“My youngest son, age 13, and I rarely agree on music in the car, so we ‘settle’ on listening to various baseball podcasts as we travel to and from his games. While we have heard some good ones from various people, the one I have found the most relevant to date from where we are at as a family is episode 126 from Elite Baseball Development w/ Eric Cressey and Walter Beede.
My wife and I are blessed with 4 kids….2 boys and 2 girls…ages 23, 21, 14 and 13 and we are constantly learning and trying to instill lessons learned from our older 2 and apply to the younger 2. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail.
Our oldest boy played college baseball at Franklin Pierce (thanks to Coach King) and I can tell you, the landscape from when he played to what our 13yr old is going thru is as different as night and day. The trap to specialize…year around or else be left behind…..the money….playing travel games on Friday at 5pm which require skipping school, flying to ‘World Series’, etc…..we are guilty as charged in allowing to prosper.
So when we started the episode and Walter eviscerated travel baseball, I felt guilty as charged and propelled to course correct.
- “competition heavy, practice light”
- “nothing matters prior to age 14” (I would argue 1st communion…LOL)
- “travel biz model is not dev model”
- 10-15K spots for 100K high school seniors
- the need for ‘home, school, and 3rd place….sanctuary….”
- “see it, feel it, touch it”
- “be an athlete”
We can also provide a first hand endorsement for the quality, the experience and expertise at Cressey’s facility in FL. Our youngest was able to spend time there last year and having him ‘see his future’ was a tremendous opportunity and one that we will continue to invest in.
Pls do not under-estimate the power of your podcasts and the impact you are making. Speaking for one family….Thank You!!
See you in soon!
Jason (and Arthur)”
Jason Smithwick via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
05/31/22