Youth baseball age brackets.......

[OG Goat Holder]

If you don't know, in Mississippi, the age brackets are May 1 - April 30. I don't know why, because the school calendar year is August-July for the most part. I have no idea why baseball does this, I guess to catch some kids who are getting held back? Anyway it's the reality, so I digress. I think soccer may do something like this too, calendar year or whatever, instead of grade.

What's funny to me is seeing all these parents who cannot think long term. If a kid's birthday is in May-July or August, they often will play 'down'. For example, we are in 11U, which is mostly the 5th grade, so the age bracket is May 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012. Obviously this doesn't line up with school so we have a bunch of kids that were born in May-August 2011 that played down in 11U, although they went 'up' in school to 6th grade. That's all fine and dandy, so they are older and more mature and do well playing against younger kids.

The issue I see is that now many of them are trying out for 7th grade teams for next year, which are played on the 60-90 fields. But many of them are wanting to play down in 12U again next spring, when it comes to travel ball (which is played on 50-70 fields, i.e. 6th grade level). They look at me crazy when I tell them they need to bump up and play with a 13U team. "well, well, what about 12U??" I'm like you screwed yourself when you wanted to play with younger kids. If you want to do 12U again, stay down in the 6th grade. It's not gonna help your development to play on a smaller field.

I have tried to tell a number of parents this, who have 10U players right now, that they need to go ahead and make the jump to 12U, to get used to that competition, then get ready for the big field after that. They say I'm nuts because "this is the age bracket we are supposed to be in". Well, not really if you're looking at the big picture.

What say the pack? I've noticed that baseball loses a TON of kids at this age level. Of course, if you're a stud, it really doesn't matter what level you play.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I know nothing about this subject, but did read a study one time that concluded it's better to play up as much as you can, it equates to more success in College/MLB.

The kids/parents are probably thinking it's better to be a star amongst lesser competition than average against better competition.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

I know nothing about this subject, but did read a study one time that concluded it's better to play up as much as you can, it equates to more success in College/MLB.

The kids/parents are probably thinking it's better to be a star amongst lesser competition than average against better competition.

Most of them likely won't ever get to that level anyway, so I suppose it's OK for them to play down and have a little success in the short time most of us have to play baseball. But the funniest part of it is those parents don't see it that way. They are totally shocked when you start telling them about this sort of thing. One of them told me that it's alright, Little Johnny will play twice in 12U and catch up!

Math is a hell of thing.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Best player in MS played down. Then later reclassified back up. He'll be a 1st round pick.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Most of them likely won't ever get to that level anyway, so I suppose it's OK for them to play down and have a little success in the short time most of us have to play baseball. But the funniest part of it is those parents don't see it that way. They are totally shocked when you start telling them about this sort of thing. One of them told me that it's alright, Little Johnny will play twice in 12U and catch up!

Math is a hell of thing.

One of my best buddies coached travel ball for a long time. He has some stories. He said one his kids got cut from his HS team and the kid's father called him and asked the kid would be able to play at a major college.

 

[YesIAmAPirate]

Also, the amount of kids being held back has gotten ridiculous. I'm in my early 40's and can only remember a couple of kids that were held back when I was in school, and they were all held back in 5th-6th grade. I know of at least 4 kids the same age as one of mine that were held back before even starting kindergarten. A couple of them actually had summer birthdays but one was like January. The dad told me that they held him back because he "wasn't mature enough". I don't know of a 5 year old that is mature at anything

 

[GhostOfJackie]

If you don't know, in Mississippi, the age brackets are May 1 - April 30. I don't know why, because the school calendar year is August-July for the most part. I have no idea why baseball does this, I guess to catch some kids who are getting held back? Anyway it's the reality, so I digress. I think soccer may do something like this too, calendar year or whatever, instead of grade.

What's funny to me is seeing all these parents who cannot think long term. If a kid's birthday is in May-July or August, they often will play 'down'. For example, we are in 11U, which is mostly the 5th grade, so the age bracket is May 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012. Obviously this doesn't line up with school so we have a bunch of kids that were born in May-August 2011 that played down in 11U, although they went 'up' in school to 6th grade. That's all fine and dandy, so they are older and more mature and do well playing against younger kids.

