Little League Question - Too Late To Start?

[MouseEarsJenny]

I have a question for anyone with Little League experience. If my ten-year-old son has never played baseball except in gym and wiffle ball in the yard with Dad, is it too late for him to try Little League? The flyer says that registration is this week, but all players must try out later this month. If he registers, but then doesn't make the team, are we just out the $110?

He thinks he wants to play baseball because he's developed an interest in baseball (watching it, mainly) over the past couple of years. He's not exactly the type to stick to one activity, if you know what I mean. When he was very little, he saw his sister taking dance and took dance classes for two or three years, until he realized it wasn't a very "boy" thing to do. He stuck with it through the last recital, and quit. He took TKD for several belts, and then decided, no, not for him. He played football for a season, but although his coach called him "tough", he got sick of watching the coaches' kids playing both ways while he was relegated to the sidelines on defense (which was most of the time since we had a 1-11 record). He's very good about finishing out a season or whatever, but he's never really stuck with anything, with the exception of trombone/marching band which he loves with a passion. (He marched with the high school band in honor guard this past year, just to get experience.)

At any rate, he has NO baseball skills, and NO experience in baseball. Will he be hopelessly behind the kids who have been playing since they were tiny? Will they even want a kid with no experience on their team, or is there some way to have him learn skills without joining little league? This area is hyper-competitive, with screaming moms and dads in stands. When he played football, one of his 8 year old teammates got hurt and was crying, and people in the stands made rude remarks.

Advice?

 

[Kirby]

My son started playing baseball at age 6 for our city league and in some ways he was already behind because some boys began playing at age 4.

If your son is truly interested, then seek out a league that not as competitive as Little League. Here, the city league is not as competitive as the traveling teams. I guess you could call the traveling teams Little League. The city league always played their games at the same group of ball fields whereas the traveling teams went from town to town to play.

If he loves band with a passion, then let him go with that. Marching band is as physically strenuous as any competitive sport.

 

[Hannathy]

You need to call and find out what kind of league it is. If it is a rec team most of them are no cut and the purpose of the try outs is to spread the really good and the really no skills players around the teams. When my DD played they tried out and got ranked then the coaches picked their teams. Her league was a no cut so everyone that they let sign up got put on a team and played. However there are some very competitive leagues where you have to try out and may not make it. Your son of course would not want one of these teams.
I don't think 10 is to late especially if he gets a good coach who is into teaching.
If possible before he tries out it would be good if you or your DH could play catch with him so he is a bit comfortable with the ball and if you could go t the batting cages so he gets to try batting before trying out.

 

[MickeyManiac]

My DS16 has been playing since he was 3 (tee-ball) and now plays for his HS.

When he was younger he played in the "city league". My DH coached him for many years. There were always first year players on all of his teams. (they change teams every year) Some caught right on others had a little harder time. The coaches don't have a lot of time to work with the kids so my advice for you is to take him out and help him practice. Even playing catch at the park is a great help. If you can take him to a local batting cage that helps a lot too.

The reason for the "try-outs" in Little League is just to place the kids on a team. Everyone makes a team, they just try to spread the skill levels around so they don't end up with super dominant teams or the team that always loses. (that's not fun for anyone)

I think it's awesome that he wants to give it a try. It's the only way to know if he'll like it or not.

Baseball is a huge part of my families lives and I treasure EVERY minute (and there have been lots of them) that I've spent at the ballpark. Good Luck to him!

 

[MyManGoofy!]

My son started at 4 on a rec t-ball team. By the time he was 10 - he was playing on a competitive travel team. He would not have been able to do that if he hadn't started early.

Now, with that being said. Not all baseball leagues for kids are crazy competitive like that. I would give the league a call and find out where they stand before you register. Even if they are one of those uber-comp teams, they would still be able to refer you to something more suitable for your son to start out with.

ETA: I completely agree with MickeyManiac - from my dad to my brother to my son - baseball has been a part of our lives that I cannot imagine being without. Have fun and good luck!

 

[tvguy]

If your son is truly interested, then seek out a league that not as competitive as Little League.

I respectfully disagree. One of the advantages.....or disadvantages, depending on your opinion, of Little League is that it is one of the least competitive programs. Cal Ripkin, American Legion and Traveling teams, yes, those are competitive programs. Little League has minimum play, a lot of others leagues don't. My son didn't start playing Little League until age 10, and he did just fine. Played in the Little League system until age 18 (not all Little Leagues have programs for 17 and 18 year olds). He also played High School ball all 4 years there, and played one year (at age 19) on an American Legion team.

 

[mom2kazkids]

My DS did not play baseball til this last fall when he was 10. He was one of the older boys on the team, and definately far from the best, but he had fun. He will be playing this spring, and I am sure again will not be a great player, but everyone gets to play, and he has fun.

