September 2018

Daddy ball and bad behavior: In defense of parents

Over the past several years, there has been an explosion of articles, sites, tweets, and blog posts about the negative impact parents are having on youth sports across the country. As adults involved in youth athletics, many of us can attest to the outrageous behavior we have observed from other adults in youth athletics. “Daddyball” has become a pejorative used to disparage teams or whole programs. Despite this, we believe the majority parents are motivated by a genuine love for their children and generally do not view their children as potential college or professional athletes, but rather are just looking for an enjoyable, healthy experience for their child. With regard to the role of parents in youth baseball, we think there are two separate but related issues to address: parents as fans and parents as coaches. We’ll try to address each separately.

AAU Recap Oxford/Clemmons 9/8-9/9/18

There were a handful of ranked teams from this past spring who were in action this past weekend in Clemmons and Oxford. Several, including 11u Dirtbags Black, 13u Dirtbags TBM, and 13u Five Star Carolina – Smith tested themselves against older competition. Here we recap the AAU games from this past weekend in Clemmons and Oxford.

USSSA Recap Greensboro/Wilmington 9/8-9/9/18

Greensboro and Wilmington saw a handful of teams in action this past weekend. The 11u Port City Rebels, who finished 3rd in our 10u rankings this past year, had their first games of the season and we saw numerous GRIT teams in action in Greensboro. Here we recap the USSSA games in Greensboro and Wilmington this past weekend.

Top Gun Recap Rocky Mount 9/8-9/9/18

Over 60 teams were in action at the Rocky Mount Top Gun site this past weekend, including several teams who finished in our final top 20 rankings during the 2017-2017 seasons. 10u Dirtbags Black, who finished #3 in our final 9u rankings this past year, as well as 12u Dirtbags East, who finished #16 in our final 11u rankings last year, were both impressive with 4-0 weekends. Here’s a recap of the weekend’s games in Rocky Mount.

Top Gun Recap Charlotte/Charleston 9/8-9/9/18

Charlotte and Charleston saw numerous teams from our top 10’s from last year facing off in early fall 2018 games. 9u LBC Vipers (#4 in final 2017-2018 8u rankings), 10u LBC Thunder (#7 in final 2017-2018 9u rankings), 10u Panthers (#8 in final 2017-2018 9u rankings), 12u SBA Premier (#1 in final 2017-2018 11u rankings), 12u Canes Baseball NC – Simpson (#4 in final 2017-2018 11u rankings), Mission Vipers Gold (#5 in final 2017-2018 11u rankings), and Big Game 2025 (#8 in final 2017-2018 11u rankings) were all in action this past weekend. Here’s our recap from the weekend’s games.

Top Gun Recap Triangle Region 9/8-9/9/18

Over 90 teams were in action across Wake County in the Top Gun event last weekend. Some of the best teams in North Carolina, such as 9u Dirtbags Black who finished #2 in the 8u rankings last year, and 13u Canes Baseball Eastern NC, who finished #1 in our 12u rankings this past year, were in the fields. Several age groups including 11u and 13u saw multiple top 10 and 20 teams from last year go head-to-head. Here is a recap of the weekend’s Top Gun games across Wake County.

AAU Recap Cary 9/8-9/9/18

AAU had some excellent teams in action at their Cary site this past weekend including two 9u teams who finished in the top 15 from last year’s final 8u rankings, as well as two teams in the 11u age group who finished in the top 15 in the 10u rankings last year. In particular, 11u Dirtbags East looked to improve upon their undefeated 8-0 record this fall but faced some stiff competition.

USSSA Recap Charlotte 9/1-9/2/18

Some of the very best teams in the state of North Carolina were in action this past weekend in Charlotte. This included 3 of the top 5 teams from last year’s final 9u rankings (Park Sharon Nationals, SBA Premier – Simmons, and SBA Premier – Pitts), as well as the #2 team from last year’s 12u rankings (Dirtbags MVP). Here’s a recap of this past weekend’s games in Charlotte.

Top Gun Triangle Region Preview 9/8-9/9/18

This will be a huge weekend of baseball as the fall season kicks in to high gear. The Triangle Region Top Gun site will have 95 teams in action, including 78 in the 9u, 11u, 12u, and 13u age groups. Some of the best teams in the state from this past spring including 2017-2018 12u #1 Canes Baseball – Eastern NC (previously Legends Baseball). Here’s a brief rundown of some of the weekend’s best games and potential match ups.

AAU Recap Clemmons 9/1-9/2/18

There were just a couple of age groups in action (plus the 14u age group) at the Clemmons site this past weekend. Here’s a brief recap of the Labor Day weekend’s games.