Youth Sports Injuries: Consider the Big Picture

When your kid gets an injury that sidelines him or her, do you look at the big picture? 

Do you talk toughness - playing through pain like Ripken and Gehrig? 

Or do you take a more cautious approach? 

When your kid is sidelined, does he or she understand the big picture?

On June 17th, my son hit a long line drive to right centerfield. (My wife captured the at-bat on her camera below). I watched the hard hit ball with delight. When I heard the ping of the bat, I was thinking double or triple easy. The fast centerfielder got a great jump on the ball, tracked the ball well and at the last split second reached as high as possible while running full speed to snatched the ball out of the air. I looked toward 2B to see my son's face, but he was not there. He barely made it to first base. I caught a glimpse of him as he limped toward the dugout. He found a team mom who is a trainer to stretch him out to relieve the pain. He was hoping that he could get back in the game. He never made it back in.

On June 18th, my son hit the waiting room at the orthopedic doctor and was diagnosed with a hip flexor strain. The combination of baseball and golf and growing led to the problem.

He has been on the disabled list since. He missed 4 games last weekend when the team played in a big local tournament. He missed a game played at Marge Schott Stadium on the University of Cincinnati. And it looks like he will miss a big tournament in Columbus this weekend. 

He has been going to physical therapy, taking his anti-inflammatory drugs, heating, icing and stretching as prescribed. The doctor said that he would be out 1 to 2 weeks. 

He is almost ready to come back, but we are being cautious for three reasons. We do not want him to come back early and re-injure the hip and

1) miss out on the Nations Baseball World Series in Florida. 

2) jeopardized tryouts for the high school golf team.

3) jeopardized tryouts the 2013 club baseball season. (There is a chance our team is going to breakup.)

At dinner the other night, we asked him what the physical therapist said about the timetable to get back on the field. He said with a big smile, "Another week, but I am going to give it a try tomorrow night." We said, "Really."

Still smiling, he said, "You guys are not looking at the short picture here. You are constantly looking at the big picture."

The Main Point

My son misses baseball and golf but he sees the big picture. If he returns too early and tears the hip flexor from the bone, he will be out a long, long time. He does not want to risk the Florida trip or the tryouts.

I am not as patient. I cannot wait for him to start playing again.

Youth Baseball: Another Injury Scare

Last week, my son's baseball career flashed before his eyes after an awkward swing during an indoor winter practice had him clutching his elbow. The elbow swelled immediately and turned purple.

6 yrs old

7 yrs old

8 yrs old

9 yrs old

10 yrs old

11 yrs old

12 yrs old

13 yrs old

As we drove home from practice, my son iced his arm. I could see the worry in his eyes as he stared straight ahead without saying much. I felt so sorry for him. 

Baseball is his love. In fact, he recently started some grueling work outs with a personal trainer to increase arm strength. He also started working with a baseball trainer to improve his throwing mechanics. Ironically, he was doing all of this to avoid arm injuries. 

He has had arm injuries before. At age 10, he broke the growth plate in his elbow while he was pitching. That healed fairly quickly, but while the elbow was healing, his shoulder became weak. The shoulder weakness led to shoulder pain. He battled arm discomfort off and on. Last year, he was injury free and he was really looking forward to a breakout year in 2012.

We had to wait to call for an appointment with an orthopedic because his latest injury happened on a Sunday. The ice and Advil seemed to eliminate the swelling and discoloration. The pain was minimal. Still, we made an appointment to see the doctor.

The doctor suggested an MRI and it took a week to schedule the MRI. During that long week, my son wondered if he would be playing baseball in the spring or recovering from surgery. 

Fortunately, the MRI came back negative. There was no bone or ligament damage. The swelling and discoloration was the result of a minor bursae sac issue. I was thrilled for my son and, quite frankly and selfishly, for myself. I love to watch him play and get a sense of pride from his accomplishments. 

My son's baseball career was back on track and he was back in the gym the day after the results came back.

The Main Point

All dads know how unlikely it is that their son will make the pros or even play in college. To make it, a player needs to be a very special talent, be seen by the right people at the right time and stay healthy. 

Every time I think about how unlikely it is that my son will advance in baseball, I also consider that every college and pro ballplayer has a dad who wondered the same thing. So there is a chance. The results of the MRI kept those slim chances alive.

Youth Baseball: Planning for Cooperstown Dreams Park

The Cooperstown Dreams Park baseball week is a very special event for 12 year old baseball players and their families. It's well worth the time, effort and money. The tournaments happen in the summer but the planning happens in the winter. 


Here are some of the things you should be doing in the winter to prepare for an awesome baseball experience for your team and your kid in the summer.


