Can I do a bit of recruiting for a 10U AAU baseball team for the upcoming season? (RI/Southern MA)

notmannysfault

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My son wants to play year round. Surprisingly, a lot of kids do too.

He played town all stars last summer then he just kind of...waited for spring.

This year he tried out for and was offered a spot on a 10U AAU baseball team that chooses kids selectively instead of taking everyone and charging them all 3,000 dollars. Our kids will pay around $800 all in for winter spring and summer baseball. I also decided to help out with coaching duties when they requested one more volunteer coach.

The parents and kids have come together really nicely. The goal is, if these kids have fun, learn and feel like the season was a success, they will stay together as much as possible to play 11U together next year.

Anyhow, the team is short one good arm, so I am reaching out to the SoSH community to see if anyone is interested (feel free to respond inline or via PM).


Needed: one pitcher for 10U AAU which is made up of a group of players who were all stars for their respective town summer league teams.

Player should:

-- be 10 years old or younger on May 1, 2020.
-- want to play winter spring and summer of this year (winter is indoor practice 90 minutes once per week).
-- be confident taking the ball for around 4 innings once a weekend (more/less depending on pitch count).
-- be ready to learn; coaches take things a step above what most of us see in our town little leagues, and practices are more serious.
-- be ready to play infield/outfield when not on the mound (we have two catchers, but catching is also a possibility).

I'm sure I've forgotten one or more details here, so hit me up with any questions if interested.

We have 10, we want to carry 11, and we need that extra arm (FYI, we don't advocate the curveball at this age, but a lot of the kids throw fastball/changeup).

Thanks,

NMF
 

santadevil

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You have 10 players, all basically 10 or younger and need one more arm that can throw 4 innings weekend?

No you don't. You need to realize you have 10 pitchers there and they need to be developed, not pigeon-holed before they actually can play the game
I agree, another body would be great, because only 10 players can be tough, especially with injury, but you should be able to make it through very easily having each kid pitch and learn to pitch
 

Doug Beerabelli

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Having coached my son in a similar program at this age (parent coached but more serious travel team that participated in AAU, did winter workouts, and played through mid summer), I'd only suggest you get at least 12 kids on the team. Especially if you end up playing doubleheaders and tournaments. Even though you ask for the full commitment, injuires/illness and some of the usual parental vacation/travel/can't miss events will come up, and kids will miss games. You're bare with 11. I understand the desire to keep # lower for player development (both in practice and more ABs and reps in games), but 12 still works to do that IMO.

As Santadevil said, develop as many of these kids as pitchers as you can. We spent some $ on getting professional hitting and pitching help from the clubs that owned the indoor facilities, and that helped. I understand you'll be limited by how much time you can give to coach pitching during practice, and the fact you want to be comptetive in games and don't want to pitch everyone for development purposes if that will factor negatively into game results. But it'll be worth if if you can get 8-10 kids who can throw accurately and not walk the ballpark.
 

Fred not Lynn

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I agree with both above. EVERY kid needs to be able to pitch. In very few tournaments does the Championship Game feature either team's best pitchers - and inevitably turn into a contest of which team runs out of pitching first. Plus at 10U you're not teaching "pitching" you're teaching "accurate throwing", which is a skill every player needs anyway!

Not that the Championship Game matters even one tiny bit. If you're playing 10U to rack up tournament titles, you're trying to win the wrong race.

Also, while I am preaching - Great that he wants to play year round, and there's no harm in a once a week practice to stay sharp so you're ready to ramp up in spring, but please encourage him to play/love other sports...early specialization is a dinosaur.
 

Cumberland Blues

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All of the above (with extra emphasis on FnL's last paragraph)...and you'll need more than two catchers.
 

notmannysfault

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thanks for all of the responses, shall I take all of them as a "no".. in terms of offering an additional player who is hungry to pitch?

there were a lot of inferences drawn from my original post, some of which are even relevant.

all I can add is as follows: none of these kids will refuse if we ask them to pitch, but not all of them are excited to pitch. we are a new squad, we found the group of ready players to be overall bat heavy and arm light.... so our need is for a player who is excited to pitch. we will be playing 1 or 2 tournaments this summer, subject to final budget. also, the parents are of varying income ranges.

alas...

