[SAump]

The local LL district can't compete against Mom's desire to see her son playing against "better" competition, 10 year olds recruited to join select travel teams, and enticements of pro-ball or college scholarships (real or imaginary). Money is thrown into baseball factories {many in Southern Calif and Florida}, and travel teams going to week long, out-of-state, big-city tournaments. Now kids in S Calif who grew up playing baseball for large fees usually make the local high school team.

What does this mean to the shortage of poor inner city kids who play baseball on the LL sand lot? Apparently, opinion has determined that the LL kids cut from the local high school team can be traced back to the poor quality of "volunteer" LL programs. Imagine the difficulty in learning to make the adjustment from the wind-up to the stretch.