Stage 1 (Complete in November or December. January at the latest.)


1.       Parents - Get lodging booked for all parties who are not staying in the barracks. This includes parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. Players are not technically required to stay in the barracks. If your kid is considering not staying in the barrack for what is essentially a 5 day sleepover with friends, I would definitely re-think that because it is a memorable team building experience.


Here is link to housing options.  http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/familyguide.html  and http://www.cooperstownfamilyrentals.com/ Many families double or triple up in one house to save on costs. That is what I did. Some families they prefer to be by themselves.  Some families chose to stay in the hotels listed as well, but they are much more expensive on a nightly basis. I recently heard that a house called the Federal House right across the street from the park is nice and sleeps 14 people. Here is a list of Cooperstown house options that my team used. 


You want to look for housing now because they options are fairly limited. Start early and get the house that best fits your needs.

2.       Coaches / Parents - Make sure each player has an original birth certificate.


Players will not be eligible to play if they do not have an original birth certificate. So, it is a good idea to look for the original birth certificate in the Stage 1 period just in case you can’t find it. If you cannot find it, here is a website called VitalChek where they can order an authorized birth certificate that Cooperstown Dreams Park will accept.


3. Coaches - You need to start looking for an umpire.


Each team must supply a umpire for the week. From what I understand it is an honor to be selected and they make a few bucks. Normal pay for the ump is anywhere from $500-$800.00. Umpires stay in the barrack for free.


The Main Point


Wintertime is the time to start planning for Cooperstown. Stage 2 post, Things to do in Feb / March to follow shortly. 

Youth Baseball: Budget Planning for a Select Season

How much does it cost to run a select (travel) baseball team?

This is the time of year that an organzied select baseball coach will put together a budget for the spring season. If you are a coach, this post will help you think about your budget.

This budget is based on a 12 player team with a 65 game schedule.

Uniforms

Hats (2 colors)                                 24                        $15                   $ 360
Socks (2 pairs Home and Away)     48                        $  4                   $ 192
Jerseys (Home and Away)              24                        $40                   $ 960
Jerseys (Coaches)                           6                         $40                   $ 240
Pull Overs (Players & Coaches)     30                         $20                   $ 600
Pants (Home and Away)                24                         $30                   $ 720
Helmets (Batting)                           12                         $25                   $ 300
Helmets* (Pitching)                        12                        $25                    $ 300
Equip Bag (Reg)                            10                         $40                   $ 400
Equip Bag (Catchers)                      2                          $55                   $ 110
Equip Bag (Team)                           2                          $55                   $ 110
Shipping                                                                                               $ 225
Sub Total                                                                                           $ 4,517

* Highly Recommended

Equipment

Game Balls (Dozen)                     6                             $40                   $ 240
Practice Balls (Bucket)                 1                            $100                   $ 100
Scorebooks                                   3                          $  10                   $   30
Medical Bag                                 1                           $ 200                  $ 200
Other Gear (L Screen, etc)           1                          $ 300                  $ 300
Sub Total                                                                                             $ 870

Field / Facility Rentals     

Winter Indoor                               1                          $1000                $1,000
Home Games                              15                         $    45                $  675
Practice Field                                1                         $  500                 $  500
Sub Total                                                                                           $1,175

Assumes 15 home games. Tournament game field fees are included in the tournament fees.

Umpire Fees

Assignment Fee                           1                          $   25                 $     25
Scheduling Fee                            1                          $ 100                 $   100
Game Fees*                                25                         $    55                $1,375
Sub Total                                                                                           $1,500

* Umpire Fees for regular season games only. Tournament game umpire fees are included in the tournament fees. 

Tournaments / League / Admin

Season Tournaments                     8                          $500                $4,000
League Tournament                      1                          $500                 $   500
State Tournament                          1                          $750                $   750
National Tournament                    1                          $750                 $   750
Team Sanction Fee                       1                          $  50                $     50
Insurance                                      1                          $ 100                $   100
League Fees                                 1                          $ 500               $   500
Misc (Admin, party, etc.)             1                          $ 500                 $   500
Sub Total                                                                                           $7,150

Grand Total                                                                                     $15,212

Cost Per Player                                                                                  $1,267

The Main Point


A well thought-out budget in the pre-season helps a coach avoid surprise charges during the season and allows the players' parents to budget their money for this somewhat expensive sport.

Note - this budget was built for 12 players - Communicate to the parents that if someone decides to quit and not pay - the other players will need to pick up the difference. As a coach you do not want to get caught making up for short falls in the budget. Believe me it happens all the time. It is better to ask for more money upfront from each player and then refund it, then it is to end up short. For the budget above, I would charge each player a flat $1,350.

