Organized Sports for Kids

[samandbendrivemetodrink]

I have to sign up Sam for Little League soon (crazy the deadline is approaching for a league that doesn't even start until April). I have a dilemma and thought some of you who played sports as a kid (or coach kids now) might have some valuable input.

Background: Sam is 7 and in 2nd grade. He has a late summer bday and started kindergarten right when he turned 5, thus he has always been the youngest in his class. Even though the growing trend (especially in WA) is to hold kids (especially boys) back, I have never regretted my decision. He has always been the smartest kid in his class (I am not just saying that....you all know I would rag on him in my Christmas letter if he were stupid...ha). Additionally, he is super tall and has always been the biggest kid in his class despite the fact that there are kids in his class that are more than a year old than him. Teachers/parents are always shocked to find out how young he is.

He has been playing organized sports since he was 4. Last year was his first year of Little League. As a first-grader he played on the 1st/2nd grade combo team and did really well...I would say he was in the top 1/3 to top 1/2 of his team in ability, even though he was in the younger group. While he is not always the best athlete on the team, his size has always helped him. In addition, his smarts about sports and his good attention span always makes him better than his skill alone would indicate.

So this year we have to decide to whether to leave him at the same level OR move him up to the next level which would be a 2nd/3rd grade combo team. The main difference is machine pitch vs. kid pitch.

I left it up to him originally but he keeps changing his mind....and his decision is more predicated on what friends will be on his team rather than what HE really wants to do.

So my question to you.....do you think it is better to let him play down and gain confidence and be one of the very best on the team for a year? Or is it better to push him to the next level, knowing that he might have a harder time with it?

One more slight consideration: We LOVED his coach from last year and he is coaching again but at the higher level. If we want him to coach and we want Sam to move along with the older kids (some of whom are two years older than him), we have to move up.

I know he isn't going to suffer any long-term effects either way. I don't want to overstate what a big deal this is. I just thought of you former five-star athletes might have an opinion.

[ono]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

Was he a good hitter in machine pitch or did he struggle?

Based on what you say, I'd say keep him with the same coach and teammates. He may not perform as well, but continuity will not only give him the same team/circle of friends throughout the years (which he obviously wants), it will be a nice way to network for when competitive teams form when he's older. Especially with the coach, since it sounds like he's the kind of guy who will coach every year as his kid grows. If Sam's as physically gifted as you say, I'm sure the coach noticed and will keep an eye on how he grows.

But if he enjoys crushing machine pitch and dominating the lower levels, let him enjoy it while he can. I sucked at baseball once I got older than 12, and I immediately missed the days when I'd hit coach pitchers to the fence every at bat.

[samandbendrivemetodrink]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

^^^Thanks....that was exactly the sort of input I was looking for. He did pretty well with the machine pitch last year. It took him a few practices/games to get the hang of it, but once he did he rarely struck out. He almost always made contact for at least an infield hit, even though he didn't quite have the strength of the other kids to hit it out of the park. I would say his biggest weakness was in fielding, but my husband thinks that is something that he can pick up on pretty quickly with enough practice.

I don't ever think he is going to be "the best" athlete on a team. I think he is better than average, but not necessarily physically gifted. But I sort of like to see to him have to work hard at something since school has always come so easily to him.

[dominatindj11]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

So I assume he has friends and classmates playing on both teams? In that case I say move him up to the 2nd/3rd grade level. Keep him with the same coach. Keep him with friends. Let him play on that team for 2 years. He will be far better when it comes to 3rd game and its his second year playing kid pitch than he will be coming to kid pitch for the first time.

Surprising to me you start kid pitch on a 2nd/3rd grade team. We didn't start kid pitch until 4th grade.

[Jhawkz5]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

[quote author=samandbendrivemetodrink link=topic=2731.msg30957#msg30957 date=1292470803]
^^^Thanks....that was exactly the sort of input I was looking for. He did pretty well with the machine pitch last year. It took him a few practices/games to get the hang of it, but once he did he rarely struck out. He almost always made contact for at least an infield hit, even though he didn't quite have the strength of the other kids to hit it out of the park. I would say his biggest weakness was in fielding, but my husband thinks that is something that he can pick up on pretty quickly with enough practice.

I don't ever think he is going to be "the best" athlete on a team. I think he is better than average, but not necessarily physically gifted. But I sort of like to see to him have to work hard at something since school has always come so easily to him.
[/quote]

Your husband is correct in saying that. As he grows older pitchers will start throwing curve balls and other junk at him, however the way routine for fielding a ball remains essentially the same over the years.

I would definitely keep him with the same coach/team as well. Like ono said, it will allow him to build his group of friends.

[ono]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

The fielding weakness, I can almost guarantee you, isn't skills or practice per se, it's about being hit by the ball. Let a few hit him in the shins/chest/arms and he'll begin to realize it's no big deal.

The one thing he has going for him is that at such a young age, no one can throw hard and no one can throw anything but a straight-line "fastball." All he's got to judge are balls and strikes. 2nd/3rd graders still can't field, if he can get his bat on the ball he'll still get on base. And when I was younger, I'd swing on third strikes in the dirt and take off and get to first most of the time anyway.

[Jhawkz5]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

[quote author=ono link=topic=2731.msg30961#msg30961 date=1292471221]
The fielding weakness, I can almost guarantee you, isn't skills or practice per se, it's about being hit by the ball. Let a few hit him in the shins/chest/arms and he'll begin to realize it's no big deal.

