Baseball: KOA’s BABL or B-CC’s Select?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
How “select” is BCC select? Have a 9 year old who wants more baseball and he’s been playing since K. But he’s not an elite player by any means. Can pitch and hit and is slightly above average for his rec team. Will he make it on a BCC select team? |
Anonymous
My kid plays BCC Select. He’s not super talented, but is a good athlete. Definitely NOT an elite player. And he’s about middle of the road on his Select team. I would definitely encourage him to try it out. If he doesn’t make it, the try outs are still a good experience. Definitely like BCC Select. We have a fantastic (parent) coach and love the consistent schedules because my kid also has some other activities that he wants to continue. |
Anonymous
We had a terrible experience with KOA 2 years ago. Hopefully it's changed. The article you linked is 6 years old. I do hope they have survived the pandemic but our experience was completely inconsistent with the values in the article |
Anonymous
|
Consistent and predictable schedules for BCC Select are definitely a plus and the over all vibe is competitive, but not crazy.
We were hoping for an step up in playing level/skills of teammates without having to make the travel commitment, but so far, "selects" seems to be kids' whose parents were willing to pay more money vs kids who have a strong interest in baseball and/or strong skills. The rec team we were coming from had more talent and would easily beat DS's current Select team. The "draft" is complete bs with parent coach dad's selecting their sons and sons' friends first vs someone at the BCC organization actually trying to put together four balanced teams. When you play the same three teams over and over again, it's incredibly important to have parity. |
Anonymous
+1 on Selects meaning these are kids whose parents are willing to pay a bit more for an extra game a week. Thus far we have not been impressed with the skill level of the other players nor do a lot of them seem particularly interested in learning the game/improving. Families are nice. Schedule is decent. Parent coaches skills and engagement levels are highly variable. We are new to the area so I can't compare Selects to other organizations, but this is not going to be a long term fit for our son. |
Anonymous
Bcc a more personal experience. You get to know the other select players. Every player and coach knows every other player and coach. Rivalries and friendships. Select is great high level baseball for a kid who is a multi sport athlete and can’t commit to week tournaments or summers. Koa can have good coaches but also bad ones. Sometimes they just throw out whatever coach they can and throw a random schedule together. They are driven by money. If you are a big donor you get preference. If you do their clinics or camps you get preference. I’ve found that Tony was once an elite baseball coach but I think he’s veered very far from caring about youth baseball for anything more than making him very very rich |
Anonymous
|
In our experience so far - 2 seasons of both (9,10,11):
KOA: -Expensive -pay to play lobbying by parents -don’t know how to deal with young boys -don’t switch positions much -“professional” coaches phone it in - paid, but are hit or miss as to whether they even want to be there -games cancelled for rain(few, or usually no makeup games) BCC: -Much cheaper -no lobbying - they will even tell people, politely, to cut it out (it is funny to watch a parent try because they get so pissed when the coach or head people explain the line-up and rotations.) -everyone gets to play, rotations are fair and make sense - “parent” coaches usually have their kid on the team, but they play and rotate. There really is no preferential treatment -games cancelled for rain(makeup games added on) => The parents of the kids are much nicer in BCC- BCC is a community of friends playing, KOA felt like rich Bethesda pay to play - which is ridiculous for 9-11 year olds Also - BCC rec during the season is great too. Good play, good coaches, great community KOA summer camp - great(at least 2021 was)! You can sign up the week before. It is usually at Churchill high school. The college students. and coaches train the kids. My kids loved KOA summer, just not the BABL. (several of the college guys did BCC and KOA) We will try BCC summer camp. I hope that this helps. |
Anonymous
|
Have done a mix of rec/selects/travel at Koa and BCC.
Did not experience the pay to play scenario (or even a hint of it) with Koa. If your kid does the extra (free) training sessions, more coaches get to know them and more reps often translate into improved skills. Our coaches have played players where they felt they would be most successful and help (or not hurt) the team. Also did not experience the parent pressure to play their kid in a particular position at Koa, but definitely did at BCC. BCC parent coaches seemed more susceptible to parent pressure. Re: playing multiple positions vs set positions--kids generally start out playing a lot of different positions and then become more specialized as they get older and/or start playing more competitively. This is the nature of the game, not a Koa v BCC thing. Re parents: that's luck. We've seen all sorts of crazy parent behavior at all levels, but we've also played on teams where we genuinely liked all of the parents. It helps if everyone is on the same page regarding goals and expectations. We've found that it helps to chat with parents during tryouts or come see practices/clinics. Coaching ability varies regardless of organization and whether or not the coach is a parent or is paid. If the coach is paid (Koa) you do have more recourse with the organization whereas BCC tends to throw up its hands and say "they are doing their best, they are volunteers." In our experience an excellent parent-coach is a rare find. We've been happy with the lead coaches at Koa. |
Anonymous
|
Absolutely no pay-to-play with Koa, and I've never witnessed any parent pressure. If anything Koa parents keep a surprising distance from the dugouts and are well-behaved.
Koa playing time is very fairly distributed. Everyone bats in the lineup, regardless of whether they are in the field. Better fielders might play more innings in the field, but everyone is doing at least 3 innings out there. Kids generally play only 1-2 positions in a game and seem to self-select into IF specializations based on their skill sets. Who pitches is a function of skill--kids who can throw strikes consistently are at a premium, so if your kid can do that, he'll get time on the mound. Professional coaches in KOA are very good, particularly for kids who ask questions and want to learn. These are guys who love the game and want to teach it. KOA no longer has rain cancellations--rainouts are played indoors on HitTrax. But not going to deny that Koa is expensive. |
Anonymous
| What do you mean “rainouts are played indoors on HitTrax”? |
Anonymous
|
Anonymous
| Quite a few kids transition from playing BABL to travel with Waves since coaches overlap. That said, our experience with Waves has been mixed—initially it was a surprisingly sane travel option with good coaches and a focus on development. Parents and kids were committed and everyone was serious about developing. Now, however, that seems to have fallen apart and now feels like they are creating teams with whomever is willing to pay. Feels more like a money grab beat down. The new facility is definitely an upgrade though. |
Anonymous
| My kid plays travel in Virginia, but we play both clubs in tournaments quite frequently. BCC seems much better run and the parents seem nicer. BCC almost always has good programs. I would go with them. |
Anonymous
| BCC is the best option in the area. Try Big Train and if you don't make it, try Select. |