Youth Baseball: BBCOR Bats for Christmas?

My son wants a new BBCOR bat for this fall ball season and for next spring. I told him we are going to wait until our league officially announces the BBCOR bat mandate. 

My other reason is that it saves me money to give it to him as a Christmas present instead of a random purchase. (Dad secret.)


Before you buy - read this post and check out the BBCOR comparison app by baseball express.

Here is a well written email from my son's baseball coach to the team regarding BBCOR bats and the lower expectations in terms of batting statistics associated with them. 

2012 BATS:

At the league meeting on Saturday, we’ll be discussing the BBCOR bat issue.  I am not 100% certain at this point what the league is going to do, but wanted to give you a heads up on the issue.

The new BBCOR standard measures bat performance and replaces the previous BESR (Ball Exit Speed Ratio) standard.  The NCAA required BBCOR baseball bats for the 2011 season.  For NFHS (National Federation of High Schools), all bats must be BBCOR certified for the 2012 season. I expect the league to follow the NFHS for 13U and up at a minimum. 

BBCOR stands for Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution (What?).  Simply put, it’s a measurement of the LOSS of energy for both the ball and the bat at impact.  Instead of measuring the speed of the ball after it is batted (BESR and the current standard), BBCOR measures the “trampoline” effect on BOTH the ball and the bat.  A PITCHED ball holds a lot of energy, with wood bats much of that energy is lost as the ball compresses on impact with a dense surface.    With hollow-core aluminum or composite bats (most of our current bats) the thin walls flex which distorts the ball less therefore the ball retains more of its original PITCHED energy plus gains the power of the bat’s speed and the bat’s flexibility.  The less energy lost from the pitched ball, the faster the BATTED will be launched off the bat - therefore non-wood bats hit balls FASTER than wood bats.

For more details see http://www.stevetheump.com/BBCOR.htm 
and/or http://baseballexpress.wordpress.com/ncaa-bat-ban/

Why not just go to wood?  Money.  The expense would increase annual operating costs significantly – especially for a 24+ man high school or 35 man NCAA rosters.

The bottom line – new bats under the Christmas tree will have to carry the BBCOR stamp on the bat and may be inspected by umps this year.

LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS

The bat you put under the tree will have less hits in it

From the NCAA: 

Division I batting average, scoring and home runs per game in 2011 resemble the wood-bat 1970 era.

Division I teams in 2011 averaged 5.58 runs per game, well off the record 7.12 in 1998.

Home runs left parks at an average of .52 per team per game in 2011 compared with .94 last year and 1.06 in 1998 (also the peak year for that category). That resembles wood-bat days, too (.42) 

Batting average in 2011 was .282, the lowest since 1976.

Note - earned-run average, on the other hand, was its best (4.70) since 1980 (4.59).

The Main Point

The new bats will be much safer. And I believe that the games will be more enjoyable (See post about a great wood bat tournament). The 20-19 three hour games will be replaced with 3-2 nail biters. Pitching, bunting and fielding will become much more important. Baseball will be baseball again and I welcome the change.

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Tournament (Part 7)

Nations Baseball Premier National Championship - Gulfport, Mississippi - What to do besides play baseball

We had a good time in Gulfport, Mississippi watching our team compete in 7 games at the Nations Baseball Premier National Championship. That is a lot of games in 5 days, but we still had time to do some other things - besides eat that is.

Swim / Beach - Gulfport, MS is right on the Gulf of Mexico. The kids had a good time wading in the warm waters of the gulf. The kids could actually walk out about 1/4 of a mile and the water would still be waist high. From the beach it made me nervous, but it was really nothing to worry about. The kids enjoyed the swimming pool and the condos better.

Putt - Putt (Mini golf) - There is a family fun center on border of Biloxi and Gulfport on Beach Boulevard called Big Play. They had two 18 hole mini-golf courses.

Big Play Mini-Golf

Golf - There are lots of golf courses in the area, the players dads played on two. One was perhaps, no it was, the worst golf course I have ever played on, yet we had a blast. The first course we picked we chose alphabetically. This is not a recommended way to choose a golf course, but we were calling at 7pm on Monday night for a 8am Tuesday morning tee time. We were concerned that we waited too long. Googled "Golf Gulfport" and the first listing was Bayou Vista. I called and much to my surprise I secured two tee time 8:30 and 8:40. When we arrived we found out why it was so easy to get a tee time. The golf course is situated between the runway of the Gulfport - Biloxi International Airport and a sewage treatment plant. The club house is a trailer that is falling apart. Many of the greens were not green at all. I would not recommend this course, but we all have entertaining stories to tell about the worst golf course in America.

