[joshleon]

The little league thing is a big deal. What you are starting to see with youth (I have 8 and 10yos) is the "specialization of youth athletics". Baseball is a great example. The kids who play baseball well, end up playing for club and/or travel teams, and the causal players from the town don't make enough of a critical mass to get the little league going. The gung ho parents who coach, coach the travel, not the rec. etc..

These factors end up causing local little leagues to die out. Many towns in the NE where I live don't have LLs anymore. The casual players don't have an option to play, then they lose interest, and the MLB has lost another future fan.

We make our boys play both rec and travel for this very reason. We cut out travel practice in the spring so they can play rec with their friends. That may sound like i'm bragging but I am also cognizant that I am part of the problem in that I have them do travel/club in the first place.

All of the points in this thread are good ones.