The issue I see is that now many of them are trying out for 7th grade teams for next year, which are played on the 60-90 fields. But many of them are wanting to play down in 12U again next spring, when it comes to travel ball (which is played on 50-70 fields, i.e. 6th grade level). They look at me crazy when I tell them they need to bump up and play with a 13U team. "well, well, what about 12U??" I'm like you screwed yourself when you wanted to play with younger kids. If you want to do 12U again, stay down in the 6th grade. It's not gonna help your development to play on a smaller field.

I have tried to tell a number of parents this, who have 10U players right now, that they need to go ahead and make the jump to 12U, to get used to that competition, then get ready for the big field after that. They say I'm nuts because "this is the age bracket we are supposed to be in". Well, not really if you're looking at the big picture.

What say the pack? I've noticed that baseball loses a TON of kids at this age level. Of course, if you're a stud, it really doesn't matter what level you play.

The best thing for these kids now-a-days is to start playing year round travel ball at the age of 5, whether they want to or not. That gives them the best chance at being successful at their craft.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

The best thing for these kids now-a-days is to start playing year round travel ball at the age of 5, whether they want to or not. That gives them the best chance at being successful at their craft.

7 days/week too.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

Also, the amount of kids being held back has gotten ridiculous. I'm in my early 40's and can only remember a couple of kids that were held back when I was in school, and they were all held back in 5th-6th grade. I know of at least 4 kids the same age as one of mine that were held back before even starting kindergarten. A couple of them actually had summer birthdays but one was like January. The dad told me that they held him back because he "wasn't mature enough". I don't know of a 5 year old that is mature at anything

I'm not even talking about being held back. If the parents held them back, what they are doing would at least make sense. They are putting them forward in school, but holding back for sports.

 

[YesIAmAPirate]

I'm not even talking about being held back. If the parents held them back, what they are doing would at least make sense. They are putting them forward in school, but holding back for sports.

All of the kids that I mentioned above were held back by the super competitive travel ball type parents that all run in a tight circle and have been practicing their kids together since they were 3 or 4. I have no doubt that sports was a much bigger reason in holding them back than maturity. Hell, they take weekly private lessons from a local former MLB player and the kids are 6 right now

 

[AlCoDog]

Also, the amount of kids being held back has gotten ridiculous. I'm in my early 40's and can only remember a couple of kids that were held back when I was in school, and they were all held back in 5th-6th grade. I know of at least 4 kids the same age as one of mine that were held back before even starting kindergarten. A couple of them actually had summer birthdays but one was like January. The dad told me that they held him back because he "wasn't mature enough". I don't know of a 5 year old that is mature at anything

I was an August birthday and was always the youngest in my grade. I moved in at State my Freshman year as a 17 year old. It sucked donkey dicks. I don’t think it would have as big an impact on girls, but being the last to drive and do everything else as a guy sucks. Sports or not.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

All of the kids that I mentioned above were held back by the super competitive travel ball type parents that all run in a tight circle and have been practicing their kids together since they were 3 or 4. I have no doubt that sports was a much bigger reason in holding them back than maturity. Hell, they take weekly private lessons from a local former MLB player and the kids are 6 right now

At least those people have a plan. The ones I'm talking about are just totally clueless, but they are just as obsessive.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I played on a Men’s Slowpitch Softball Team when I was 13. Does that count as playing up? Joking aside it really depends on how the kids are developed physically at that age.

 

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

Also, the amount of kids being held back has gotten ridiculous. I'm in my early 40's and can only remember a couple of kids that were held back when I was in school, and they were all held back in 5th-6th grade. I know of at least 4 kids the same age as one of mine that were held back before even starting kindergarten. A couple of them actually had summer birthdays but one was like January. The dad told me that they held him back because he "wasn't mature enough". I don't know of a 5 year old that is mature at anything

I was pretty good friends throughout elementary school with a guy that was held back in 6th grade. His parents drove him towards athletics and ”wanted for him to have more hair on his chest.” He was the most okayest football player on a bad HS team and got a “participation scholarship“ from a Div III school (think Millsaps). Not really a big deal. He majored in education and married his smoking hot high school sweetheart who graduated the same year with him (ie a year younger). Twenty plus years later, they are still married, she is still a dime and frankly out of his league.

TL/DR, I knew a guy that got held up and it really worked out for outside the gridiron or baseball diamond.