One story - Hole 6 (I think it was hole 6) is a dog leg right. You need a decent drive to turn the corner to have a look at the green. Unfortunately,  I teed my ball too high and popped up my drive. I had a choice to make pitch the ball down the fairway past the corner, or cut the corner over a huge sewage tank. How could you not take that golfing challenge. I needed a club to get the elevate the ball quickly, yet long enough to reach the fairway. I chose the 6 iron. That was the wrong club, the ball did not get high enough quick enough and hit the tank with a thunderous bang. Luckily, the ball did caromed into the fairway. If I did hit it in the tank, I was told I could lift clean and place it.

We also played at The Oaks. The Oaks is a really great course especially for the money $49 (Summer rate, greens fee and cart.)  The Oaks name is a apropos.  Lots of trees line each lush green fairway. The greens are tricky.

Go Karts - Big Play also has a really fun Go Kart track. We had a blast racing against each other.

Big Play Go-Karts

The Main Point

There are fun things to do besides eating and playing baseball in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Championship (Part 6)

How did the Nations Baseball Premier National Championship held in Gulfport, MS rate compared to other National tournaments?

Here is my report card on Nations Baseball Premier Level National Championship held in Gulfport, MS during the week of July 10 - 16, 2011.

My son has competed in the CABA World Series (U10 - Indianapolis, Indiana), the AAU National Championships (U11 - ESPN Disney Wide World of Sports, Orlando, Florida), Cooperstown Dreams Park (U12 - Cooperstown, NY) and Nations Baseball Premier National Championship (U13 - Gulfport, MS). It is from this broad base of experience that I feel qualified to grade these events in comparison to each other.

Opening Ceremonies: The Nations Baseball Premier National Championship started with a parade in downtown Gulfport. It could have been a great event, but very few teams participated. Our team participated to the delight of the younger siblings. I think that this will be a great opening ceremony with the proper planning, promotion and participation.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS B
• CABA - F (I don't remember any opening ceremonies)
• AAU Disney Fields - A (Disney performers entertained the players, siblings, parents and coaches.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - A (It was a bit long, but it was a festive start)

The Skills Competition: The Nations Baseball Premier National Championship started with a skills competition. You can read about it here. It was good, but not great. The Home Run fences were too far to make it exciting. The tournament committee did not make a big real about celebrating the winners or even announcing the winners on the website.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS B
• CABA - B
• AAU Disney Fields - F (I do not remember any skills competitions)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - A (Exciting competitions played out in front of a packed stadium)

The Fields: I give the fields at the Gulfport Sportsplex a B+. The grass was green, freshly cut and fast. The infield is made of crushed crimson stone that looked beautiful, dried very quickly and did not tear up skin like some crushed brick fields. The fences on the fields used for the U13 event were 8 feet high, 280 ft down the line and 300 ft straight away. This is a much more challenging distance for U13 players compared to the U12 experience in Cooperstown. Portable 3.5 foot fences were put in for the younger age groups and set at 275 feet. Portable mounds were used. I prefer dirt mounds, but I understand why portable mounds are used on fields that accommodate multiple age levels. The portable mounds used at the Gulfport Sportsplex were good. Finally, the drainage system is very good. We had a torrential rain one morning and we were able to play all the games with a minimal delay.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS B+
• CABA - C+ multiple municipal fields of varying quality.
• AAU Disney Fields - A (Perfectly manicured fields configured identically. These fields can take on lots of rain and be playable in short order.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park - A+ (20 perfectly manicured fields configured identically with reachable fences. These fields can take on more rain than the Disney fields and be playable faster.)

Gulfport Sportsplex

The Concession Stand: I give the concession stand at the Gulfport Sportsplex a F. They had a very limited menu. There were two concession stands and a snowcone truck, but the concession stand near the group of fields where we were playing was not open for all games. We played one full game on field #7 in intense heat with the stand closed up. We had to walk all the way over to field #2 to get much needed water and sports drinks. This was particularly frustrating because the tournament committee made it very clear that no outside coolers were allowed. (The team coach could bring in one specially marked cooler for team use.) Halfway through particularly hot game, the concession stand employee started to close the stand. We had to get the tournament director to remedy the situation. He was able to get the women to stay for the duration of our game. This situation was so indicative of the poor planning of this event.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade F
• CABA World Series - Grade B (Some venues were good, some not so good)
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade B - (Too expensive)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (Good food, big variety, honest prices)

Game Schedule: I give the game schedule a C. Most of the games were played later in the day 5:30 or 8:00. Perhaps this was done to avoid the heat. It does cool off at 8:00pm, but most of the games were played at 5:30 when it was still very hot. I would rather have games in the morning, so the kids can swim and have fun in the afternoon without worrying about getting tired out. Plus the parents can go out to and enjoy dinner at a reasonable hour. We were told that the tournament could not secure enough umpires for day games. I guess that makes sense.

