If your child plays 13U baseball, what is the plan for next year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to level set you cannot compare 12 U to 13 U. 12-year-old baseball is a lot of kids glory year because they’re big enough and strong enough and on a small field, they play great and get awesome hits because they can hit it so far, but when they adjust to the larger field, they have to run faster, farther and hit the ball way further. The kids are playing against keep getting stronger and faster/more skilled pitches. 13-year-old baseball is an adjustment. for everyone. You will see lots of ups and downs with kids in 1314 and 15 year-old baseball.

You are 100% right. Thanks. Some kids are 4’10 and others are 5’10”. It’s probably a rough few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

If PG hosts does that mean no hype fire bats?

Yes but I thought only the drop 5 was banned thus far. At any rate, 14u needs to be swinging BBCOR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

If PG hosts does that mean no hype fire bats?

Yes but I thought only the drop 5 was banned thus far. At any rate, 14u needs to be swinging BBCOR.

No, 14u needs to be using a -5 or -8. BBCOR is for high school. It's called player progression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

It’s a beautiful facility, but it doesn’t feel like a tournament. My son and his friends like the travel aspect, pool, playing wiffle ball between games, but Georgia is too far.

Look for teams that play a lot of Dynamic tournaments. Stars is probably a good one for that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

If PG hosts does that mean no hype fire bats?

Yes but I thought only the drop 5 was banned thus far. At any rate, 14u needs to be swinging BBCOR.

No, 14u needs to be using a -5 or -8. BBCOR is for high school. It's called player progression.

It isn’t worth arguing about, but most national tourney orgs I am familiar with require BBCOR at 14U. I think the local middle school teams in my area allow -5s but any kid intending to make the HS team will be swinging BBCOR by 8th grade at latest.

There may be local leagues (depending on one’s area) or rec ball orgs that allow lighter bats at 14U- that I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

It’s a beautiful facility, but it doesn’t feel like a tournament. My son and his friends like the travel aspect, pool, playing wiffle ball between games, but Georgia is too far.

There is a hotel and a Chik fil A one mile from Patriot Park. Tell Johnny he’s in Atlanta, he won’t know the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

If PG hosts does that mean no hype fire bats?

Yes but I thought only the drop 5 was banned thus far. At any rate, 14u needs to be swinging BBCOR.

No, 14u needs to be using a -5 or -8. BBCOR is for high school. It's called player progression.

It isn’t worth arguing about, but most national tourney orgs I am familiar with require BBCOR at 14U. I think the local middle school teams in my area allow -5s but any kid intending to make the HS team will be swinging BBCOR by 8th grade at latest.

There may be local leagues (depending on one’s area) or rec ball orgs that allow lighter bats at 14U- that I don’t know.

7th graders are using bbcor in rec.

[Anonymous]

31 drop 5 till high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

This is the best advice

All 13u baseball is a mess. The pitching looks odd to the batters because it is so slow and far away that it has time to drop like a curveball. The third basemen can barely throw to first. Base running is a free for all because the catchers can’t make the throws. Pitching is horrendous. Doubles on the 12u field are barely out of the infield. The worst coaches for the 14-18u programs get the youngest kids. Half the kids haven’t hit puberty yet. It is all a disaster. Go with the best run organization and reassess if you need to do the showcase circuit for 15u. If he sticks with it with a decent team, you’ll be spending the entirety of the HS summer seasons traveling all over. Just survive this time without blowing out a throwing arm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

If PG hosts does that mean no hype fire bats?

Yes but I thought only the drop 5 was banned thus far. At any rate, 14u needs to be swinging BBCOR.

No, 14u needs to be using a -5 or -8. BBCOR is for high school. It's called player progression.

It isn’t worth arguing about, but most national tourney orgs I am familiar with require BBCOR at 14U. I think the local middle school teams in my area allow -5s but any kid intending to make the HS team will be swinging BBCOR by 8th grade at latest.

There may be local leagues (depending on one’s area) or rec ball orgs that allow lighter bats at 14U- that I don’t know.

NVTBL allows -5 at 14u but I’ve never seen anyone check. Our local Babe Ruth allows kids 13-15 to use USA bats with no drop specified. We don’t play national tourneys but even the more local or regional ones we play all require BBCOR at 14u. My personal opinion, with a child currently in 14u- if you play tourneys requiring BBCOR, you are at a real disadvantage if you only swing BBCOR at tournaments and not regular season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

This is the best advice

All 13u baseball is a mess. The pitching looks odd to the batters because it is so slow and far away that it has time to drop like a curveball. The third basemen can barely throw to first. Base running is a free for all because the catchers can’t make the throws. Pitching is horrendous. Doubles on the 12u field are barely out of the infield. The worst coaches for the 14-18u programs get the youngest kids. Half the kids haven’t hit puberty yet. It is all a disaster. Go with the best run organization and reassess if you need to do the showcase circuit for 15u. If he sticks with it with a decent team, you’ll be spending the entirety of the HS summer seasons traveling all over. Just survive this time without blowing out a throwing arm

I would even say you can wait until 16u for showcase teams…and only if you think you will get college looks at 16u.

