9-year old is too good?

[countryboy]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

I don't know his personal baseball history, but obviously he is much better than the rest of the kids and doesn't fit within the "beginner" skill level.

"League officials suggested that Jericho play other positions"

He's not being banned for his skill level, but because he throws the ball too hard and parents are afraid for their childs safety. Well, that brings me to this question, what about as the kids get older and move on and play in older leagues where more kids throw the ball hard? What then?

[dkgojackets]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

"League officials suggested that Jericho play other positions"

He's not being banned for his skill level, but because he throws the ball too hard and it scares the other kids to face him.

Is pitching hard not a skill? One which he does at a high level? That's what I was referring to.

And parents are afraid for their childs safety. Well, that brings me to this question, what about as the kids get older and move on and play in older leagues where more kids throw the ball hard? What then?

By that time they would have learned to hit balls coming at a speed appropriate for their ability level and moved up as they got better. A kid can't learn fundamentals of hitting when he cant even see the ball coming and is expecting it to knock his head off.

[MassNole]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Well they could have offered to promote him a level, but this is pathetic. Connecticut is the nation's capital for *****fying sports.

[dkgojackets]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Well they could have offered to promote him a level, but this is pathetic. Connecticut is the nation's capital for *****fying sports.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-toogoodtopitch&prov=ap&type=lgns

The article which I see you didnt fully read. They did offer to promote him to an older league or even move to a more competitive league altogether.

[countryboy]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

"The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

“I feel sad,” he said. “I feel like it’s all my fault nobody could play.”

Pretty much sums up how sad and ridiculous this whole situation is. Congratulations parents, you have just made baseball not fun anymore for one 9 year old little boy.

[countryboy]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

The article which I see you didnt fully read. They did offer to promote him to an older league or even move to a more competitive league altogether.

Here's my problem with moving him to an older league or more competitive league. What if his skill set doesn't fit these leagues? Then he's not developing and he's becoming as frustrated as the other players are, at least according to their parents. Seems everyone is thinking whats best for everyone else, and not this little boy.

[countryboy]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Here's something that is seemingly being overlooked:


"Jericho’s coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league’s administrators."


Seems to me that had he joined this team, all would be ok. What a shame.

[dkgojackets]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Here's something that is seemingly being overlooked:


"Jericho’s coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league’s administrators."


Seems to me that had he joined this team, all would be ok. What a shame.

pretty sure that was added just to make the story more interesting, nothing gets readers like more controversy and corruption

Heck, in our local league almost every team is sponsored by employers of league administrators or other league representative. Thats how you get sponsors for these leagues.

[Jackdog]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Here's my problem with moving him to an older league or more competitive league. What if his skill set doesn't fit these leagues? Then he's not developing and he's becoming as frustrated as the other players are, at least according to their parents. Seems everyone is thinking whats best for everyone else, and not this little boy.

This is very valid point. The kid wants to play in this league with his friends. That's what the game is supposed to be about at that age.This is such bull$hit.

I've coached baseball from T-ball to Little League. I coached my kids to step up to challenges. Work hard a be aggressive. Don't be afraid to fail. We always have a blast win or lose with that attitude. On a personal note my son always gets more pumped up when he faces a tough pitcher or batter. That makes me smile. The parents in this league don't.

[Cebby]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

On a personal note my son always gets more pumped up when he faces a tough pitcher or batter. That makes me smile. The parents in this league don't.

Uh, yeah. That's because your son is good and has probably been playing for a while. That's what quality athletes do.

These kids aren't athletes. They aren't at that point yet, and can't deal with it. They didn't sign up for a developmental league because they wanted to be dominated by quality players. When I was a senior in high school football, I would have my position changed each week to go against the best front 7 guy on the other team. But when I was 9, I would have to be dragged to practice and played on the ****ty C team (the worst of 5 teams in the program). However, I learned some fundamentals and the next 3 years I started for the A team (the top team in the program). If I'd have gotten the **** beat out of me as a 9 year old, there's no way I'd have ever played again, but I played on the bad teams, learned the game, and became a pretty damn good player. Some times you need some time to learn the game. That's obviously what these guys wanted when they signed up for a developmental league.

[Jackdog]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Uh, yeah. That's because your son is good and has probably been playing for a while. That's what quality athletes do.

These kids aren't athletes. They aren't at that point yet, and can't deal with it. They didn't sign up for a developmental league because they wanted to be dominated by quality players. When I was a senior in high school football, I would have my position changed each week to go against the best front 7 guy on the other team. But when I was 9, I would have to be dragged to practice and played on the ****ty C team (the worst of 5 teams in the program). However, I learned some fundamentals and the next 3 years I started for the A team (the top team in the program). If I'd have gotten the **** beat out of me as a 9 year old, there's no way I'd have ever played again, but I played on the bad teams, learned the game, and became a pretty damn good player. Some times you need some time to learn the game. That's obviously what these guys wanted when they signed up for a developmental league.

