newbie baseball question: kids are 10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are just starting, sign them up for AAA American. They will be able to learn more that way. At AAA National, they will be a huge liability to the team and you have two of them.

This is meaningless without specifying which area/league you are talking about. There is certainly no National/American split in our Little League, it just depends on your address.

Age 10 could be AA or AAA. I would do AA which is the first kid pitch season.

You can’t sign up for AL vs NL. That assignment is done via the draft. There really aren’t any 10 yo in AA in our little league.

[Anonymous]

How are 10 yo eligible for babe Ruth? It’s after little league, 12 and up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are 10 yo eligible for babe Ruth? It’s after little league, 12 and up.

NP here, but I bet with that age cut off, PP plays for a league that does Cal Ripken, not Little League. Often those organizations are affiliated with Babe Ruth so they probably just used Babe Ruth as an overarching name. Pioneer Legends’ house ball in Alexandria, VA is an organization like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are 10 yo eligible for babe Ruth? It’s after little league, 12 and up.

There are Babe Ruth leagues for 12 and under too. It’s called the Cal Ripken division. But if your area offers Little League they probably don’t have a Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken league setup as well.

[Anonymous]

If OP's kids are fairly athletic, and with basketball background they may have above average hand-eye coordination, they will be fine. It might take half the first season for them to get up to speed with batting.

Spring will bring out all the travel players that might have only done travel in Fall. They do both in the spring because they want to make the LL all star teams.

So, if they like Spring and do decent enough, come Fall they will be above average when there is less competition. This might give them more reps at bat and in the infield so they are better equipped the following spring when it will be the most competitive they will ever see for LL because based on their age that will be about the last year they could conceivably make all stars and go to the LLWS.

Just be prepared that in Spring, since most of the coaches are daddy travel parents, since they don't know your kids they likely will get drafted low and be batting at the bottom of the order until they can prove themselves. Coaches always give priority to travel players in LL and favor wins and showcasing their own kids over development in the spring.

[Anonymous]

Yes, in our area at least, fall is more low-key and developmental. Spring is more competitive and when they do a draft.

Daddy ball is a real thing, and there are some volunteer parent coaches that will stick some kids in outfield all game long, while their kid always gets to play shortstop or pitch. But hopefully you get a good coach who gives every kid a chance at the key positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, in our area at least, fall is more low-key and developmental. Spring is more competitive and when they do a draft.

Daddy ball is a real thing, and there are some volunteer parent coaches that will stick some kids in outfield all game long, while their kid always gets to play shortstop or pitch. But hopefully you get a good coach who gives every kid a chance at the key positions.

Alexandria Little League All Stars 10-13 last year were.... I shit you not... only the coaches kids. Not a single kid whose dad wasn't invloved made the cut. Shame on all of them.

Pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, in our area at least, fall is more low-key and developmental. Spring is more competitive and when they do a draft.

Daddy ball is a real thing, and there are some volunteer parent coaches that will stick some kids in outfield all game long, while their kid always gets to play shortstop or pitch. But hopefully you get a good coach who gives every kid a chance at the key positions.

Alexandria Little League All Stars 10-13 last year were.... I shit you not... only the coaches kids. Not a single kid whose dad wasn't invloved made the cut. Shame on all of them.

Pathetic.

ANSLL is almost all like that, too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, in our area at least, fall is more low-key and developmental. Spring is more competitive and when they do a draft.

Daddy ball is a real thing, and there are some volunteer parent coaches that will stick some kids in outfield all game long, while their kid always gets to play shortstop or pitch. But hopefully you get a good coach who gives every kid a chance at the key positions.

Alexandria Little League All Stars 10-13 last year were.... I shit you not... only the coaches kids. Not a single kid whose dad wasn't invloved made the cut. Shame on all of them.

Pathetic.

I saw that in Fairfax Little League a few years ago.
Parents even complained to the league player advocate who acknowledged the complaints, but did nothing.
Ethics of those coaches were terrible.

[Anonymous]

For the DMV, these are the youth baseball league options:

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/community/youth-baseball-and-softball/find-your-league

Other regions have PONY, Dixie and other youth leagues.

For your sanity, please request that your twins be drafted on the same team. Not every coach is super competitive and there will be a few coaches who will draft them together because they understand that recreational youth baseball is about player development, teaching sportsmanship and having fun (notice I did not say winning).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, in our area at least, fall is more low-key and developmental. Spring is more competitive and when they do a draft.

Daddy ball is a real thing, and there are some volunteer parent coaches that will stick some kids in outfield all game long, while their kid always gets to play shortstop or pitch. But hopefully you get a good coach who gives every kid a chance at the key positions.

Alexandria Little League All Stars 10-13 last year were.... I shit you not... only the coaches kids. Not a single kid whose dad wasn't invloved made the cut. Shame on all of them.

Pathetic.

ANSLL is almost all like that, too

Pretty much every LL across the country is this way. If dad isn’t a coach or board member (or best friends with the all star manager…some sort of a personal “in”), might as well just schedule a vacation during all star season and spare your kid the disappointment. Even if a kid somehow makes it past the above “criteria” due to a selection process that is actually fair, he will just ride the bench.

Exception: ace pitchers.

And guess what? LL all stars means zero once LL is over- everything changes- and it is pretty fun to watch if your kid sticks with baseball.

[Anonymous]

Just chiming in to say that I have two boys that played with our local Little League from t-ball thru the 50/70 division. Every single season, there was at least one kid on the team who had never played baseball. The older that particular kid was, the faster they seemed to develop. Might not have made all-stars, but learned, developed and had fun.
This area can be competitive in baseball (well, everything, really). I just wanted to add that don't be afraid to sign them up because others have played since t-ball. It's a great team sport to jump into, and 10 years old should be about exploring interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just chiming in to say that I have two boys that played with our local Little League from t-ball thru the 50/70 division. Every single season, there was at least one kid on the team who had never played baseball. The older that particular kid was, the faster they seemed to develop. Might not have made all-stars, but learned, developed and had fun.
This area can be competitive in baseball (well, everything, really). I just wanted to add that don't be afraid to sign them up because others have played since t-ball. It's a great team sport to jump into, and 10 years old should be about exploring interests.

We have had the same experience. We are playing 50/70 right now and there is a kid who never played before and he's decent! I think the biggest factor is if they actually want to be there or not. Kids who are being forced by their parent to play a sport don't do as well.

[Anonymous]

Also chiming in to say 10 is not too late to start baseball or really any sport.

[Anonymous]

10 is not too young if they listen to the coaches and don't goof off, even if they aren't super athletic. Coaches will work with the kids who are trying to improve and have no time for the ones distracting their teammates. The learning curve can be steep, for the first season sometimes I think that the kids are never going to figure it out but within a couple seasons they become regular members of the team.

Rec league kids miss practices and games all the time, it makes it tough on the coaches but that's the nature of the leagues. The worst is those stupid plays where we are missing 3-4 kids on the same day.