For the past few years, I’ve gotten a little nervous at the end of the winter fearing my son was going to be relegated to the B-team for his club baseball program. And the last two years, he made the A-team and I was happy. But this year, we switched clubs and I found out last week via a GameChanger invite that my 14u son was on the B-Team. On an emotional level, it bugs me. But ultimately I’m happy about it, because it means he’s going to play more.
There’s always a downside to being on the B-team of a club. The coaches usually give more attention to the A-team. They might practice more. The players you’re practicing with on the A-team are better, hopefully upping your kid’s game. A-teams also go to better tournaments and play more games. There’s more exposure to colleges and they’re playing better competition generally.
However, we had one practice with all the kids and I realize at this stage most of the A-team kids are better than my son. They have better footwork in the infield. They’re more consistent at the plate. And I’d much rather him play on the B-team then sit on the bench and sparingly play on the better team. I want him to get the reps to potentially challenge the A-team players next season. I’ve been around long enough to see B-team kids rise to the A-team and dominate. And like I wrote before, my son’s just joining a new club and he’s got to prove he can play.
I realize that kids are often sent to B-teams over town politics, and that sucks anyway you look at it. But this generally tends to happen less often on club teams.
I was recently watching a Big 10 basketball game and the bench players on Michigan State were jumping up and down, vigorously waving towels, hooting and hollering, and otherwise going crazy rooting for the starters. And it made me wonder why did these kids choose to go to Michigan State to essentially be cheerleaders and practice players, when they could have presumably gone to smaller schools and been starters (they were definitely tall enough)? Isn’t the purpose of sports to play? I understand that it’s good to be a team player who accepts his role on the bench and roots on the team regardless of his minutes, and that it must be fun to be part of a top basketball program, with games in Hawaii, competing for a national championship. But isn’t it also fun to have to a chance to play?
We were once on a club that won almost every tournament but my son was mostly a relief pitcher. When we left, the coach was perplexed.
“We won in the spring,” he told one parent complaining about us, “we won in the summer, we won in the fall. What do these people want?”
Well, my son was nine and we wanted him to play more. I didn’t really care how many trophies they won. I’ve also seen the flip side of that, too. We’ve been on bad teams where my son started and we lost all the time, and that obviously wasn’t ideal, either.
But ultimately when they’re kids, I think the most important thing is that they play and get reps and get better.
So bring on the B-team!
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT B-TEAMS? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.
For information about the emotional side of baseball, see:
- I Spent 30K on Youth Baseball Last Year; Here’s How
- Anger Management and Youth Baseball: How to Calm Down
- How to Manage Your Kid’s Baseball Tantrums and Meltdowns
- 4 Ways to Respond to a Coach Playing Favorites
- How to Stop Being a Crazy Baseball Dad
- How to Be a Good Baseball Dad in the Backyard
- Is It Now Fashionable to Hate On Baseball Dads?
- Are Local Little Leagues Bad for Baseball?
For information on hitting, see:
- How to Get Out of a Hitting Slump
- 4 Best Baseball Batting Aids (No. 3 is Free)
- 4 Hitting Drills You Need to Do Before Every Game
- 4 Old School Baseball Drills You Need to Be Using
- 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Baseball Bat
For information on pitching, see:
- What You Need to Know About Little League Elbow
- 4 Ways To Increase Your Kid’s Pitching Velocity
- Is the Circle Change Dangerous for Youth Pitchers?
- Why I Don’t Let My Son Pitch in Little League
- How to Make Sure Your Kid Isn’t Overpitched in Basebal
For ways to get faster, see: