O's get #5 pick in 2021 draft

[Roll Tide]

1 hour ago, forphase1 said:

I don't know where your kids play little league, but around here most games aren't even recorded,  much less having any kind of data like launch angles and exit velocity.

Not sure about baseball.... but I’m ref football in Maryland and PA and almost everything is..

[VaBird1]

7 hours ago, Frobby said:

I think he’s saying a little league aged kid can go to a training facility and get this data.   

If you go somewhere for a lesson, this is included.  The place Elias went for pitching lessons in high school does it, zero chance he isn’t aware.

[DrungoHazewood]

On 10/18/2020 at 8:15 AM, Can_of_corn said:

That's crazy to me that some leagues would pay for that. 

The percentage of parents who think little Timmy is going to be a professional is about 1000 times higher than the percentage of little Timmys who will actually go pro. That's probably a low estimate.  But the parents will pay for that.

When my kids were playing baseball the most common launch angles for their teams were -30 degrees, +25 degrees backwards, and (undefined - never made contact).

[LookinUp]

The thing about youth sports that could make it worth it is the college scholarships. There are a ton available across many sports. They may not go pro, but getting a 50% or full ride to college is worth a lot of money too. 

My daughter was a gymnast. Not D-1 caliber, so no pressure on us there, but for the girls that are that caliber, there actually is some pressure to stick with a sport that can be really grueling. 

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

The thing about youth sports that could make it worth it is the college scholarships. There are a ton available across many sports. They may not go pro, but getting a 50% or full ride to college is worth a lot of money too. 

My daughter was a gymnast. Not D-1 caliber, so no pressure on us there, but for the girls that are that caliber, there actually is some pressure to stick with a sport that can be really grueling. 

Even the percentages there are very small.  There's a soccer player my kids train with named Jereme Raley.  He's played for University of Maryland, some lower level pro teams, and the Baltimore Blast indoor team.  I'm pretty sure he's the most successful player in the 30+ year history of St. Mary's Soccer.   At any given time there are probably 1500 or 2000 kids playing for the club, and I doubt one kid a year gets a D-1 scholarship.  I'm good friends with a guy who now coaches a little on one of my kids' teams, he was waaaaaay better than I ever was or my kids are, and I think he got a partial ride to a small, lower-division school in Vermont. 

There's a lot of parental delusion going on thinking your kid is going to be the one in 2000.

[LookinUp]

49 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Even the percentages there are very small.  There's a soccer player my kids train with named Jereme Raley.  He's played for University of Maryland, some lower level pro teams, and the Baltimore Blast indoor team.  I'm pretty sure he's the most successful player in the 30+ year history of St. Mary's Soccer.   At any given time there are probably 1500 or 2000 kids playing for the club, and I doubt one kid a year gets a D-1 scholarship.  I'm good friends with a guy who now coaches a little on one of my kids' teams, he was waaaaaay better than I ever was or my kids are, and I think he got a partial ride to a small, lower-division school in Vermont. 

There's a lot of parental delusion going on thinking your kid is going to be the one in 2000.

I played pretty moderate level sports growing up and even then know several guys who got D-1 scholarships, and they weren't professional athlete types of players. That's different than going pro, but certainly still worth some $ in saved tuition. 

My kid is on a top rated travel team. He's good. Probably better than I was for sure. Playing against the best competition helps his whole team take major steps forward relative to their peers. They just keep getting better and better and leaving other kids behind. I'd say his odds are decent to at least have a chance at a scholarship to a D-1 school, even if that's UMBC and not Clemson. Add in good grades and it helps your chances even more.

[Can_of_corn]

3 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

The percentage of parents who think little Timmy is going to be a professional is about 1000 times higher than the percentage of little Timmys who will actually go pro. That's probably a low estimate.  But the parents will pay for that.

When my kids were playing baseball the most common launch angles for their teams were -30 degrees, +25 degrees backwards, and (undefined - never made contact).

I can see travel teams paying it.

[Justinlstn]

Its funny, because like the rest of us we just want our kids to have fun and be happy. My 10yr old will hopefully play HS baseball and that be it.  I never knew about what these "future prospects" go through until talking to a buddy of mine who's 13 yr old son (Dillon Adkins) was on Team USA 12U last year and all the things that they do year round. He's was getting scholarship offers last Dec. Its crazy to me, I never knew things like this started that early.

[LookinUp]

1 minute ago, Justinlstn said:

Its funny, because like the rest of us we just want our kids to have fun and be happy. My 10yr old will hopefully play HS baseball and that be it.  I never knew about what these "future prospects" go through until talking to a buddy of mine who's 13 yr old son (Dillon Adkins) was on Team USA 12U last year and all the things that they do year round. He's was getting scholarship offers last Dec. Its crazy to me, I never knew things like this started that early.

Yeah, you hear the horror stories. We see it too. There are a lot of sub-Team USA organizations that are not like that though. Some put way too much coin into it, IMO. On the other hand, speaking from my perspective only, you're not doing this because you're investing in your future pro. You're doing it because most people (kids and parents) are having a blast now.

