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Kirk Herbstreit Names 'Biggest Problem' With Youth Sports Today

by Larry Leo

August 10, 202544 Comments

Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit did not hesitate when naming the biggest issue with youth sports today...

quote:
"After the game, it was a race to the concession stand to get your treat. Then you hung out at the park, and maybe you went to the creek and the pool. And it was summer. And we're stealing that from kids and families," Herbstreit said on the "Try That In A Small Town" podcast.

"I wanna go down to 30A, I want to go down to Rosemary with my kids when they're 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. And it's like, well, we've got a tournament in Indiana, and we gotta do that one, and then we gotta go down to Atlanta. And I'm like, they're 9. It's like, why are we taking away family experiences for a tournament in Atlanta for our 9-year-old?"

Link here.

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Originally published on TigerDroppings.com

44 Comments

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CTtiger30•4 months

My cuz did the year round baseball growing up, they spent a fortune traveling for all that on average family income only for him to get burned out on baseball by 17.

Champagne•4 months

He talks like a fat old boomer whose 9 year old son has no shot at making it to the Bigs. Unlike my boy Spike whose fastball touches 85 mph

Buck Magnum•4 months

He is completely right. I've had multiple teams ask my son if rather ask me if he could be on a travel team each time I said no because I have three other children who don't wanna spend their whole childhood at a ballpark where they're not playing a game. It's not fair to them.

Serraneaux•4 months

30a…my man

lsuson•4 months

He's not wrong

Dam Guide•4 months

So don't sign up for travel ball, there are plenty of local leagues to choose from, you don't have to play travel sports. The talented kids will still come out on top when they get older.

Saunson69•4 months

Your son isn't making the MLB. There's no point in travel ball unless it pays off. And only way for it to pay off is either a high draft pick signing bonus or an MLB paycheck. If he's not getting either, then it's not worth it.

Saunson69•4 months

Anti-travel ball. Kirk would fit into OT.

Metalinc•4 months

This and
Why in the hell have we allowed the school system to become babysitters for our kids, they get out of school the 2nd week in June and back to school the 1st week of August. No summer break anymore I don’t see how parents have the time for tournaments anymore on this schedule .

trident•4 months

Bring back your local rec!!!! All of us loved it, no reason why our kids wouldnt

bobbydigital•4 months

I want to go down to 30A as well ??

jizzle6609•4 months

Dads and moms thinking their kids are something they are not.

Easye921•4 months

My nephew plays travel ball and I was talking to his dad the other day and he told me they were out over I'm this year. Blows my mind how expensive it got. When I played back in the early 2000s, only the very best played on travel ball teams, but now it seems anyone can play.

DVinBR•4 months

little brayden isn't getting that scholly spending time on vacations

imjustafatkid•4 months

He is completely correct.

RoyalWe•4 months

He's absolutely right. Parents are crazy and the sane parents are crazy for buying into it.

The Third Leg•4 months

Good dads don’t let their kids play baseball

Hamma1122•4 months

He’s 100% correct!

BoogaBear•4 months

Travel ball isn't directly the problem. The problem is parents thinking it matters when they are 6-14 years old. It doesn't, scouts aren't looking at a 12 year old. Let the kids be kids and if they are good enough in that 14u or 16u age, then get serious

tigerfoot•4 months

100% correct. IF your kid wants to play, it takes a little effort at 14ish to get him where he needs to be. Like it or not, the baseball landscape has changed dramatically. Four years ago if you told me a kid had a JC offer only, I wouldve said (to myself), time to hang em up and go get smart. Now you have this entiere culture of JC, even D2 ball that allows kids more time to develop. Have a buddy, son just went to Sun Belt team to play following a JC stint, they signed 4 freshmen and 14 JC or transfers. And these JC staffs dont have the bandwidth to find kids, kids have to play the game for better or worse if they want to continue to play. But again, this is not at 12 years old. Herbstreit is dead on.

scottydoesntknow•4 months

hes 100% right

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