Another reason for the C rating, the original schedule was wrong and a few game times were changed at the last minute. This made planning difficult. We were originally scheduled to play our one Wednesday game at 8pm, so many families headed to New Orleans for the day. That trip was cut short when the game time was changed to 5:30. Despite all of these issues,  most of the games were started on time and the umpires managed the games to the 2 hour time limit.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade C
• CABA World Series - Grade B
• AAU Disney Fields - Grade B - (Many doubleheaders had large gaps of time between them)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (I am not sure how they coordinate all of the teams when it is not raining, but they manage the schedule beautifully when rain delays or cancels games too.)

The Competition: Nations Baseball only attracted 7 total teams for the U13 tournament so they got an F. This 2011 inaugrial premier level tournament only attracted 7 teams and two of teams were U12 teams who had to compete at the U13 level. The tournament committee had an even tougher time attracting U12 teams. Go figure, the best U12 teams are spending their time and money in Cooperstown. The U13 teams were all talented and competitive teams, but not top level super regional teams that one would expect to see in a National Championship. The Cooperstown, CABA and the AAU National Tournaments attract a lot of high quality teams and thus these events crown worthy champions.

• Nations Baseball Gulfport, MS - Grade F
• CABA - Grade A (International teams from Puerto Rico and Panama made the event special)
• AAU Disney - Grade A  (Lots of quality teams competed in this event.)
• Cooperstown Dreams Park  - Grade A+ (Each week for 13 weeks every summer, 100 plus teams compete. There is a wide range of competitive levels competing in this event. The top teams typically prevail, but the mid-range teams can advance far.)

Click Read More for Umpire, Competition Format, Destination, Website, Tournament Committee grades

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Championship (Part 5)

Nations Baseball National Championship - Gulfport, MS - Where to Eat.

The food in southern mississippi is awesome. I can certainly understand why Mississippi is ranked #1 as the fattest state in the country. (Source Chartsbin.com)

Here is a list of team friendly restaurants.

Hog Heaven has great BBQ served either inside or outside and good music. Our entire team showed up at 8:00 or so after our game and the staff seated and served us quickly. The band was suppose to wrap up their night at 9:00, but they stayed another hour to entertain our large group. That was a smart move by the owner of the restaurant. Several of our group liked the restaurant so much they went back for lunch.

On two different nights after the games ended, our entire team showed up at the Back Bay Seafood Restaurant. This restaurant was able to accommodate a large crowd very quickly and efficiently too. The food is pretty good and very affordable. You have to eat seafood at least once while on the gulf coast and this is a family friendly place to go.

Between games of a doubleheader, my wife and two kids and I ventured down 49 toward the water looking for a cool local restaurant. We stumbled upon Big Mike's Speakeasy nestled next to the abandoned Gulfport library devastated by Katrina. The building had a New Orleans flair to it with a nice deck so we went it and we were glad that we did. The Big Mike's (Grilled Shrimp with caribbean jerk sauce was great. We enjoyed the food here so much that we returned with a big group two days later.

Click Read More - for recommendations for a great burger place and two pizza places.

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Championship (Part 4)

Nations Baseball National Championship in Gulfport, Mississippi - Where to Stay.

We have 10 families (44 people) visiting the Gulf Coast for the Nations Baseball Premier National Championship. This area, which has been devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the BP oil spill, Obama's foolhardy moratorium on offshore drilling and the struggling economy, is showing some signs of life. The landscape is dotted with foundations and parking lots without buildings, but the people here are wonderful and the southern food is amazing. If baseball did not send us this way, my family would not have chosen to come to Southern Mississippi for our summer vacation but we have enjoyed our stay.

Our 10 Families stayed in 3 different places.

1. Sienna by the Coast (3 families)
2. Sea Breeze Condominiums (4 families)
3. Courtyard by Marriott (1 family)
4. Inland condo / house (2 families)

Sienna by the Coast - Gulfport, MS

This is where we stayed. We rented a really nice three bedroom condo on the top floor of the Sienna by the Coast. The 12 story building is a well appointed luxury condo building, that sits across the street from the beach. The building has some nice pools (one inside and one out), a sauna, a whirlpool, a small gym, and a golf putting surface. Each unit has a great view of the gulf. It should be noted that it is the only significant structure for blocks in either direction (See pictures below). I was concerned about its isolated location when we first drove up, but I have been very happy with our choice. If you are looking for a quite place away from the action, then the Sienna is your place.