My kid’s now 17u team (with lots of D1 commits) shed 60% of their 16u team (some families who had played since 12u), because 17u is really “the show” and if they don’t think your kid has any reasonable shot of attracting college interest then you are dead weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

This is the best advice

All 13u baseball is a mess. The pitching looks odd to the batters because it is so slow and far away that it has time to drop like a curveball. The third basemen can barely throw to first. Base running is a free for all because the catchers can’t make the throws. Pitching is horrendous. Doubles on the 12u field are barely out of the infield. The worst coaches for the 14-18u programs get the youngest kids. Half the kids haven’t hit puberty yet. It is all a disaster. Go with the best run organization and reassess if you need to do the showcase circuit for 15u. If he sticks with it with a decent team, you’ll be spending the entirety of the HS summer seasons traveling all over. Just survive this time without blowing out a throwing arm

Truth right here ⬆️⬆️ Have a HS player and a 13U.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

This is the best advice

All 13u baseball is a mess. The pitching looks odd to the batters because it is so slow and far away that it has time to drop like a curveball. The third basemen can barely throw to first. Base running is a free for all because the catchers can’t make the throws. Pitching is horrendous. Doubles on the 12u field are barely out of the infield. The worst coaches for the 14-18u programs get the youngest kids. Half the kids haven’t hit puberty yet. It is all a disaster. Go with the best run organization and reassess if you need to do the showcase circuit for 15u. If he sticks with it with a decent team, you’ll be spending the entirety of the HS summer seasons traveling all over. Just survive this time without blowing out a throwing arm

I would even say you can wait until 16u for showcase teams…and only if you think you will get college looks at 16u.

My kid’s now 17u team (with lots of D1 commits) shed 60% of their 16u team (some families who had played since 12u), because 17u is really “the show” and if they don’t think your kid has any reasonable shot of attracting college interest then you are dead weight.

Agree! And by that time the recruitable kids know several coaches and vice versa and can find a team that best suits their recruiting needs.

[Anonymous]

Thank you PPs. Very helpful. Just want my kid to have fun and not throw out his arm. Shouldn’t be so hard, but glad to hear that 13u overall is kind of a mess. A lot of the above resonates with me. Son is being recruited by pretty much every coach he meets, but I honestly don’t know who to trust. Maybe best to stay with the devil you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can give you the benefit of hindsight...but it's hard to decide if you want to follow.

The quality of a 14u travel team doesn't mean anything at all. If there is one affiliated with your kid's HS, you should look into that only because the HS coaches will then get to know your kid.

However, if you don't want to travel all over, find one that just plays NVTBL DHs each week and maybe one local tournament.

The tournament circuit is a terrible racquet. There are tournaments every weekend at the Patriot Park complex out in Fairfax such that no local 14u team has to leave town if they don't want to leave town.

Play for the team where your kid gets to play a ton and has fun.

Good insight. Thanks. Why do you say the quality of the 14u team doesn't matter though? I feel like my kid has actually gone backwards in ability since starting with a new team since the hired coach doesn't seem to be as invested as other coaches might be. No one seems to be happy on the team, but maybe it's not worth doing anything about it. They will try out for HS teams in 9 months or so.

By quality of the team...I meant don't worry about joining some travel team that feels like they are some high-level team that needs to travel to Georgia or NJ or really anywhere requiring lots of overnights, not the quality of the coaches.

Thank you. We definitely don’t want to travel to Ga, but some travel would be nice. It’s fun for the kids. Patriot park not cutting it.

Well, OK. I thought you said you didn't want to be traveling all over the place.

PBR and Perfect Game host tournaments at Patriot Park that are no different than what they do in Richmond. Literally, no difference except the Richmond tournaments are more spread out. Patriot Park is a huge step up in terms of facilities for the DMV area.

If PG hosts does that mean no hype fire bats?

Yes but I thought only the drop 5 was banned thus far. At any rate, 14u needs to be swinging BBCOR.

No, 14u needs to be using a -5 or -8. BBCOR is for high school. It's called player progression.

It isn’t worth arguing about, but most national tourney orgs I am familiar with require BBCOR at 14U. I think the local middle school teams in my area allow -5s but any kid intending to make the HS team will be swinging BBCOR by 8th grade at latest.

There may be local leagues (depending on one’s area) or rec ball orgs that allow lighter bats at 14U- that I don’t know.

Yes, almost all tournaments will require BBCOR at 14U.

I'm in Maryland, but I think even the more competitive leagues (like MABA) require BBCOR at the level, but could be wrong