 

[thatsbaseball]

At least those people have a plan. The ones I'm talking about are just totally clueless, but they are just as obsessive.

LOL Hell Goat, you think everybody is clueless but you **

 

[Wesson Bulldog]

Two of my best friends failed 7th grade at Copiah. They always said they were held back for athletic purposes

 

[RockyDog]

How do you play down? Your age bracket is your age bracket.

My son had a September birthday so he was one of the older ones in his grade but he also played with summer birthday kids a grade above him. I don’t see how that’s unreasonable.

Sure you can play up but that only really matters if you have the talent to make a high AAA or major team. There are so many travel teams these days that it is already pretty non competitive.

 

[dawgstudent]

I was an August birthday and was always the youngest in my grade. I moved in at State my Freshman year as a 17 year old. It sucked donkey dicks. I don’t think it would have as big an impact on girls, but being the last to drive and do everything else as a guy sucks. Sports or not.

I was born on the deadline. I was always the youngest. Like you - I was 17 when I started at State.

 

[dawgstudent]

Here’s an article a friend sent me a few weeks ago

Why Athletes’ Birthdays Affect Who Goes Pro — And Who Becomes A Star

If you want to be a professional athlete in most sports, it helps to be born at the right time of year. In basketball, baseball and ice hockey, players born in …

fivethirtyeight.com

 

[HRMSU]

I know nothing about this subject, but did read a study one time that concluded it's better to play up as much as you can, it equates to more success in College/MLB.

The kids/parents are probably thinking it's better to be a star amongst lesser competition than average against better competition.

Totally agree for the right type of kid.

It's like bringing someone up too early in the bigs. Some are built for the failure and end up thriving and some are ruined forever.

 

[WrapItDog]

What's funny to me is seeing all these parents who cannot think long term.

If they could think at all. They would figure out the sole purpose of all this kids travel ball/dance/gymnastics is to extract as much money as possible from their pocket.

 

[Bulldog45]

I was born on the deadline. I was always the youngest. Like you - I was 17 when I started at State.

I was a September birthday and started 1st grade at 5. Don’t remember if that was the rule back then or I got in due to some exception. College at 17, graduated at 21. In terms of sports when I was coming up, if I remember correctly we had 3 or 4 year ranges for baseball. Went from t-ball straight to little league, so first taste of hitting off of live pitching as a 9 year old was off 11 year olds primarily. It was tough obviously but made you get better quickly or you didn’t last long.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

How do you play down? Your age bracket is your age bracket.

My son had a September birthday so he was one of the older ones in his grade but he also played with summer birthday kids a grade above him. I don’t see how that’s unreasonable.

Sure you can play up but that only really matters if you have the talent to make a high AAA or major team. There are so many travel teams these days that it is already pretty non competitive.

What happened to you, isn’t what I’m talking about. You played up.

Yea, the age brackets are what they are, but they don’t line up with the school grades. So eventually you end up with a bunch of 6th graders playing 11U, then they try out for 7th grade team playing on big fields, but want to come out and play 12U on smaller fields when they should be in 13U. See where the problem comes in? They end up having to skip a level in order to catch up with their grade (unless they get held back).

Then they get all pissed and don’t understand what’s going on.

 

[00Dawg]

I’m still actively coaching 11/12 rec ball here in Birmingham, and
1. I don’t recall the last play down request that wasn’t a kid in the worst two or three in his age group. We’d likely refuse anything else.
2. I haven’t seen any benefit from kids playing up, albeit there haven’t been many. One of the three I know did it because of the belief it would help his already-Uber-talented kid, and another was to get away from a bad coach. It will all come to a stop in a year or two as there will be no league above them. I expect Uber kid to make a high school squad and one other will have a shot depending on the school.
3. The deadline/birthday effect is real, although the gap gets smaller the older the kids. My kid lost the lottery, with a late March birthday. He has a teammate who won it with an early May one. Now one of them is usually sporadically emotional, cusses every chance he gets, and is interested in girls. The other saves his money for Pokémon cards and Minecoins. I’ll let you guess which one also looks like a natural in centerfield this season (not the case last season).
4. We held our youngest back in K4/5. We did because he had several food allergies (most of which he’s thankfully grown out of) and because his mother and I were both late bloomers. I grew several inches and naturally put on about 20 lbs of muscle as a freshman at State, and if that had happened in high school, I’d have had a much different experience. I’m hoping our decision will give him that opportunity.

