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abpk2903 wrote:

sparky wrote: February 3rd, 2022, 9:50 am I am in the same boat. Constant reader but very rarely post. But as a dad who has a teenage son who loves baseball and no other sports. I wish he would try other ones but he wants to focus on baseball. I feel it puts him at a disadvantage to only play little league. We have bounced between little league, pony, and travel ball. In our circumstance Pony league did not push or develop him, as the “dad” coach spent most the time working with the players that needed extra work on the fundamentals. Nothing against the Dad coach, he was a great coach and my son loved him. But that season my son didn’t grow in his skills. We are now with a travel ball organization with paid coaches. All coaches have college experience and a number of them played pro baseball.

The coaching is at a much higher level, as well as the level of players on the team. The coaches can focus on advanced techniques because everyone on the team is at that level. Being around the best kids in the area pushes my son to be better.

Also the culture is much different. My son is in middle school, but the goal of his organization is to develop kids to play college baseball. He has had assignments where he was required to research colleges. Their admissions requirements, GPA, SAT scores, etc.

While I understand that little league is valuable. For our situation we feel that travel ball will best prepare our son to play in college. So there are two sides to every coin.


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Isn't anything wrong with trying to get the best out of your kid and giving them every single opportunity to succeed. You seem like you have put emphasis on the academic part of his growth, but a lot of parents do not.

I coached a kid a few years ago in "rec" ball and his parents were divorced. The dad made him play "rec" because his grades were very poor and he wanted him to shift focus to his studies. His mom on the weekends she had him would take him all over the country to camps. He would miss days of school to go to Bradenton (one trip in particular that I remember). The dad always mentioned to me that unless he turned his Cs and Ds into As and Bs, he isn't going anywhere with baseball. He was a smart kid but all he and his mom cared about was playing baseball, so his grades suffered. It was quite sad.

100% agree. He is blessed to be with an organization that doesn’t allow a player to play if their grades are not up to par.

Also, I am in the military so we have lived in multiple states/countries. I am originally from Bedford County but am now stationed outside of PA so growing within a little league is not a reality for us.

But yes baseball is not the end goal, it’s a motivation for him to keep his grades up and makes him want to go to college. It’s also a great sport for life lessons in general.

At the end of day, my goal as a dad is to raise my children to be productive members of society and if baseball is a means to help that goal then I’ll support my son in that journey.


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The OP was about wrestling, but the baseball tangent this thread took also applies to the mat.

I saw this in the USA Today last week. It’s a very interesting take for those parents and coaches that want their kids/players to commit to only one sport! 8 starting NFL quarterbacks from this weekend played 24 sports combined in high school.

Matt Stafford
Tom Brady
Josh Allen
Patrick Mahomes
Jimmy Garoppolo
Aaron Rogers
Joe Burrow
Ryan Tannehill

Wake up people! Youth sports or any sport actually that you aren’t being paid to play should be about having FUN! Parents who think their kids are going to be professional athletes should rethink THEIR goals for their kids!

UPJ has 40 wrestlers on its roster and 37 baseball players. That seems like too many of each to me. Of course St Vincent had 110 football players.

reugenev wrote: February 3rd, 2022, 6:15 pm I saw this in the USA Today last week. It’s a very interesting take for those parents and coaches that want their kids/players to commit to only one sport! 8 starting NFL quarterbacks from this weekend played 24 sports combined in high school.

Matt Stafford
Tom Brady
Josh Allen
Patrick Mahomes
Jimmy Garoppolo
Aaron Rogers
Joe Burrow
Ryan Tannehill

Wake up people! Youth sports or any sport actually that you aren’t being paid to play should be about having FUN! Parents who think their kids are going to be professional athletes should rethink THEIR goals for their kids!

I actually read something recently that Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford go to the same church in suburban Atlanta. They play with their wives on a co-ed basketball team in the offseason (how cool would it be to play them in rec co-ed church league basketball). So playing multiple sports doesn't even stop with the pros. Heck most QBs are also great golfers. Specialization doesn't ever really need to be a thing. Micah Parsons worked out with the wrestling team while at Penn State. Shaq made a TV series about his desire to always compete in sports outside of basketball in his offseason.

Interesting fact I also heard about wrestling. Not sure if it is true because I have not personally fact checked it. Over half of the all-pro interior lineman in the NFL over the decade wrestled at some point in their high school or college careers. The skills learned in wrestling such as balance, positioning, and even weight maintenance carry on throughout your entire life. Here is another fun one. Kevin Harvick, the championship NASCAR driver, often talks to the skills learned wrestling in high school that he has carried with him throughout his racing career.

I think there is a big importance to staying mentally sharp in sports. Playing in competitive events is important. Training 9 months to play a 20 game/match schedule in a single sport I feel like is a determent to on field awareness. This, IMO, is why so many top athletes are competitive golfers. They like the mental toughness it takes to play a competitive round of golf. Even though the actual skills of golf probably do not relate a lot to throwing a football or shooting a 3 pointer, the mental focus and competitive fire needs to year around. Top athletes realize this. Drills and practice just don't get many athletes there.