked into the hallway to the water fountain (this was before bottled water) and I would rinse my mouth and spit it out. I didn't even drink it in fear of not making weight. Dang that was stupid. When coach Barnett retired I decided not to go out my senior year, but during the summer I got a call from "Bear" Simpkins ( the new coach) and he talked me into going back out. He fired me up so much on the phone I took a garbage bag out, tore arm and head holes in it and took off running at 10:00 at night.

Good lord...youth makes you stupid. But I will say this. When I got into the work world and saw people folding and whining over the slightest things I realized the value of sports. A little adversity certainly didn't phase me.

How is your back & neck? I wrestled only in high school & my back/neck are a mess.

 

[GK4Herd]

How is your back & neck? I wrestled only in high school & my back/neck are a mess.

I've had surgery on my neck (had disk removed and vertebrate fused) and now struggle with lower back.

 

[C.K. Ocsevol-Evad]

Does rubbing all over guys in doggystyle while wearing leotards make you gay or did it not impact your sexuality?

 

[GK4Herd]

Does rubbing all over guys in doggystyle while wearing leotards make you gay or did it not impact your sexuality?

No clue...wanna rassle?

 

[Walden Pond]

I tip my hat to the whole lot here for keeping their kids interested in sports.

The trashy bum idiot kids now are all into video games and just being real stupid. Never go anywhere. Never do anything. Don't even want to drive when they get old enough. What the hell is that? A lot more check recipients coming down the pike, that's what.

 

[i am herdman]

I tip my hat to the whole lot here for keeping their kids interested in sports.

The trashy bum idiot kids now are all into video games and just being real stupid. Never go anywhere. Never do anything. Don't even want to drive when they get old enough. What the hell is that? A lot more check recipients coming down the pike, that's what.

Got one of those in the family. Doesn't even have or want a driver's license. Too lazy to even get one. Lazy ass

 

[C.K. Ocsevol-Evad]

No clue...wanna rassle?

If I accept, I will be wearing a protective cup just to reduce the chance of an erection in case the rubbing on another guy does turn me gay.

 

[i am herdman]

If I accept, I will be wearing a protective cup just to reduce the chance of an erection in case the rubbing on another guy does turn me gay.

I thought you were the catcher.?