 

[mamacatnv]

I respectfully disagree. One of the advantages.....or disadvantages, depending on your opinion, of Little League is that it is one of the least competitive programs. Cal Ripkin, American Legion and Traveling teams, yes, those are competitive programs. Little League has minimum play, a lot of others leagues don't. My son didn't start playing Little League until age 10, and he did just fine. Played in the Little League system until age 18 (not all Little Leagues have programs for 17 and 18 year olds). He also played High School ball all 4 years there, and played one year (at age 19) on an American Legion team.

Clearing throat....Uhhhhummmm I respectfully disagree with your blanket statement.
Cal Ripken is run very similar to Little League. I sat on a Cal Ripken board for 8 long years!
CR also has minimum play rules in all divisons, pitching limits and depending on the league many of the younger divisions play with a no score type situation etc.
All of the leagues have some competitiveness to them, after all teams don't make it to the Little League World Series because they win some sort of baseball lottery.


OP - when I was involved with kids baseball the only time I ever saw an issue with a 10 year old as a first time player was with a very small, very timid little boy who, despite the suggestions of the league to have him play in the slightly younger division for a year insisted he play in the 10-12 division. I saw both sides of this one, the problem was he had no skills, was deathly afraid of the ball and due to his small size the other players also. After a few weeks the parents relented and moved him down a division where he had a great season and then came back the following year to his "proper" division but by then he was confident and no longer afraid.

Also, we held skill assessments to place kids onto teams with as much equity as possible, our league also was seated by draft. Make sure of the player rules, IMO if I write a check my kiddo had better play regardless of skill. This was something we stressed and monitored with our managers, all kids play most positions.

I love kid baseball passionately, I encourage you to contact your local leagues, talk to your friends and get your son into a league. Then, really encourage him to stick it out, its good for them to learn to commit to a team regardless.

 

[Michelle_R]

Another option would be to put him in a baseball camp before the season begins. This would help him with basic skills and also help build his confidence level.

 

[njmom47]

Our rec league places every kid, but at the older levels (13-14-15) there is a Senior league and a Junior league (the only difference is skill level). Some coaches (like dh who coaches 9 yr olds) have the philosophy of "every kid get playing time" although there are other coaches who's philosophy is "win at all costs." (I mean, at the younger ages, it should be instructional as well as competitive). And yes, PP, I too cannot imagine life without baseball (although dd is only 15, he has played since age 5 on rec, allstars, school and travel teams)!

 

[dejr_8]

Baseball is a sport that requires repetition to be good.

So while it is not too late for your son to start baseball YOU will need to invest time into throwing and batting practice. You won't just be able to leave him at practice.

I would suggest getting a batting Tee and having him practice on that everyday (50 - 100 swings). You can use wiffle balls and have him hit into the side of the house, garage door, whatever so he doesn't have to chase the balls.

I would invest in a hit-away (http://sklz.com/baseball-training-a...ting-trainer/hit-a-way-baseball-swing-trainer).

I would also purchase a hitting stick (http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Hitting-Batting-Trainer-54/dp/B002BCJ3I0)

You will need to catch with him everyday for at least 15 minutes.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I'm not exactly familiar with a lot of the terminology used as we don't have Little League here. I'm not sure of the nature of the tryouts you are are talking about. Here, for our travel teams, each coach determines when their tryouts are, and for intramural (teams only play other teams in our league/neighborhood) there would be one big evaluation right before Spring baseball starts.

My DS is in his 4th year of travel baseball, and every year it gets more and more competitive. I've been approached by other Mom's about DS's friends about how to get their kids into this. It's simply very, very hard, even at 11 if you aren't already in it. Most of these kids just starting out will only have intramural as an option. Sure, they can show up to "tryouts" but once these coaches establish these teams, they are working out with them year round. Almost every single one of the kids on DS's baseball team also plays football, so they are training for spring baseball from November to March. Right now for us this means 2 hours of conditioning one night a week at a personal training facility, 2 hours of indoor baseball skills with their coaches as well as one of the local high school coaches on Saturdays, 1 night a week of 1 on 1 hitting lessons, and 1 night of pitching lessons. And this is all MANDATORY for the entire roster, and of course since indoor space is at a premium, VERY expensive. The only time I've seen rosters change is if a kid has already been playing for years and has moved into the area. And if a kid doesn't want to live, eat, breathe baseball, he's not going to want to make this kind of committment. And once baseball season starts? Games 4 days a week with several travel tournaments before and after the season.

I definitely recommend to all of our friends that they try intramural. A lot of people don't like intramural because it is spread out more evenly, and chosen by a draft. So you really do see kids that are almost good enough for travel, down to kids who can't catch or throw a ball, on the same team. It's tough because there really needs to be something in the middle- which is what here would be considered county level ball (local travel only) but those are getting pretty competitive as well.