He's good now,but it took a lot of hard work on his part to become the player he is today. He played on some very bad teams,trust me I coached them when I was lucky enough to be stateside. My son didn't do anything well at first. But he watched the kids that did and learned from them. He understood he had to work at the game to become good at it. He couldn't wait to practice. That's what he did and still does. I was blessed with a driven young man.

This mentality carried over to his acadmics as well. My wife and I are very pleased with that. My son is a two sport athlete that's already being recruted to play college baseball. His other sport is boxing and two Service academies are interested in him as well. I don't believe he would have pushed himself to be the well rounded player/athlete he is if he didn't play the best and fail. He is driven by failure and the desire to overcome it.

I asked him about this subject and he laughed and called the parents weak. I took his opinion more serious than mine. He was 9 just 4 years ago. I can't remember 9. :wink:

[Scottdau]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

I think I would be scared that my 9 year old would get hit. I mean 40 mph can hurt. And what is the top speed for a 9 year? To me it is no difference why they have weight classes in pop warner. I was too little to play in my age bracket and I was too old to play in the younger group, so I have to sit out that year. Maybe I am alone, but I say he should move out a level. The parents just want their kid to dominate. She even said it. I say it is time to move up. Little league is meant to teach the kids some things, but it is also meant to be fun. I guess I agree with the parents that say he is too good. In baseball we had a 9 year old that throw a curve. They all complained about it, but he was never moved up. Actually the to good part is no excuse to move up, but the 40 mph is.

[Jackdog]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

I think I would be scared that my 9 year old would get hit. I mean 40 mph can hurt. And what is the top speed for a 9 year? To me it is no difference why they have weight classes in pop warner. I was too little to play in my age bracket and I was too old to play in the younger group, so I have to sit out that year. Maybe I am alone, but I say he should move out a level. The parents just want their kid to dominate. She even said it. I say it is time to move up. Little league is meant to teach the kids some things, but it is also meant to be fun. I guess I agree with the parents that say he is too good. In baseball we had a 9 year old that throw a curve. They all complained about it, but he was never moved up. Actually the to good part is no excuse to move up, but the 40 mph is.

First off. The league allows kids to pitch over-hand. It's not a beginners league. If so,the organisers of this league screwed up. The ladder of progression in youth baseball is T-Ball to Coach pitch to pitching machine to kid pitch. In Michigan we set our machines for the 8 year olds at 55. They played 4 innings with the machine then 2 with a live pitcher. In that league the 8 and 9 year olds threw in the 40's to the mid 50's range.

The problem isn't that this little guy is throwing too hard. He is just making all the other kids look like nerds when they step up to the plate. Youth sports is not as competitive anymore. I've coached baseball and football and I believe today's generation of kids would rather play video games. It doesn't require discipline, running, or traveling. Most kids playing baseball today are forced to play by parents. Which results in the quality of players to be down.

The Bottom line is most parents see Youth Leagues as daycare rather than a team-building competitive sport. If little Johnny is scared to get in the batters box,maybe the parents need to spend more time with their child building confidence, character, and skill. More and more we see people in this country faced with the best and instead of teaching their kids to rise to the occasion and test themselves, they are taught to not even try.

[ehh]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Well they could have offered to promote him a level, but this is pathetic. Connecticut is the nation's capital for *****fying sports.

It is pretty pathetic around here these days. Usually it's the yuppies and Fairfield County people but now that New Haven is joining the trend I'm getting worried!

[Brandwin]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Here's my problem with moving him to an older league or more competitive league. What if his skill set doesn't fit these leagues? Then he's not developing and he's becoming as frustrated as the other players are, at least according to their parents. Seems everyone is thinking whats best for everyone else, and not this little boy.

This is very valid point. The kid wants to play in this league with his friends. That's what the game is supposed to be about at that age.This is such bull$hit.

I've coached baseball from T-ball to Little League. I coached my kids to step up to challenges. Work hard a be aggressive. Don't be afraid to fail. We always have a blast win or lose with that attitude. On a personal note my son always gets more pumped up when he faces a tough pitcher or batter. That makes me smile. The parents in this league don't.

I couldn't agree more. Devlopment leagues in my city is t-ball, coach pitch and pitcher machine, if your child never played in those leagues, they just have to tough it out when they start. The kid is being punished because he is better then others. If you move him up, you then hurt the child because he won't be able to pitch to 10-12 year olds at 40mph, the better pitchers at that age, from what I can remember hit the 50-55 mph zone.

Also, the team was 8-0 and heading into the playoffs. The kid has probably pitched every other game or depending on how often they play, maybe 3 of those 8... why is it a problem now and not after his first game or two? Just sounds fishy to me.