That's the thing. For every crazy kid caught up in one of those national for-profit kid mills, there are dozens still in highly competitive sports and having a blast. Many of those won't play in college, or under scholarship, for many reasons, but a lot actually will. 

If you do the math in MD for example, there are many more high schools than there are really good travel programs. The competition will actually diffuse a little bit. 

As a total aside, my daughter went up to PA to play field hockey last year. I think it was the WC team. They're nationally ranked. Just about every girl on that team will get a scholarship to some school for field hockey. I'd bet money on it unless they just shut down college sports in a big way. 

[DrungoHazewood]

3 hours ago, Justinlstn said:

Its funny, because like the rest of us we just want our kids to have fun and be happy. My 10yr old will hopefully play HS baseball and that be it.  I never knew about what these "future prospects" go through until talking to a buddy of mine who's 13 yr old son (Dillon Adkins) was on Team USA 12U last year and all the things that they do year round. He's was getting scholarship offers last Dec. Its crazy to me, I never knew things like this started that early.

In Europe the systems are very different, but Lionel Messi and his dad moved from Argentina to Spain join the Barcelona youth academy when he was 13.  Harry Kane joined the Arsenal youth academy when he was eight, was released after one season because he was "a little chubby and not very athletic", joined Tottenham, was promoted to the senior team as a teenager and has now led the EPL in scoring several times.

And I complain a bit taking the boys to Winchester from Southern Maryland for a match...

[DrungoHazewood]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

I can see travel teams paying it.

Sure, the higher end ones.  I don't know much about baseball travel teams, but there are many tiers of soccer travel teams.  There's teams in the NCSL like my kids' teams, they play around DC, a couple tournaments a season in Fredericksburg, or Columbia or Richmond.  Then there's TRAVEL teams who're based around DC but go to Florida or Texas or whatever on a regular basis.

[LookinUp]

15 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Sure, the higher end ones.  I don't know much about baseball travel teams, but there are many tiers of soccer travel teams.  There's teams in the NCSL like my kids' teams, they play around DC, a couple tournaments a season in Fredericksburg, or Columbia or Richmond.  Then there's TRAVEL teams who're based around DC but go to Florida or Texas or whatever on a regular basis.

It is really neat to do that travel, but it's crazy how much some people pay for this stuff. Even the coaches get paid at a lot of these places. I get the approach (why let your kid be subject to the whims of a stupid player parent coach?), but the travel/tournament costs alone add up big time. My kid would have to be damn near like Bryce Harper for me to go that route. 

[hoosiers]

All three of my kids have played at the club soccer level - above town travel.  New Jersey is a pretty crazy youth soccer state - especially on the girls side - at one point I believe three of the women on the USWNT were from NJ.  My two girls played on top 25 teams according to one of the ratings sites.  The younger girl was offered a spot on a top 10 team and turned it down to play with friends on a much worse team.  The top 10 team traveled to Disney and other national tournaments every year.  That said, very few of the girls on those teams are playing major college soccer.  Many of the girls on those teams head to D2 or D3 soccer programs.  There is always someone better out there.  Like Drungo has been saying, the number of scholarships available are much fewer than folks think.    

There is an freshmen girl from NJ at Maryland from our high school and I am eager to see how she does.  Small world - one of her first coaches at the club soccer level is now the head coach of the women's program at Indiana.  

[DrungoHazewood]

19 hours ago, LookinUp said:

It is really neat to do that travel, but it's crazy how much some people pay for this stuff. Even the coaches get paid at a lot of these places. I get the approach (why let your kid be subject to the whims of a stupid player parent coach?), but the travel/tournament costs alone add up big time. My kid would have to be damn near like Bryce Harper for me to go that route. 

Exactly.  My kids are at a level where I hope they play a little in high school, although we're zoned for a school that's pretty good and you almost have to be a higher level travel player to make varsity.  They really have no interest or probably ability to play on these teams that go to Florida and just the fees are many thousands of dollars a year.

I have a coworker whose grandkid (5th grade) plays hockey, and has regular season games in New Jersey and Ohio.

This is a structural problem with soccer (and probably other sports) in the US.  Pay for play.  There have to be countless kids from poor backgrounds who are spectacular players who just don't get a chance because their parents can't afford it.  In Germany or the UK if you're really good you get picked up by some pro team's youth academy and they foot the bill.  DC United's youth side costs like $20k a year, although I think that includes school and I think they're unusual among MLS sides in charging to play.

Also, my kids' travel team coaches get paid, but it's like $1000 or $1500 a season to cover hotels and gas and stuff.  It's not a job.

[GuidoSarducci]

On 10/19/2020 at 6:29 AM, DrungoHazewood said:

The percentage of parents who think little Timmy is going to be a professional is about 1000 times higher than the percentage of little Timmys who will actually go pro. That's probably a low estimate.  But the parents will pay for that.

When my kids were playing baseball the most common launch angles for their teams were -30 degrees, +25 degrees backwards, and (undefined - never made contact).

What I'm wondering is, if this stuff is so important, how are there so many international prospects in the MLB that don't come from as rich countries?  Maybe this is bias on my part , but how do the players coming out of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, who presumably don't have access to those resources, compete just as well as the ones coming out the US?