SmartMoney Magazine Interview
Yesterday I had my SmartMoney Magazine interview! It went very well! The interview was conducted by the author of the piece, Anne Kadet. She was very friendly and very interested in how the youth baseball programs functioned. The article will publish in the July issue which will be released in June. (Don’t ask me, I just report, you decide)
Uniquely Qualified
I, of course, was uniquely qualified to provide her all the information she needed! My 18 years experience w/ Little League and brief experience w/ travel ball and its effect on Little League was what interested her. She delved deeply to gain a true understanding of how each program worked and how they worked together. She was also interested in where they created conflicts.
Will Your Child Fall Behind?
The point she was most interested in was “do you feel your child will fall behind if he does not participate in the travel programs”? What a great question! She asked, she said, because a hockey parent she had interviewed the day before had stated that they felt their child had no shot at a high school team unless they participated in the travel leagues. I had to agree that those that play in travel leagues definitely have advanced skills.
Quality of Play
She then asked, “Do you feel the quality of play in the ‘elite’ travel leagues is coming down since anyone can start a team and there are more teams available now”? Another whopper of a question! I had to admit that yes, as the numbers increase, it was inevitable that travel teams quality of play decline. I also pointed out that travel ball is for play, not for gaining fundamentals, nothing can replace Little League for that.
This is an interesting concept though. Many of you know that I used to be a hardcore metal head in my younger days. I used to complain to my super-cool boss at the time (he tolerated my late nights and frequent early afternoon departures as well as my unique travel schedule) that radio stations never played the kind of music I liked. He used to say, “if the radio stations played it, then it wouldn’t be cool to listen to it any more”. I didn’t agree then, but wisdom has taught me what he meant.
I think this might be a decent analogy to travel ball. If everyone is playing, is it really an elite travel league any more? Or is it simply a league of the same kids playing Little League circumventing the draft process?
What does the Future Hold?
Of course everyone doesn’t play travel ball, and Little League provides a home for EVERYONE. But I have to wonder what the face of travel ball will look like in 10 years? They certainly do not have the money that Little League has, nor the corporate sponsorship or media coverage. ESPN’s multi-million deal to cover every division of Little League’s World Series on TV will certainly boost participation.
This will be an interesting topic that I will visit often over the next few years.
What effect do you feel that travel ball is having on Little League? Is it positive or negative? What would you change about the current situation? Post a comment below and let us know about it.
Check out some prior posts that may interest you:
Variation of the Around the Horn Drill
New Pitching Drill
Blowout, Pitching Questions, Resume for Article
SmartMoney Magazine Interview
It’s All About the Fundamentals
What our Readers are Saying