- 03:05 AM
- 12/22/24
I xoordinate youth sports leagues for the city I grew up in. It's laughable that they are trying to bill a league with sponsors as a purely instructional league. In my years of experience, you can't have a purely instructional league with team specific sponsors. Sponsors want championship trophies.
40mph for a 9 year old is pretty fast. I've umpired for nearly 25 years, and have seen maybe a few dozen players that can bring it that fast, that early in non-competitive leagues. Consider that depending on the leagues rules, the pitching distance is likely between 38 and 42 feet at that age. 40 miles an hour from 40 feet away would be like facing a 90+ mph from 60'6. Just as you see on the LLWS that a 70+ from 48 is blazing.
Its a sad state when a league tries to force someone to either move up or limit the positions a kid could play.
Also, for posters that are claiming that the parents are doing the kid a disservice by keeping him down, its hard to say without knowing the kid. If he has the mental maturity to deal with being a below average player or possibly a benchwarmer, then sure the step up will help in the long run.
One thing to ponder: Would the league move up a hitter that can crush the ball? I see more players hurt on a liner back to the box or on hard hit grounders than I do by getting pelted.
posted by micmckit at 10:29 PM on August 26, 2008
9 year old with a 40 mph fastball, gets the boot.
Maybe things are different in Southern California. That's what I'm basing my opinion on. For the leagues that permit corporate sponsorship, you see a high amount of sponsor turnover on teams that consitently finish at the bottom of the league. Whereas the top dawgs have the same sponsor from the time a team is in the t-ball level to the time it reaches Sr League.
Think Chico's Bail Bonds :).
It depends on the level of sponsorship. Are the sponsors paying $100 to help with the purchase of the team's banner, or are they providing each kid with a top of the line bat/glove/cleats/catcher's gear......
That's why I tried to specify "purely instructional". Often times, instructional leagues -ie City run leagues- are reinforced thru the lack of a score being kept, or standings. Every kid gets the same size trophy at the end. The focus is on instruction.
Coaches and parents must attend workshops prior to the season put on by groups like the PCA (Positive Coaching Alliance) or NAYS (formerly NYSCA). From the looks of this article, its not that type of a league.