there's a lot here

First off, the current team and players are the priority. Primarily because they all committed to each other as a team and coaches and deserve the opportunity to finish the job. We always told our kids "you don't have to do it next year but you will finish what you started." Secondly, and I say this only because it's the world we live in with this stuff, but the parents of the spring team paid for this and deserve to get what they paid for. That sickens me to say and think; but a kid being victimized by the pay-for-play system should be protected by it too.

"Losing it" is never a good thing but a measured, fact-based discussion with the coach and club leaders is merited. If he sees the writing on the wall, get ahead of it.

It's a sleazy model that hurts kids. These are children - under 11 for God's sake. The Little League of America model worked in this country for 100 years for a reason and the result was a sport and players that was MUCH healthier at all levels (MLB included). Practice twice a week on some school field, play once under the lights during the week, play once on Saturday during a tripleheader where your friends from school play the next game,. hang out at the park and drink Gatorade, go the pool. Have fun and learn to play the game as part of a team.

In the "improved competitive model that costs 5 grand" the kids lose. They don't focus on fun over everything. They don't benefit from an offseason. They don't learn the value of working with teams with a range of skills. They don't learn to value competition. They often don't get to practice.