Longevity in baseball
On accident, I stumbled across the online roster of a travel team from 2002. It was an 11U Major team that rarely lost. The roster lists teams they played on before, during, and after that season. Interestingly, every kid was on a team the next year, as 12 year olds. Then, all but four played as 13s on at least one team. Most significant was the number of kids who played for a team in 2008. How many? One. That’s correct, only one kid from a MAJOR team was playing travel baseball by the time they were juniors in high school. Now, there are many possible explanations for this. Many high schools have teams that play together during the summer, meaning these boys would not be on travel teams. There are explanations, but I find it very interesting the small number of boys who played 50-70 games as 11 year olds who continued to play baseball once they could make up their minds for themselves. I then did a spot check of 16 year old teams in North Carolina who play in the AAA division. Interestingly, I found only 1 team with more than 2 kids who had played travel ball at an age younger than 13. What were these kids doing? I am sure they were playing baseball, but they were not selling their young soul for another plastic trophy. They were not playing 100 games a year so their parents could brag. They were not jumping from team to team in order to be “noticed.” Instead, they were, I am sure, playing baseball because it was fun. They were learning the fundamentals, and forgetting about records. They were becoming better so they could keep up with the advances each year offers. They were boys playing baseball.
What this unscientific survey tells me is what I know experientially to be true: how a kid plays at 11 years old is no indicator of how well he will play baseball in high school or beyond. Some kids will be better, some worse, and some will shine as college ballplayers just like they did in 10 year-old rec ball. For parents who look at their son and see a kid who rarely hits, barely understands the game, or has trouble with routine plays, there is hope. The opposite is also true. For a parent whose son strikes out every opposing batter, leads his team in hitting, and embarasses opposing pitchers with his batting, there is the real possibility that in a few years when he discovers interests outside of baseball, the stats of a 12 year old will be forgotten for the life of a teenager.
What does this mean? As a coach it means my role is to give ball players what they need to excel at the next level if they so desire. It also means I should make baseball an experience they want to continue having. Most importantly, it means that I should try to shape them to be young men who are good sportsmen, good teammates, and productive members of society. If a 16 year old decides no longer to play baseball, I want him to look back and be glad he played baseball. I don’t want him to look back and think he lost something by playing. I hope that if someone looks at the roster of the 16U Raptors in five years that he will see the same list of kids who are playing now because every one of our kids loves playing the game. I hope every Raptor plays college baseball somewhere. There is no reason to think they CAN’T. If they work hard, believe in themselves, and maintain an individual dedication to do what is necessary, they all CAN.
It’s fun to be your teammate. See you Thursday night!
