My son plays on two teams--one is a rec team in our town, the other is part of a "rec-all star" sort of team for our town. It is not full-time travel, we don't pay the high cost that most travel parents have to pay, but on Sundays in the spring we do travel throughout the Chicagoland area and we also enter tournaments designed for the same level of play (not full-time travel, but part-time "rec" travel).
This weekend is the big Memorial Day Tournament...which one? Doesn't matter...just about every baseball team like my son's has one this weekend! As we played our double-header yesterday we were introduced to the world of metal cleats...and it is not a pleasant world. Two players were injured when players on the other team, wearing metal cleats, either stepped on or slid into our players during a play. Normally this type of physical contact is expected...introduce metal cleats and you have players on our new "injured reserved" list with stitches!
Metal cleats are allowed in our rec league and among travel teams once you hit the Pony year--or 13U and up. It clearly provides better traction for runners, which is a good thing when beating the ball to a play. However, after witnessing four injuries now, I question the liability that comes with better traction. Is it really necessary at this age? Am I just being a "mom"???
Clearly our players need to learn how to play with these metal cleats. I'd rather the players be able to focus on the mechanics of the play rather than thinking, "is my leg/foot/arm in the way of his foot?" I fear it will raise more hesitation in the players, worrying about injury.
I'm sure the coaches know how to handle this. And after being down players for games, I am more than confident they will address this in a strategic manner. But it still makes me wonder...
No comments:
Post a Comment