Legion ball

[kaskaskiakid]

I wish Legion ball would be given more recognition in the press. STL Post Dispatch never mentions Legion ball. I know in some states the Legion tournament is a big deal, especially states that don't have great weather during the spring high school season.

Congrats to district winner Ste. Genevieve Post 150 !! Who else won around the state?

 

[COCfan1212]

I wish Legion ball would be given more recognition in the press. STL Post Dispatch never mentions Legion ball. I know in some states the Legion tournament is a big deal, especially states that don't have great weather during the spring high school season.

Congrats to district winner Ste. Genevieve Post 150 !! Who else won around the state?

Legion ball has been dying for years, that’s why it doesn’t get more media attention. It’s just not what it used to be. I cant hardly even think of any legion teams here in SWMO. I think Hillcrest might still be legion affiliated? We still have school based summer teams of course, but nobody gets legion affiliation anymore. With the rise of club teams too in the past 20 years your top end talent is mostly no longer playing legion—-instead playing for one of the club options out there. I look at the Holiday Tournament in Springfield which used to be a pretty huge event to showcase legion talent. That thing is on its last legs. They finally had to drop the requirement that local teams be legion affiliated to fill spots (most out of town teams stil are). Willard didn’t play in it this year, and Nixa dropped it a few years ago in favor of other tourney options. The competition simply wasn’t good anymore. I believe the varsity holiday has 1 out of area team this year—-and the local teams including Mt Vernon, Bolivar, Hillcrest, nothing to get excited about.

 

[MoSooner69]

The rise of travel ball and all its $$$$$ has pretty well killed it

 

[3Rfan]

The rise of travel ball and all its $$$$$ has pretty well killed it

Travel baseball is huge money grab at all ages these days. They even have tournaments that are "stay to play." Your team has to stay at a certain hotel to even compete in the tourney, which mean the parents will book there too of course. Wonder how much kick back for the people that put the tournament on is involved in that kind a deal.

 

[kaskaskiakid]

A quick search and there appears to be zero Legion teams in SWMO. Really?? Was it ever popular in places like Webb, Joplin, Nixa, Springfield????

I don't get the advantage to travel teams vs Legion ball for high schoolers. Sure, travel ball is big everywhere, but around here it's legion ball once you get in high school. St Louis has the SLAABA and Metro leagues and a few elite travel teams for high schoolers, but still fields several Legion teams in the metro area.

Our Legion teams play about 40 games a summer against good competition, all within an hour or two from home, except for a couple overnight weekend trips. Our local American Legion is a very generous sponsor and cover most of the costs to play. State championship is this week so the kids get a break before football begins. Why wouldn't a kid and parents prefer that kind of program instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars on travelling weekends to play baseball?? I would stack up several area legion teams in competition against any travel team.

 

[COCfan1212]

A quick search and there appears to be zero Legion teams in SWMO. Really?? Was it ever popular in places like Webb, Joplin, Nixa, Springfield????

I don't get the advantage to travel teams vs Legion ball for high schoolers. Sure, travel ball is big everywhere, but around here it's legion ball once you get in high school. St Louis has the SLAABA and Metro leagues and a few elite travel teams for high schoolers, but still fields several Legion teams in the metro area.

Our Legion teams play about 40 games a summer against good competition, all within an hour or two from home, except for a couple overnight weekend trips. Our local American Legion is a very generous sponsor and cover most of the costs to play. State championship is this week so the kids get a break before football begins. Why wouldn't a kid and parents prefer that kind of program instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars on travelling weekends to play baseball?? I would stack up several area legion teams in competition against any travel team.

When club organizations and travel ball started coming to SWMO in the mid-2000s, that hurt things a bit. Then a lot of school stopped valuing the “legion” experience, and I’m mostly talking about the zone and state tournaments.

It’s not the community baseball is nonexistent here, it’s just different now. Nearly every Class 3-6 sized community in the area still has a legion type team, but nobody gets the affiliation anymore. They play games and tournaments against each other all summer, but don’t do the legion state tourney. What’s the benefit of affiliation, other than a couple extra weekends of ball? Getting yearly affiliation was tedious, came with mountains of paperwork. and not worth the trouble. I remember towards the end of our schools affiliation the players were required by American Legion to write an essay on patriotism, or something along those lines.

 

[kaskaskiakid]

Good explanation. I totally get it. Even with a good local legion team, we still have a couple of our best kids playing on STL select teams.

But still, I would think it would carry some prestige to be Legion State Champ and possibly play in American Legion World Series. Or just the traditional season ending "continue winning or go home" atmosphere you get in every sport. Or just the chance to see some other good teams from around the state. Heck, our Legion Freshmen team were state champs this year, but it's definitely tainted knowing so much of the state isn't represented.

I heard the paperwork was a pain in the butt. My guess would be proof of eligibility from past bad experiences with unethical coaches bringing in ringers from out of district. Thankfully we have coaches willing to do the paperwork.

I think I heard that about the essays. Not a big deal, most probably copy and paste one in 5 minutes. LOL

You know,a lot of schools could say what's the point of affiliation with MSHSAA, they're never going to go to state in anything anyway!!