Why Is Little League Declining?

The Elkhart Truth opened a can of worms last night when they asked their Facebook constituents why  Little League sign ups in our area were down, some as much as 50%.  Most were down at least 10%.  The Truth seemed shocked.

I'm not.

This season marks my eleventh on a Little League or travel field.  The early years were marked by little realization of the work involved in putting the league together.  As I got more involved, I realized how much effort went into the volunteer undertaking of running a league.

Little League used to be a place that drew the community together.  Little League was the place where America's pastime was taught.  Little League was something for everyone.  Now, it seems to be an afterthought.  What changed?

First, follow the money.  The Major League minimum in 1988 was $62,500, and the average player was paid (I will never say earned) under $480,000.  The average salary in 2014 is $500,000, while the average player was paid just under $4 million.  

Everyone has a son who is going to be one of those guys making that money.  Parents will do whatever it takes to get the son, the professional ball player.  They'll do it with money they don't have to buy better coaching, usually at the travel level, to impress people they care nothing about.

Your son has a better chance of becoming a doctor than a professional athlete.  May I offer your local listings as evidence?  Look up physicians and it is a major section of the yellow pages.  You can name the professional athletes in your area, most likely on one hand, at most two.

Second, travel baseball offers better coaching, more game opportunities, and a season that is not limited to May and June.   It comes with a price tag.  Large amounts of money to buy individual equipment, pay team fees, private lessons, and hotel/food/gasoline.

The level of travel play is better, but is not what it could be.  Americans have the tendency to overcompete and underpractice.  Some travel teams practice only during the winter, and play their games the rest of the spring, summer and fall.  The sum total of that effort is a lack of solid fundamentals, becoming more evident every year.

By the way, as a doctor, become a surgeon, especially one who does Tommy John surgery.  At the college and professional levels, reconstructive surgery are at an all time high.  Seems the specialization started several years ago and it is catching up to the professionals now.

Finally, kids are learning their team lessons in video games.  Play using online services allow networking and socializing at an adult level.  The connections made are being leveraged into competitive video game teams who have the opportunity to compete.  Why run the risk of being yelled at by a volunteer coach who may or may not know what they are doing, to coach yourself into a competitive world by trial and error, learning things that some adults never learn.  If you screw up, all you have to do is press "restart".

I haven't even touched on the problems involving parents, restrictive Little League rules, and the adult coaches who place winning ahead of teaching kids how to play the real game.  When asked why they quit, most kids answer "Adults".

I love coaching the kids.  I hate to see adults argue while the kids wait for them to get off the field so the game can continue.  I love seeing someone hang with learning something and then eventually get it.  I hate the negative yelling from the adults.  I love the kids and have told people I have 165 sons and about 65 daughters.  I hate hearing about playing time issues, and how politics are deciding someones playing time.

The perfect place to coach youth sports is at an orphanage.