Other notes:

The 3 bedroom condo is huge and can easily accommodate 8 with the pull out sofa bed.

The only complaint we have about the Sienna by the Coast is that the pool closes at 10pm sharp. The full time residence don't like having loud vacationing renters splashing in the pool or talking in the poolside gazebo after 10pm. One night after we got kick off the pool deck by the security guard, we sent the kids up to the unit and a few of the parents took coolers to the beach .

Bring chairs - The Sienna by the Coast has a nice pool and pool deck but only has 12 lounge chairs. We used our baseball fold-out chairs and the two beach chairs provided by the unit.

The ball fields are only 11 miles and 17 minutes away heading north on Cowan and west on 10 Google will send you west along the beach and north on 49, but Cowan is the faster route.

The cost of the 3 bedroom / 3 full bathroom unit was $200 per night without management fees.

Sienna by the Coast

Sienna by the Sea - Looking East

Sienna by the Sea - Looking West

Click Read more to see comments on The Sea Breeze, the Marriott and general tips and tricks.

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Championship (Part 2)

The first day of the tournament started on Sunday, but there were no games. The teams had three things to do on this first day, registration, opening ceremonies / parade and the skills competition (Skills competition is covered in the next post). The following provides tips and tricks to make the most of this first day.

Registration

Team registration was from 10am to 1pm. Our team showed up at 11:45. Unlike the Cooperstown Dreams Park events with over 100 teams competing, there were only 15 premier level teams competing in this tournament across three age levels. (4 - U11, 7 - U13 and 4 - U14), so the registration process was very fast. The select level tournament that will compete next week at the same venue has attracted 66 teams across six age levels (U8 - U13), so the registration process might take longer. 

Tip One: Check the Nations website and see how many teams are competing. If the number is low registration will take 15 minutes.

Tip Two: A team picture is taken after the registration, so the team should go to registration in full uniform. Some teams wore uniform tops and allowed their kids to wear shorts for their team picture. It is up to the coach.

Opening Ceremonies and Parade

Nations holds a opening ceremony and parade in downtown Gulfport, Mississippi, not at the Nations Baseball Complex. The idea is a good one, especially for the younger teams, but with so few teams participating, it was a 10 minute parade. 

Nations Baseball Parade - Gulfport MS

Youth Baseball: Nations Baseball National Championship (Part 1)

Last summer, my son enjoyed an unbelievably positive youth baseball experience at Cooperstown Dreams Park. It was a memory of a lifetime. I blogged about Tips and Tricks for players, coaches and parents. That series of posts attracts 10,000 plus page views on my site each month and is my most popular content. This year my son is playing in the Nations Baseball Premier National Championship in Gulfport, Mississippi. The following posts will cover the event and offer helpful tips and tricks.

It should be noted that there is a link between Nations Baseball and Cooperstown Dreams Park. In 1996, the founder of Cooperstown Dreams Park, Lou Presutti started Nations Baseball, with its various leagues and tournaments, to compete against USSSA Baseball. They have had Nation Championships for the select and elite levels, but this is the first Premier Level National Championship.

Nations Baseball Offers 4 divisions of play:

• Metro - This division is your recreational league play teams. These teams are typically teams full of players who register individually and are drafted by a local league.
• Select - This division is the entry level to select baseball. These teams typically will play 25-50 games a year and are competitive with All-Star type teams.
• Elite - This division is a more competitive brand of baseball. Most of these players have been playing select baseball for several years and are becoming very fundamentally sound and will play 50-100 games a year.
• Premier - This division is the highest level of competition. Most of these players are joined by being the top players in your area. These teams will tend to play 75-125 games a year.

Nations also has tournament and league classes called Open, these events are open to all divisions of play.

The Main Point

Over the last couple of weeks I have heard lots of stories about the politics of Nations Baseball and USSSA Baseball. I do not have enough knowledge about either organization to make any opinions. The first ever Premier National Tournament will be a great experience for my son, but it is not an premier event quite yet. I do have faith that Nations baseball will eventually get it right. This year they got the baseball facility right and the host city is great. They just need to attract more and better teams to justify the "National Championship" status.

Youth Baseball: Are you on the same page with your kid's coach

In very competitive select youth sports, many kids have a coach / coaching staff and they have a private trainer. What do you do when the two fundamentally disagree? There are two ways to handle this: The right way and the wrong way.

