Mokena Baseball and Softball Associatin (MBSA)

The board is mostly made up of parents who put their own self interests first and the organization second. Not thinking about the community at large.

How about volunteering and changing what you see wrong with the program?

From what I hear, almost every parent on the board is interested only in their own kid, and could give a crap about the rest of the boys/girls in Mokena. That's too bad.

I've heard the exact same thing. The board could care less about kids that are not their own.

OMG...don't get me started. I saw first hand that if you are not buddies with the right people, your kids won't make the travel teams. I don't know who is in charge, but they should get rid of all of them.

You can look on their website to get names to complain to....probably wouldn't do any good as they don't care what anyone thinks.

I sent an email complaining about the coach last year and I didn't hear anything back. My son doesn't even want to play again next year. Thank you MBSA!!!!

MBSA in-house is nothing more than a front and a cash cow to allow them to book all the prime fields for their travel teams (Blaze) which are the real and sole reason MBSA even exists anymore. Then no other travel teams, some of whom have as many or more resident players as the Blaze do, can get on the "good" fields. See how many Board members have kids on the travel teams, or coach one of them - the majority. And the President is on the Park Board, where he can ram his MBSA (read Blaze) agenda down the throats of the public. If someone tries to get on the Board who really does have the best interest of the average player, or heaven forbid, the girls, at heart, he makes sure they don't get elected.

It's a sport folks. Most parents are delusional of their own kids talent. Dreaming of a scholarship. . If a kid is talented they will be found. Relax and let the kids have fun and learn the game. I do agree that most on the board will try to advance their own kid. I did watch a blaze game and saw the coaches daughter act like an entitled superstar. I never spank my kids but this girl needed a good spanking. I would have been embarrassed if it was my daughter. No sportsmanship taught in this case. I think it was the blaze. What is the other travel team for girls.

It was the blast

It was probably last years 8u team.

I believe all to often parents overvalue the talent of their own kids. The real fun in sports is around the team itself, my guess is that kids that don't want to go back that there is more to the story.

Of course travel teams are more difficult to make and will generally go to the spots of those more involved. At that age my guess is that many players are very close and the coaches probably do not want to deal with the parents of the kids that cause issues. Volunteer coaches generally speakng cant win in either scenerio

A neighbor told me that the guy that runs the girls travel program for MBSA put his own daughter on a travel team in a different town. What a joke!!!

so true....

Teresa wrote:

OMG...don't get me started. I saw first hand that if you are not buddies with the right people, your kids won't make the travel teams. I don't know who is in charge, but they should get rid of all of them.

Its a good ole boy network. My kid isn't that talented in baseball (yet) but why shouldn't he be allowed to play on the travel team? Its not like they're 18 years old. If he gets on the team, I think he'd get better instruction and be just as good. Its not fair that they take the kids that practice more and do better in a one day tryout. Not all parents can practice with their kids and not all kids are that interested at that age. Its not right to seperate them like that. Everyone should just play in-house. Does that mean that they can't play travel and be just as good? No. Like I said they're not even in high school yet.

One good thing that they do are clinics. Not saying that its the best thing in the world but I don't know a lot of organizations that put on free clinics for kids. We've attended a few for our daughter and they were really well done. The Blast coaches put a lot of tiime in and the girls learned a lot. Plus they're training the younger kids. It would be nice if they had a better girls program. The girls keep leaving to go to some other organizations which makes no sense. I hear the boys put on good clinics, too. I don't have a son but I notice they put on more boys' clinics than girls clinics. And, they're free. So some good things happen. My husband travels so much so I appreciate that I can take my daughter to these clinics when he's not around. At least someone is teaching her how to play. For that I'm thankful.

Travel baseball is for the best kids. Its not for every kid. While we each think our kid is the best its simply not factually accurate. Parents need to learn that making a team has to be earned and that you earn a position in the field or in the batting order through practice and game play.

In the end, people don't want fairness. Why? Fairness cuts their kid. Fairness lets kids earn something. No, instead parents want preference. They want their kid who performs below average to maintain a sport or receive a spot on a team even if the results don't warrant the spot. They want to be the exception to the rule that everything needs to be earned.

When they don't get that special treatment and their kid struggles, they leave the organization and go somewhere else.]

Sad. I've seen it Too many Times in Mokena, NL, and Frankfort.

Look at Mokena sports. Its the same dads coaching in-house baseball that coach basketball and football. You tellin' me that these coaches are so freakin' knowledgeable that they can coach all sports? What a joke. They're just daddy ballers looking to get their kids in key positions on teams. And its typical of Mokena sports.

Baseball is nothing compared to football. Look at the Mokena Burros. What a nightmare organization that is led by a shady president who is banned from coaching in his own organization because of poor behavior with kids. And, he's replacing a board president that manhandled a kid at a game. The former VP got into fights in the parking lot. And, the 2011 president was electetd AFTER the ban and he was elected in an UNCONTESTED vote. Says a lot about the community not just the coaches. A bunch of whiney asswipes live here who over value their kids' talents and work hard to use favor and relationships to screw good players out of positions. Sports parents are for the birds.

Blaze is boys. Blast is girls.