 

[beachbumdawg]

If you don't know, in Mississippi, the age brackets are May 1 - April 30. I don't know why, because the school calendar year is August-July for the most part. I have no idea why baseball does this, I guess to catch some kids who are getting held back? Anyway it's the reality, so I digress. I think soccer may do something like this too, calendar year or whatever, instead of grade.

What's funny to me is seeing all these parents who cannot think long term. If a kid's birthday is in May-July or August, they often will play 'down'. For example, we are in 11U, which is mostly the 5th grade, so the age bracket is May 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012. Obviously this doesn't line up with school so we have a bunch of kids that were born in May-August 2011 that played down in 11U, although they went 'up' in school to 6th grade. That's all fine and dandy, so they are older and more mature and do well playing against younger kids.

The issue I see is that now many of them are trying out for 7th grade teams for next year, which are played on the 60-90 fields. But many of them are wanting to play down in 12U again next spring, when it comes to travel ball (which is played on 50-70 fields, i.e. 6th grade level). They look at me crazy when I tell them they need to bump up and play with a 13U team. "well, well, what about 12U??" I'm like you screwed yourself when you wanted to play with younger kids. If you want to do 12U again, stay down in the 6th grade. It's not gonna help your development to play on a smaller field.

I have tried to tell a number of parents this, who have 10U players right now, that they need to go ahead and make the jump to 12U, to get used to that competition, then get ready for the big field after that. They say I'm nuts because "this is the age bracket we are supposed to be in". Well, not really if you're looking at the big picture.

What say the pack? I've noticed that baseball loses a TON of kids at this age level. Of course, if you're a stud, it really doesn't matter what level you play.

our travel team (11u) will be no more after a couple weeks due to 3 boys going into 7th grade this fall - all 3 are prepared for it but I expect one of the 3 to make their team - the other 2 will struggle simply because of their size (not physically strong enough for bbcor)

as far as losing kids - saw it first hand with school ball in 7th grade
2 summers ago MS tryouts @ a 6a AL school - 40 tried out mostly incoming 7th graders- they kept 4 (16 total) 7th graders

last summer same school - had 14 show up to try outs - kept 13 ((only 1 kid that tried out as a 7th grader and didn’t make it came out

 

[garddog]

If your child is truly smart, top 5 %, holding them back will cause issues for them in the classroom. My class was the first one after the rules changed about when kids could start school. 13 kids that were in our kindergarten class had to repeat. Elementary school saw a lot of us getting in trouble because of boredom. In today's world that means they try sticking kids on ADD meds, which will strike them from any military service.

 

[OopsICroomedmypants]

I’m thinking about putting my youngest daughter in travel science. She sucks at sports, but has an IQ over 140 and wants to be a veterinarian. I think she has the capacity to be a top notch quantum physicist. She dominates other kids her age and I think she needs to test up with older kids. She’s an August birthday about to turn 12. I love seeing her make other kids cry and their parents jealous. **

 

[rynodawg]

I was born on the deadline. I was always the youngest. Like you - I was 17 when I started at State.

Same, with October birthday. College was fine, but I was a late bloomer so starting high school at 13 (when I could have passed for 11) was not the funnest.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

our travel team (11u) will be no more after a couple weeks due to 3 boys going into 7th grade this fall - all 3 are prepared for it but I expect one of the 3 to make their team - the other 2 will struggle simply because of their size (not physically strong enough for bbcor)

as far as losing kids - saw it first hand with school ball in 7th grade
2 summers ago MS tryouts @ a 6a AL school - 40 tried out mostly incoming 7th graders- they kept 4 (16 total) 7th graders

last summer same school - had 14 show up to try outs - kept 13 ((only 1 kid that tried out as a 7th grader and didn’t make it came out

Why weren’t these 3 kids playing 12U? Just seems like they waste a year and have to eat it once they get to 7th grade. 12U should be the fun year IMO before all the middle school stuff starts, and they are having to skip it.

I guess they COULD play down in 12U on the smaller field but why? Seems like fake confidence.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I grew several inches and naturally put on about 20 lbs of muscle as a freshman at State, and if that had happened in high school, I’d have had a much different experience.

Roommates with Raffy?