The Wrong Way

Last year, my son experienced the first slump of his life. Over 3 seasons of select baseball, he earned a lifetime .468 batting average by hitting the ball the opposite way to left field (he bats lefty). He got on base with regularity and he caused havoc on the base paths stealing 150 or so bases in 160 or so tries. This style of play earned him a spot on the All Tournament Team at the CABA World Series. Why mess with success right?

My son is not big, but has tremendous bat speed and a lot of pop in his bat. The coach of the team recognized this and wanted my son to change his approach and pull the ball more often. He was hoping that my son would hit for more power.

Admittedly, I was not opposed to this as I believe that to be a great hitter you need to hit to all fields. This approach was counter to my son's private hitting instructor who preached looking at a pitch as long as possible and hit it the other way. He believed that as my son faced faster pitchers who also had offspeed pitches, Nic would be able to drive the fastballs to the opposite field and not be fooled by the off speed pitches.

Well, my son liked the idea of hitting more home runs so followed the plan of the team's coach. He worked on pulling the ball all winter long. When last season started, he got off to a terrible start. He was pulling off the ball and making contact with less frequency. Yes, when he made contact, the ball went farther, but his average dropped significantly. As his average dropped, so did my son's confidence and this deepened the slump. The coach tinkered some more until my son was so screwed up he could not even foul the ball off.

Age 7 Hitting to the Opposite Field

We went back to Nic's private hitting coach, Coach K. Coach K is the same coach that made my son into an opposite field hitting machine from the age of 7. I spent $60 per hour over several sessions to rebuild his swing and his confidence.

What I didn't do was tell the coach what the game plan was. He was simply not the type of coach who wanted to hear a parent's point of view. I simply told my son to follow Coach K's advice. He struggled at first, but he started to come around.

Age 12  Hit...

or Miss.

The team had an indoor batting session one mid-season rainy day. The team coach was working with Nic and undoing everything that his private hitting coach had worked on just the day before. He wanted my son to try a big leg kick as he loaded.

I yelled, somewhat rudely, for the coach and told him that we're not going to do that. I was actually surprised that I spoke up. I had to look around to see if I was the one who actually yell it. But it must have been me, because the coach glared directly at me. I collected my thoughts and I told him what we were doing and what the plan was. The could tell that the coach took umbrage with my interference.

We did not get on the same page and sadly our relationship suffered. He was a great coach for three years, but the final year with the coach was a struggle for my son and for me because I was working against him instead of with him.

The Main Point

If you are going to be involved with the development of your young athlete, get on the same page as your coach. Work with your coach not against him or her.

Youth Sports: They Do Not Last Forever

Youth sports careers can come to an end with one decision by a coach.

My son was working out with his personal baseball trainer last night. His trainer is an ex-Met organization catcher who is now a coach for a local high school team. My son's select baseball team and this local high school have formed a partnership. As part of the partnership, the school provides some coaching support and allows the team to use its facilities. The goal is to help develop more talent for the school, a school that has won numerous state championships.

Typically the facility is empty when my son works out with this coach, but last night the facility was loaded with high school freshman. Freshman players who were trying out for one of the HS teams (freshman, junior varsity or varsity).

Yesterday was cut day.

After the practice was over, the two head coaches set up chairs at the mound end of a pitching / hitting cage. Two chairs were facing the plate and one chair was facing the mound. The coaches took their positions in the two seats facing the plate. All if the kids assembled outside the cage behind home plate and waited to be called. As each was called in, they would walk the 60ft 6 inches and sit in the chair facing the coaches. Some walked with confidence and some walked with hesitation as they approached the seat and their baseball fate.

I talked to the coaches after the process was over. They both said that they love coaching baseball and dread cut day. It's a painful experience for both the players and the coaches.

The Main Point

Season is Finally Over

Only God knows when your son / daughter will play in his / her last game. Youth sports dreams can be end quickly - especially if you go to a very large and competitive high school. As such, kids should lead a balanced life. My kids are sports fanatics and play non-stop. They play at very high levels for their current ages and have high expectations to play in HS and maybe even college (A big maybe). My kids are too young to predict the future. Some kids get more athletic compared to peers as they get older and grow and others who dominated in the younger age bracket leagues regressed in comparison.

Watching the freshman kids walk off with their heads down, holding back tears made me think that I really need to prepare my kids and myself for the day that youth sports are over.

A note regarding the differences between select baseball and recreational ball. 
My son is two years away from trying out for the HS team as a freshman. I asked the coach how difficult it is to make one of the teams as a freshman. He said that most of the kids who play high level select ball have no problem making the team. In fact, he said that it is really easy to spot these kids.

