WHAT SHOULD COME 1ST.AAU. OR L.L

"PULLING 12 PLAYER FROM L.L." ... Does LL own the player? or is it using him for their own selfish purposes??? What the worst that can happen if he leaves in mid-June.... Another kids gets a chance to be an All-star???

Well first, ...In my neck of the woods AAU (Travel teams) comes first otherwise you may not be playing there long. Any AAU team that thinks otherwise will be in for a rude awakening if they want to compete.

Second, I have to agree with Jon Toner, NO league or team owns any child. But by participating on a team a player owes a certain commitment to that team. If playing on a travel team causes problems then the player should not play one or the other. (But IMHO LL will lose out in that battle) But the whole purpose of LL is to let everyone play... So any kid gets minimum playing time just for showing up (he doesn't even have to pay!)

I am amazed by the number of rec leagues in my area that try to prevent a kid from playing on a travel team...(LL rules allow players to participate in other organizations) Parents bickering over players is one of the disgraces of the LLs and one of the reasons the top kids look elsewhere.
In our area, the top LL All-stars play for a travel team. There are several travel teams that doesn't allow kids to play rec leagues. There are LLs that attempt to prevent players from playing travel teams... The Player should be able to play where he (& parents) chooses.

As some of the other posts have mentioned, LL (rec league) does not provide the competition nor the atmosphere to EXCELL at the sport. Only the All-star tournament benefits the top players and that causes so many other problems its hardly worth it... The All-star process seem contrary to the whole LL philosophy and as such creates a lot of problems.

I have to ask a question, does anyone complain when "under-achieving" kids quit and don't return? or miss occasional games? (last weekend I had a coach of 7-8yos. tell me he doesn't allow his "star" players to miss a game but he doesn't care about the weaker ones???) (Is that's REALLY what youth sports are all about? ) So why is everyone concerned about the All-stars? The Parents(league's)... own selfish reasons, perhaps? The "W" word perhaps? Are you benefitting the "All-star" or using him to your benefit by trying to restrain his choices...

I've told this story before, but it needs repeating here... last year a local LL All-star team Lost in regionals becasue the Top 3 kids left the team to compete with their Travel team in the AAU Nationals (They won it also) There were 4 other kids on that team that also played on other travel teams. If the kids had stayed they would have had a great opportunity of going to Williamsport. The community went Nuts... Editorials were written that the kids shouldn't have left the team and how unfair is was to the community and this and that... the only problem is the 3 boys had planned for the AAU Nationals since February, (airline tickets were paid for in April) and everyone knew it. Without the three kids that team wouldn't even have won the District. The LL could have selected to not allow those kids to be on the team, but they didn't because WINNING was more important than the kids! The league USED those kids! And in the end, instead of thanking them for all they had done they complained that they didn't do more!!!

Those three kids became National AAU Champions (their names will be in the BB Hall of Fame) They also were invited to compete in the Cooperstown Field of Dreams championship tourney and won it.... One of the kids was named the #1 12yo baseball player in the country by Baseball America magazinne. Now what do you think was best for those kids???

Just how do you think these kids got to be so good? They had played travel ball since they were ten!!! Year round. (100 games a year) Their fathers coach and work with them thoughout the year. They dedicate themselves to the pursuit of excellence in their chosen field. LL didn't do it, it just prospered by it...

My oldest son stopped playing LL after 10 yo. (he's been on Travel team since he was 9) This year he joined a Pony (bronco) league because his 99 travel team only plays on sundays. The first inning he pitched.... 9 strikes 3 Ks... and has allowed only 1 Earned run in 11 inings (with 26 Ks) He's hit 5 of 7 with 7 BBs.. He gets intentionally walked now.... Where is the benefit there??? Practices are spent trying to teach the other kids how to hit and field... with my son doing more coaching than anything else....He's not allowed to move up a division because of his age... Travel ball is the only place where he plays with his BB peers...

Now, I am only involved with LL because my younger son has no other options. He is a very talented 8yo ( practices with a 12yo travel teams and can hang with them everywhere except at the plate) I tried to move him up a division but Local League wouldn't allow it. (is that in his best interests?) Now he's stuck with kids who instead of catching his throws (48 mph) duck for cover! He has to play with kids who would rather (literally, this happened) bang their heads against a brick wall than play on the field... Has to play with a kid who is only there because his dadsends him and does nothing but hits the other players...(asks to sit on the bench so he can throw rocks) My son is not becoming a better player or person in this league, but it is his only baseball choice at his age.

The minute My son turns 9 we're headed to a travel team... where the kids are judged by their own performance, where he can compete against kids equal in skills, where he can depend on his teammates to have the same dedication as he does (and to be able to catch a ball he throws)

I'm sorry... but (at least in my areas) the LL leagues don't cater to the top players, they try to pull them down to make them equal to everyone else... instead of trying to elevate everyone else (including the stars) to their highest potential. The travel teams do just the opposite. They develop kids to their highest potential and then take the 12-14 best.... It the players responsibility if he wants to excell and play or not.