 

[kired]

If your child is truly smart, top 5 %, holding them back will cause issues for them in the classroom. My class was the first one after the rules changed about when kids could start school. 13 kids that were in our kindergarten class had to repeat. Elementary school saw a lot of us getting in trouble because of boredom. In today's world that means they try sticking kids on ADD meds, which will strike them from any military service.

I’ve wondered about this. My oldest son has a summer bday, is smallest kid in his grade (big school, so that’s out of 200+ boys) but he’s always been near top of the class in grades, aces the advanced classes and all that. My wife kind of regretted not holding him back but I just felt it would be crazy academically to make him repeat a grade. He’s not going pro in any sport ever so what’s the point?

It just seems strange to me how many parents hold their kids back a year solely for sports, when a lot of them obviously aren’t going to be playing past hs level

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Why is there a team for every age? 9 and 10 year olds can't play together anymore? Why must there be divisions of competition at these 17ing tournaments?

I was stuck in a town having a massive tournament last weekend. 216 baseball teams came in for this thing. The RV park we stayed at was full of people there for the tournament. Talking with one of the Dad's, there were 43 teams of "11u". I wondered how they could all play each other. He informed me there were 3 classifications.. AA for good teams. AAA for better teams. Majors for the best teams.

Here were my thoughts. AA for shìtty teams. AAA for average teams. Majors for actually competitive ball players that are the equivalent of the all star teams picked after the season 30 years ago when we played. If you can't make the majors, why the 17 are you traveling to these things? You're team isn't good enough to compete with the shìttiest team in the division above you.

Anyhow. I felt sorry for the siblings who were there with their brothers in the tournament. Camping in the RV park was definitely better than a hotel room for them I imagine, but the girls and 8 and younger boys just spent 3-4 days stuck at the baseball fields all day. They were begging to go with us to hike to the waterfalls, explore the caves and lava tubes, and then go do go-carts and laser tag. Nope, poor little turds had to go kick dirt at crappy little league field for 7 hours while their 11 year old brother played a morning and afternoon game.

The ridiculousness of youth sports these days is a sight to behold. How did we let this happen? Why must everyone be on a travel team? What about the regular old rec league for most kids where they ride their bike to the field and go camp out in one kids backyard after the game?

 

[dickiedawg]

If you can't make the majors, why the 17 are you traveling to these things? You're team isn't good enough to compete with the shìttiest team in the division above you.

It’s possible they really like playing baseball. Also, rec ball is kind of a joke. I have a son in 9-10 kid pitch. If you’re lucky you get 2 ABs a game, and there’s no practice whatsoever after the first two.
If you want to get better, you’re doing it on your own or with a travel team.

ETA: Also, plenty of kids only play rec. Out of 12-13 kids on a team, our team had 3 travel ball players on it. I feel like most teams had a similar number, 3-4.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

It’s possible they really like playing baseball. Also, rec ball is kind of a joke. I have a son in 9-10 kid pitch. If you’re lucky you get 2 ABs a game, and there’s no practice whatsoever after the first two.
If you want to get better, you’re doing it on your own or with a travel team.

That's what I am saying. How did we let travel ball kill the rec leagues? Remember a world where there are elite travel teams and fun & competitive rec leagues for everyone. Hell I lived it in early 90's.

Now everyone wants/has to be on a travel team and that is just silly. We grew up playing quality baseball in the city/county leagues, had access to the elite stuff, and played some absolute killer pickup games. You'd probably have the law show up for playing a pickup game on half the fields in the country these days. Now it's all travel ball all the time. That's a 17ing shame.

ETA: We used to have a tryout for the travel/all star team in the spring. If you didn't make it, you were headed to the rec league. Lots of good players in those leagues. My guess is at some point, some kids didn't make the team and the parents got all worked up. So they started the B team... Then the c- team... Next thing you know the kids that are left in the rec league are eating dirt in the on deck circle.

Life is full of disappointments. I missed an all star team tryout one year and built my own pitching mound and got my shìt together for the next season. Eventually by the end of high school I was done. But had I not learned to put that extra work in to get better on my own I wouldn't have played past 12 or 13.