He said that the toughest part of cut day is dealing with the rec ball kid who was a superstar on his team. Typically these kids think that they are good and probably are compared to other rec ball players, but the rec level players are not nearly good enough to compete with the select baseball player.

Youth Baseball: Buying a Glove for a Select Player

My son, Nic, needed a new baseball fielding glove for the 2011 season. Over the past few of weeks, I did the research on how to buy a glove for a serious teenage player. I hope you can learn from my work.

Background

Before you buy a glove you need to assess the situation. Here is our situation.

My son, Nic, signed with a new select baseball team. Like his old team, this new team plays at the highest division of youth baseball in the area.

My son had been the primary catcher for his old team for the last 3 seasons. His new baseball team has 3 other catchers, so he will not be need to catch 70-80% of the innings anymore. We are thrilled because catching can take a toll on a player. We also happy because we think that young players (6-14) should play / learn multiple positions.

At this point, we're not sure which position will be his secondary position to catching. This uncertainty makes buying a fielder's glove more difficult because there are different glove designs for different positions.

Nic is hoping to play infield but outfield is a possibility too. As such, he needs a versatile glove that will be his gamer through high school regardless of position. Nic is in 7th grade.

The sites researched

There's a lot of information on the internet regarding this topic. I visited many sites, some were good and some were bad.

ehow - How to buy a baseball glove This site was light on information and expertise. A waste of time.
Dick's Sporting Goods - Buyer's guide - How to buy a glove This guide was comprehensive but did not offer a strong recommendation for or against specific brands.
BaseballGloves.com - This is a comprehensive site with information and links to every major and niche brand.
Wilson.com baseball glove selector tool. Wilson makes great gloves but their baseball website is terrible. I am sure that they are losing business because their site is so poorly architected and the content is so poorly written.
High School Baseball Web. This is the best site I found for very specific information and expert advice.

This is the info that we took with us to the sporting goods store after I did the reseach:

Position - Not sure - infield (not first base) or outfield.
Size: 11.75 is the most versatile size for multiple positions.
Material: Leather - the better the leather the better the glove. I wanted a glove with top quality leather that would last.
Color: Personal preference - my son likes black.
Web: We decided on the trapeze web or H web.  Both versatile web choices.
Brand: Wilson. Nic has a great Wilson A2000 Showcase catcher's mitt. He received a free Wilson A2000 Showcase catcher's mitt for participating in consumer research for Wilson. He is loyal to Wilson.
Price Range: $150 - $200

The stores we shopped

We did not consider online stores. A player needs to try gloves on to get the best fit. Even two of the same model gloves do not feel exactly the same.

We went to Dick's Sporting Goods, our typical go to place for sports equipment. The particular store we went to was sold out of the top quality gloves. They had 100's of gloves for younger little league players, but only had 1 top quality glove. That one glove was not the size nor the brand we wanted. The clerk told us that they were expecting a large delivery the next day. We returned the following week. The Wilson A2000 and A2K glove bins were still empty. Dick's lost a sale.

Subsequently, we went to specialty sporting goods store in Cincinnati called Koch's Sporting Goods. They have a nice selection of top end gloves for the same price at Dick's Sporting Goods. They also provided expert advice that confirmed all of our research and gave us peace of mind.

The Glove we bought


We bought the Wilson A2000 Limited Edition Black Out (A2000LE 1796). It is a 11.75in glove with a trapeze web for $249. 


Note: Wilson makes the same glove for $199 called the A2000 1796 - The difference a yellow W and yellow A2000 markings. Unfortunately they were sold out of the $199 model. I was tired of driving around looking for gloves, so I spent the extra $49 for the Black Out. Wilson made 500 of these gloves. My son has glove number 132 of 500. Nic loves being unique so he his thrilled. He calls his new gamer the black stealth mamba.  

Preparing the Glove for Play

Baseball Glove Steamer

Have you ever heard of steaming a glove?

The specialty sporting goods store clerk steamed the glove in a Mizuno steamer. They sprayed the glove with what looked like a water and soap solution and placed the glove in the steamer for 2 minutes.

After they steamed the glove, they beat the glove with a wooden mallet to soften the leather and form the pocket. The glove was nearly game ready after this treatment.

The clerk / baseball equipment expert told me to put a very light coating of Vaseline on it inside and out in about a week to treat the leather and help break it in.

The Main Point

1) Assess the situation - your son's age, skill level, commitment level, position, etc.
2) Assess your budget.
3) Do your homework.
4) Go to the store and try the gloves on for fit and comfort.