I agree with everything you have said. You are most certainly right about the situations with the fields of which I forgot about all the hardships the parents went through with csx owning that land to trying to get volunteers. I agree with the dad situation also I know these men and although they were dads they coached them all to the best of their ability. We need that to come back.

 

Sometimes people dont look at the situation in front of them. They just say Raceland has a bad team but these boys really are new to the game of Varisty baseball. It has been obvious in their plays and hitting. It is a rebuilding year.

 

I am confident they will improve with tough practices.

So far, its been pitching and defense. Both have been awful. But they are working on it, and they'll be just fine by the time it really matters. They always are .

My opinion and only my opinion is there has been a stretch in time where between the sophmores and freshman that are now playing that the little leagues did fall apart. Bobby Mckee and Loren Huffman started playing JV in 7th grade due to this. Daniel Jones transfered in last year I think. There was not a babe ruth team for them to go to. It fell apart. I do believe it was the same in the younger ones at that time. I think that the only team that had anything going was Darby's team and they were 7 and 8 at the time and I think he has kept up with them. I am sure others have more facts on the aabc or babe ruth but last years seniors were the last of the kids that played babe ruth.

 

Unfourntely, Coach Vanderhoof is going to have to drill the basics in these kids and I know he will. The boys need to have a little faith in theirselves also.

 

The Raceland youth league is failing. It seems most parents are taking their kids to play at Russell or South Shore. The few people who were keeping it going ,no longer have kids playing, and no one else has stepped up to keep things going. It's hard to get parents involved to fix the fields or even work concession when the season starts. Also,since the league doesnt own the land, its nearly impossible to get money from the state for the league. A few business help some, but Raceland always has money problems. It's time for others to get to the fields and rebuild Raceland youth baseball. If it was football, there would be tons of people over there working and trying to keep things going.

 

:thumb: Thanks to both of you for these post and answer to my question. This was my fear and I was afraid that the youth systems may have been slipping. Like I said, this is your feeder system for the high school j.v. and varsity teams.

I know that years ago when I was involved in coaching youth baseball we had parents always there and always working hard with anything that was needed. There were good coaches at all levels and the kids went into their high school years with good fundamentals. After all, the youth leagues are where fundamentas are instilled in kids, that's what they are for. I honestly hope that the Raceland youth leagues can get back to where they have been in the past, they were always at the top and it showed later in the high school teams.

This team has talent.They are a lot better than how they are playing now.I agree with Ramcat they don't have a vocal leader right now.Someone needs step up and be that guy.What you got to remember is the Rams are only returning Martin, Wilson,Carver, & Keeton as full time varsity players with Shawn Reynolds playing 1/2 varisty & 1/2 jv. The new guys have been playing pretty good but still need some varsity experiece under there belt. It is true that a lot of the errors have been coming from the older players but IMO that could be from pressing and trying to do to much until the younger guys get some experience under their belt.They just need to relax and play their game and the younger guys will catch up as time goes on this season.Wilson has been out sick and Reynolds has been playing through some nagging injuries. This team just needs to get a couple of wins to get the monkey of their back. Once this team comes together it will be better than their record indicates there is talent on this team.Bobby Mckee has pitched well so far and once Wilson & Reynolds get healthy the pitching will be O.K. I believe this team can turn it around.

^ Hopefully they can turn it around, it is quite a while before the District. All teams at all levels go through this kind of a period sometime. I feel that if the Rams keep a positive outlook that they will get things turned around, is certainly not time to push a "panic" button now. :thumb:

I think Hoof will get this team turned around. In years past (early 90's) Raceland played a fairly strong JV schedule and a lot of the young players saw quite a bit of varsity action as well. We had 3 sophomores who started every day and 1 other sophomore in the pitching rotation on the '91 Regional Championship team. So, those Raceland teams didn't really lose a lot to graduation from year to year. It also helped that it was kind of a thing that the older guys took the younger guys under their wing, so we bonded as a team real quick and we were all real close friends as well. We played for not only the name written across the chest, but for each other. Once the older guys 'get' their role and the younger guys 'find' their role, Raceland will be back on track.

Just some other obsevations on the problem with the youth league programs and this could be anywhere and jmo one thing that I have seen. I think that it is a problem that some coaches that are parents of a kid on the team are basically in it for their own glory and some kind of self satisfaction and not totally for the kids and/or the ultimate goal of teaching all of the kids baseball. I have seen some kids that their father was coaching that imo were being played in a position that the father wanted them in and not a position that they were best suited for with a much better kid either on the bench or playing another position that would be better in the position that the coaches son was in.

This, to me anyway is nothing more than the father trying to make something out of his son that he is not. That kid may be a good baseball player and just not best in the position that he was placed in. This goes on everywhere I am sure and is just one problem that I have seen taken place.

This hurts not only the kid that should be playing in a certain position but also hurts the kid that the coach put there and not in a position on the field that he was better suited for.

All this ultimately leads to is kids losing interest in playing and quitting or just not going out to play in the next season. Some do not realize how youth league coaches can influence kids be it in a good or in a bad way. I have personally witnessed this taking place and it is just a sad thing to see, I hope that "those" coaches,(certainly not all) feel good about themselves later bc they have done more harm than good.

When the kids lose interest then the parents lose interest and the domino effect is started and it ultimately leads to the decline of the older age group teams and High School programs.. JMO

Just some other obsevations on the problem with the youth league programs and this could be anywhere and jmo one thing that I have seen. I think that it is a problem that some coaches that are parents of a kid on the team are basically in it for their own glory and some kind of self satisfaction and not totally for the kids and/or the ultimate goal of teaching all of the kids baseball. I have seen some kids that their father was coaching that imo were being played in a position that the father wanted them in and not a position that they were best suited for with a much better kid either on the bench or playing another position that would be better in the position that the coaches son was in.

This, to me anyway is nothing more than the father trying to make something out of his son that he is not. That kid may be a good baseball player and just not best in the position that he was placed in. This goes on everywhere I am sure and is just one problem that I have seen taken place.

This hurts not only the kid that should be playing in a certain position but also hurts the kid that the coach put there and not in a position on the field that he was better suited for.

All this ultimately leads to is kids losing interest in playing and quitting or just not going out to play in the next season. Some do not realize how youth league coaches can influence kids be it in a good or in a bad way. I have personally witnessed this taking place and it is just a sad thing to see, I hope that "those" coaches,(certainly not all) feel good about themselves later bc they have done more harm than good.

When the kids lose interest then the parents lose interest and the domino effect is started and it ultimately leads to the decline of the older age group teams and High School programs.. JMO

 

:thumb::thumb::thumb: You nailed it with this post Oldrambler.

This is very true Oldrambler. I would just like to take a moment and mention our Raceland players by name so that we can encourage them in turning a negative start into a positive season.

 

Peyton Martin

Josh Wilson

John Scott Carver

Dillion Keeton

Sean Reynolds

Bobby Mckee

Loren Huffman

Daniel Jones

Tray Brown

Josh Reed

Casey Nichols

Tyler Hensley

 

We are here cheering you on.

Raceland wins against East tonight. Things might be coming together

What was the score.

what was the score.

 

The monkey is off the back for the Rams. 7 to 6...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................:jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump:

Thank heavens. Thanks for the score HIT, I called and was told they just won and I hung up excited before I got the score. This old man cant handle too much excitment. Didnt even ask who did what.

They just hung around and stayed close. And the tide turned and they took advantage in the end. Pitching was good and maybe 2 e's. Thats were you give your self a chance.

Thank you appreciate the info.