We can develop any of the players if need be, but I asked if anyone could recommend a boy who wanted to take the mound. this isn't the main board, it's a back board... not really meant for a lengthy discussion of motive.


I've been attending SoSH events in person since 2002 and now I remember why I leave the drama in the past, despite watching every game up to and including #162.

not many of you will remember the weekend JWH gave us free As playoff tickets and Lanternjaw crashed at my place on Commonwealth Ave and we all laughed and cried together til the Sox were done in 2003. but I posted here for a reason: it's a simple advertisement.

post script: my kid has played soccer baseball and hoops. he hates soccer, and is meh on hoops. Winters, we end up playing all weekend in an indoor baseball gym. his choice.

should I shove a helmet on his brain and encourage him to dodge tackles?

given the strength of our bats, I would say we need an additional player who thrives on being on the mound... otherwise, we will just grab one of the bats.

thanks.
 

Heinie Wagner

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"post script: my kid has played soccer baseball and hoops. he hates soccer, and is meh on hoops. Winters, we end up playing all weekend in an indoor baseball gym. his choice."

50/50 at best he's playing baseball when he's 14. Why not make an adult decision to have him try MORE other stuff now?
 

notmannysfault

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oh for fucks sake, "make the adult decision". totally out of scope purely personal ad hominem attack, what the hell happened to this place?

I actually need to respond by saying "what kind of moron tells someone else how to parent their own children on an internet message board?"

I'll do you one better, given my knowledge of the child, his heredity and his academic strengths I'll bet by 18 he is much more concerned about which colleges he wants to attend, and doesn't give a fuck about any sports other than to enjoy watching or to play casually/for exercise.

he like to golf, we play 9 holes together from time to time, happy?

you guys are the parents from the other thread right?

can't wait to read what's next....
 

santadevil

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thanks for all of the responses, shall I take all of them as a "no".. in terms of offering an additional player who is hungry to pitch?

there were a lot of inferences drawn from my original post, some of which are even relevant.

all I can add is as follows: none of these kids will refuse if we ask them to pitch, but not all of them are excited to pitch. we are a new squad, we found the group of ready players to be overall bat heavy and arm light.... so our need is for a player who is excited to pitch. we will be playing 1 or 2 tournaments this summer, subject to final budget. also, the parents are of varying income ranges.

alas...

We can develop any of the players if need be, but I asked if anyone could recommend a boy who wanted to take the mound. this isn't the main board, it's a back board... not really meant for a lengthy discussion of motive.
...
given the strength of our bats, I would say we need an additional player who thrives on being on the mound... otherwise, we will just grab one of the bats.

thanks.
If there is a kid available, I'd definitely take them. As mentioned, it's tough with 10.
I've went will 11 players on my teams since my boy was 10. We mainly did that because that 12 player and 12th batter extends the lineup too long when everyone bats

As for getting all the kids to pitch, I create that expectation from Tryout #1, before we even do anything in the field.
I tell them that we're looking at them overall, but that every player will pitch at some point, just to ensure that they've seen the mound before a potential game that may matter late in the year.
It also has given us a lot of surprises and we've found some very good pitchers from kids we never thought would pitch more than once or twice in a season when we first got them
 

Heinie Wagner

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totally out of scope purely personal ad hominem attack, what the hell happened to this place?
I didn't mean it like that at all. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

My point was that if he's only playing one sport, that's going to end and probably sooner than if he was playing multiple sports.

There are a lot of good reasons to play more than one sport, if you're going to play year-round, especially if that one sport is baseball. Baseball doesn't develop much athleticism or transferable skills compared to some other sports.

Full year baseball at 10 years old is a bad idea.