 

[Bulldog45]

My opinion one reason rec ball got left behind is because there isn’t enough effort put into managing it. Bigger towns need to either have divisions or go back to the old way I mentioned earlier of having a range of ages playing together. But to take all comers in a big town and throw them all together with limited effort to separate them by skill level has killed it for better ball players who would otherwise prefer/belong in rec.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

My opinion one reason rec ball got left behind is because there isn’t enough effort put into managing it. Bigger towns need to either have divisions or go back to the old way I mentioned earlier of having a range of ages playing together. But to take all comers in a big town and throw them all together with limited effort to separate them by skill level has killed it for better ball players who would otherwise prefer/belong in rec.

Bingo!

Thats what happened. The adults running the show didn’t care, so ultimately the parents ended up running it, and the tournament directors gave them EXACTLY what they wanted. I have direct experience with every part of this.

Blame whoever you want, there’s no one person. But MLB has clued in on the exit of youth players. That’s really the only way to save it, for them to get involved and start giving recommendations. And actually market and push those recommendations to the right people.

I gave up the fight against travel ball. Now I laugh at the hardasses who say “we will never do it”. Yes, you will. And probably sooner rather than later.

 

[00Dawg]

My opinion one reason rec ball got left behind is because there isn’t enough effort put into managing it. Bigger towns need to either have divisions or go back to the old way I mentioned earlier of having a range of ages playing together. But to take all comers in a big town and throw them all together with limited effort to separate them by skill level has killed it for better ball players who would otherwise prefer/belong in rec.

Our park has successful rec ball without dividing by skill level and with the traditional two-year age brackets. The biggest key I’ve seen is doing everything you can to have parity. Most coaches will do anything to get a leg up, so you need adults in charge literally blocking their efforts.
Now we do have Select ball locally, which is really travel ball taking advantage of being in a metro area. Starting with 11/12, that’s two teams’ worth of talented kids off playing elsewhere, but for various reasons they don’t have all the most talented kids in the park. Honestly, their absence has probably let my kid get more reps of every sort, so I’m going to count it as a blessing, and just pity players 10, 11, and 12 on those teams who should be getting half again as many reps against slightly lower competition.

 

[beachbumdawg]

Why weren’t these 3 kids playing 12U? Just seems like they waste a year and have to eat it once they get to 7th grade. 12U should be the fun year IMO before all the middle school stuff starts, and they are having to skip it.

sorry was at oldest wood bat weekend

That’s a question for their parents - I’d guess because of their size (at least 2 of them) - the other, because we are probably better than the 12u teams they could’ve played up on

I guess they COULD play down in 12U on the smaller field but why? Seems like fake confidence.

I agree
Once you go to big field, stay there

mine will roll into wood bat summer ball after spring 12u next year - he’s already swinging drop 5 in games

 

[00Dawg]

In related news, our kids played a double-header on turf starting at 1 PM yesterday (high of 92, I believe). We had to keep wetting down our catcher's socks and shoes as they were literally baking. We won both, but were already in the loser's bracket, our ace is out of town (couldn't be helped), and we've now burned our #2 and 3 guys for the tournament. Playing potentially 6 games in 4 days with an 11-man roster is more than a little nuts, but the kids are getting lots of reps.

 

[johnson86-1]

The ridiculousness of youth sports these days is a sight to behold. How did we let this happen? Why must everyone be on a travel team? What about the regular old rec league for most kids where they ride their bike to the field and go camp out in one kids backyard after the game?

It's just a collective action problem (sort of; realistically most of the kids would be better off in rec even if they were the only one to do so, so it's not a real collective action problem).

Virtually none of the players playing travel ball actually need to play travel ball, but every parent participating is scared that their kid will be "left behind" if they don't participate. I've got friends with kids doing travel baseball and soccer in elementary school, and they pretty much have at least two practices a week all year round with a small break for Christmas. They have four practices for much of the year and then play weekend tournaments god knows how many weekends. Feels like it's 20 weekends out of a year although surely it's not actually that in practice.

All good and well except the kids don't get to do much else. No time to find out they might like something besides sports. No learning an instrument. Very little just hanging out in the neighborhood. I'd say the majority of my kids friends have never been on a campout. Only a handful do summer camp, largely because they can't fit it in around travel ball. When they are actually hanging out in the neighborhood and having a good time, inevitably instead of playing til dark like we would have growing up and maybe turning that into a sleepover or something, the group disperses a little after 5 so people can go to their different practices.