The one thing he has going for him is that at such a young age, no one can throw hard and no one can throw anything but a straight-line "fastball." All he's got to judge are balls and strikes. 2nd/3rd graders still can't field, if he can get his bat on the ball he'll still get on base. And when I was younger, I'd swing on third strikes in the dirt and take off and get to first most of the time anyway.
[/quote]

I doubt they'll install the dropped 3rd strike rule the first year of kid pitch. I remember playing at least a year of kid pitch before they had the dropped 3rd strike and stealing.

[samandbendrivemetodrink]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

[quote author=Jhawkz5 link=topic=2731.msg30962#msg30962 date=1292471746]
[quote author=ono link=topic=2731.msg30961#msg30961 date=1292471221]
The fielding weakness, I can almost guarantee you, isn't skills or practice per se, it's about being hit by the ball. Let a few hit him in the shins/chest/arms and he'll begin to realize it's no big deal.

The one thing he has going for him is that at such a young age, no one can throw hard and no one can throw anything but a straight-line "fastball." All he's got to judge are balls and strikes. 2nd/3rd graders still can't field, if he can get his bat on the ball he'll still get on base. And when I was younger, I'd swing on third strikes in the dirt and take off and get to first most of the time anyway.
[/quote]

I doubt they'll install the dropped 3rd strike rule the first year of kid pitch. I remember playing at least a year of kid pitch before they had the dropped 3rd strike and stealing.
[/quote]

I think what happens in the 2nd/3rd level is that they start out with coach pitch and then progress to kid pitch as the season moves on.

Also, even last year with machine pitch, they got 5 strikes.

All I remember about last year's Little League is that the practice and game schedule was pretty aggressive for kids that age......at least way more so than it was when Sam was doing YMCA sports. It bothered me at first but Sam never once complained and begged to go to practice, thus I am not too worried if he has to add a few more practices at the higher level.

[WhiteSuxDirtyBirds]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

Do they keep score? If not its not worth it anyways.

But I would keep him at the level he is at. Let him hone his skill. Wait until he is old enough to start playing tournament ball if you ever want to move him up. If he's good enough and still enjoys it. Let him develop in the "minors".

[samandbendrivemetodrink]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

[quote author=WhiteSuxDirtyBirds link=topic=2731.msg30970#msg30970 date=1292473537]
Do they keep score? If not its not worth it anyways.

But I would keep him at the level he is at. Let him hone his skill. Wait until he is old enough to start playing tournament ball if you ever want to move him up. If he's good enough and still enjoys it. Let him develop in the "minors".
[/quote]

Yes....they keep score. It's the first league he has played in where they keep score. They still have the 5-run inning mercy rule, but there is a definite winner at the end of each game.

I should note that Sam has always kept his own score in any game since he was 4, regardless if they were supposed to. Even in basketball when there is no 3-point line on the court, he arbitrarily assigns 3 points to a basket that merely looks like it came from downtown.

[KVN638]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

BBSB, I was the one of the youngest people in my grade. Every other year, I couldn't play with "my" team because I was younger. I didn't mind all the much even though I was on a competitive team and I wasn't in their age bracket every other year. I was more concerned with playing the sport because it was fun.

I quit baseball once I got to the high school level because I've never seen so many guys cry in a non-contact sport in my life. Striking out would evoke the end of the world in some people. And others would blame everything on their teammates. If they throw an uncatchable ball to 1st, they'd blame their teammates. Baseball players, in my opinion, are some of the biggest pussies in sports. They rival soccer players and have a complex almost as bad as wrestlers.

[RandytheHelpfulPineapple]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

'Outliers' by Malcolm Caldwell did a great write up on the birthday of soccer/hockey/baseball players as it applies to their later success. Most pro athletes are born in the three months following the cut off dates for travel/incubater leagues growing up. This is mainly because they are more physically gifted/bigger than the kids born immediately before the cut offs, and so they tend to get picked for better stocked / coached / funded teams. Over time, these advantages lead to more developed skill sets (think of it like this-- would you expect to be a better football player if you were coached for four years at Penn State or Middle Tennessee State?).

My understanding is that the older baseball leagues have age cut offs of May 1st. So chances are, with a late summer birthday, he'll be in good shape once they start going by age, rather than by grade.

With that said, I don't get the idea that you want your kid to be a pro-ball player. From my perspective, it is much more important for a kid to grow with teammates and a coach (if he's worth his salt). Some of the best friends I had growing up were from my peewee football team (4 years, same core group of guys) and baseball team (3 years, same core group of guys). If I had shifted around a bunch and hopped from team to team, I don't think I'd have made as many friends or had as good a time.

If you're really worried about him playing well, the best thing you can do is get him a lot of reps on proper mechanics. Get him into those Tom Emanski videos and consider doing Fall and Spring ball. That's probably the best leg up out there.

[Geezer]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

I wouldn't be too concerned until he is at about the 6th grade level to make sure he is in the right league level for his skill.

[samandbendrivemetodrink]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I just signed him up and we went with the higher level. The league said that the younger kids are usually born by April 2003 and his bday is end of July 2003....so he is technically playing up a level. But I think he will be ok based on the fact that he played with a lot of these kids last year and held his game pretty well. Sam is the sort of kid that can get really lazy and complacent if he isn't pushed. When things become too easy to him he just tunes it out (and can get a little cocky). I think it will be good for him to have to work a little harder.

Also....there was a group of kids on his team last year who were awesome. They were all a year or two older than Sam but were great kids that took Sam under their wing. Since Sam is the oldest in our family, it was a new experience for him....but one that he really got a lot out of. I really want those relationships to continue.

[Geezer]

Re: Organized Sports for Kids

Good choice.
Baseball should be about fun until 6th or 7th grade.