 

[luvmy3]

My 10 year old wanted to start this year too but after I told him that he has to go to baseball camp and clinics because he was to old to start without any experience, he decided soccer was more his thing

 

[mjkacmom]

My boys are very into sports, and ds12 started tball when he was 4, and has been playing both LL and travel ball for years. These boys can play baseball! Because they start competitive sports much younger than when I was a child, the level they play at is much higher in the younger years. If I play catch with ds8, he has to take it easy on me, since he's been throwing the ball with his older brother since the age of 3.

Have him take a camp/clinic first. At 10, they probably don't do equal play time, and these kids want their teams to win. By the age of 10, it's rare for a player to miss a ball thrown to him, or for a throw not to get to where it needs to be. These kids also know the game, and know where to throw the ball, depending upon what bases have runners, what inning it is, etc.

If the weather is okay, my boys are outside every day, throwing the football, baseball, kicking a soccer ball, or throwing basketballs. When ds12 was younger, DH was out there daily, but now ds8 can keep up with him, so DH only gets drafted when there is just one of them.

 

[tar heel]

I'm assuming it's not actual Little League. If it is, then you need to find a rec program b/c that would be extremely competitive and would have cuts. A 10-year-old who wants to play baseball shouldn't have to worry about being cut. In a rec program, tryouts are for equalizing the teams -- everyone will make a team and probably everyone will play. I would talk to an organizer about how competitive this particular league is. Where we live, there is a county league and a city league and one is much more serious than the other IMO. I have a child who was a excellent athlete -- he played county or both each year until high school track made it impossible. I also have a child who was a perfect fit for the city league.

Sorry to say it, but he probably will be behind most of the other kids and will need to be committed to practice, practice, practice. You or your DH should also be committed to helping him practice throwing and catching, hitting, etc.

 

[golfgal]

If he is otherwise athletically inclined he will be just fine starting the game at age 10. He might have a slower year this year but it is a totally fallacy that kids need to start playing a sport at birth to be good in high school. Sign him up with reasonable expectations that he won't be the best kid on the team this year and see how he likes it. You will find that often the kids that are superstars at a young age see no playing time in high school either because they are burned out or because they just don't advance like other kids as they mature.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

If he is otherwise athletically inclined he will be just fine starting the game at age 10. He might have a slower year this year but it is a totally fallacy that kids need to start playing a sport at birth to be good in high school. Sign him up with reasonable expectations that he won't be the best kid on the team this year and see how he likes it. You will find that often the kids that are superstars at a young age see no playing time in high school either because they are burned out or because they just don't advance like other kids as they mature.

Our local high school has kids that basically come from 2 different rec leagues. In our rec league alone, there are 3 travel teams for 11U. So, not even all of those 36 kids will even make the HS team roster as freshmen, let alone some kid who hasn't even picked up a glove yet. So of course, many of them will sit the bench that do, but they'll be happy to have made the team!

 

[ICF]

Here, Little League is the city run rec league. They have evaluations to place kids on the team but nobody gets cut. They also all play all the kids in the games, every kid is in the batting line-up and most kids sit out an inning when they are on the field. From the pool of kids in a given age they will select kids to then play on the All-Star teams during late June and July.

The is a Sunday Showcase team - ran thru little league that kids have to try out for that has some local travel involved. That league costs extra and has a different coach as is generally made up of the better kids in the league for a given age.

We also have travel leagues NOT ran thru the local Little League as well.

If your 10 year old wants to play Little League I have little doubt he'll be fine. Here a kid his age can play in either the 9-10 year old group or the 10-11 year old group. His evaluation will determine which team he goes on. If he were good enough for All-Stars he would play on the 10 year old team, regardless of which league he was in.

 

[Mkrop]

Here we have Little League. The 10-12 age is divided into two groups the Minor League and the Major League. Both have minimal playing time. The Minor League has tryouts but they are more to have well balanced teams. The Majors have tryouts that you can get cut unless you are 12, you automatically make the team.

When DS was 11, DH coached a Minors team. Once he drafted his players and they showed up for the first practice, he realized that many kids were new to baseball. DH was in a bit of a panic. He then realized he would just work with these kids the best that he could. Well as it turned out this team wound up winning the enitre division. And they went on to play the league from the other side of town and won for the first time for our League! It was a great year of baseball and those newbies really came together with the kids who had been playing since Tball they all learned a lot!

So I would call your league and see how things are divided up, then I would get your DS to some batting cages and even a camp or two. We have a bunch of indoor places here that kids can work on their skills during the winter.

GL

 

[carone0318]

My ds is playing baseball (Little League) for the 1st time this year, he turns 10 this month. We have asked him in the past if he wanted to play, which he always responded - No! Then during the summer he said he wanted to play this upcoming season. He is a naturally athletic kid, who's 1st sport is soccer (plays travel). So dh started going outside and throwing a ball with him. Now, over the Winter, he is doing weekly baseball training at an indoor facility with a bunch of his friends. It's being taught by 1 of the Dads of a soccer teammate. I'm sure it will work out for him, it will just take a little time.