Travel Baseball Tournament Organizers and Tournaments in New Hampshire
Cal Ripken New Hampshire
Babe Ruth league for the state of New Hampshire.
Youth Baseball Tournaments in the New Hampshire Vicinity
InfoSports provides Tournament information and lists tournaments being held in NH and surrounding states.
Articles For Those New to Travel Baseball
What is Travel Baseball?
Clarkstown Baseball Association provides a cut and dry overview of what travel or elite baseball is and the differences between it and "Recreational" baseball.
Choosing a Youth Travel Baseball Team
This is a great introductory article for those new to the travel baseball scene that can help you narrow down what you are looking for.
Picking the Right Travel Baseball Team
By John Pinkman
Taking a look at Coaches, Mission, costs, size of team and much more.
Overuse Injuries in Youth Baseball
Pitchers aren't the only ones with overuse injuries in baseball. Check out the latest data and prevention tactics.
Pros and Cons of Parent Coaches and Being One Yourself
Parent coaches in travel baseball, good thing or bad thing? Is it a good fit for you?
Youth Sports: Maintaining Reasonable Expectations
What are the chances your kid will play college baseball or softball? Professional baseball or softball? You should read this article.
Where the Elite Kids Shouldn't Meet
By Tim Keown, ESPN Writer
A raw and honest look into Travel / Elite Baseball
Sites, Organizations and Articles We Like
American Legion Baseball
Teams from 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Regional tournaments, State tournaments and a World Series make this one of the most popular baseball organizations around.
Dixie Youth Baseball
They play great baseball and players have an opportunity to play in tournaments and a league World Series. Find a team or start a franchise.
Babe Ruth League Youth Baseball
Great organization and great baseball. This is another option for youth baseball players to continue developing their skills. Start or find a charter here.
Travel Ball Select
Travel Ball News, Forums, Scores, Travel Ball TV and other cool stuff.
Game Changer
Sign your team up, keep stats during the game, track other teams. It's great!
Little League News
College Baseball News
MLB News and Rumors from Yard Barker
New Hampshire may be a small state, but it has produced 50 Major League ball players. Two are currently active: Sam Fuld and Jeff Locke. Here are their inspiring stories.
Sam Fuld was born in Durham in 1981 and was enamored with baseball from an early age, playing with wiffle balls as a tot and occupying himself with batting stats at the age of six. "I was always into the numbers side of the game,” he says. “I had these little baseball handbooks where I would just sit there and memorize stats for different ballplayers (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sam-fuld-fascinating-4th-of/)" He grew up celebrating Christmas and Hannukah -- and playing ball.
Sam Fuld was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age ten, but did not let this get in the way of youth sports. He played for Exeter Academy and was one of the 100 Top High School Prospects of 2000: listed at number 19!
Fuld's alimater is Stanford. He graduated, having turning down a 24th round draft pick in 2003 to return (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/02/21/outfielder-sam-fuld-ready-for-another-challenge/5704759/). He went as a 10th round draft pick a year later.
Fuld made his MLB debut in 2007 at age 25.
Among Fuld’s challenges... growing up playing in the snow and being a little shorter than most pro ball players. (His height is listed as 5' 10" but he admits he’s rounding up – quite a bit.)
One of Fuld’s contributions is the Sam Fuld Diabetes Camp. He says he was lucky to have had medical professionals who thought he should play. When he was 12, he met a major league player with diabetes; it's his goal to play it forward (http://mlblogstbchick2011.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/sam-fuld-speaks-to-usf-nursing-students-about-type-one-diabetes/).
One diabetic youth that Fuld has corresponded with made the USSSA World Series (http://www.independentmail.com/news/2007/jul/17/badders-participates-usssa-12-under-world-series/?print=1).
Pitcher Jeff Locke was born in North Conway in November of 1987.
Locke played at A. Crosby Kennett High School where he was known as the "Redstone Rocket". Among his achievements were three years as a first-team all-star and two years as player of the year. As a senior, he was co-captain of his team.
Locke was an early 2nd round pick in the 2006 draft. He spent some time in the minors on the Gulf Coast Braves and Danville Braves. He was traded to the Pirates while still in the minors. As a Pirate, he began with the Lynchburg Hillcats and progressed to the Indianapolis Indians by way of the Bradenton Marauders and Altoona Curve. His MLB debut came in September of 2011. He was 23.
Locke was again an All-Star in 2013 – this time as an MLB player. A poor end to the season, though, found him once again working to climb from the minor league to the major league roster.
Chances are there will be more pro baseball players coming out of New Hampshire; they may well be on teams right now, learning to play ball and learning to overcome challenges.
At somewhat over 6 ft, Locke is a more conventional athlete. But this doesn’t mean pro-level competition comes easily. He recently opted for a voluntary mini-camp, noting that he needed to show his commitment (http://triblive.com/sports/pirates/5649510-74/locke-season-starts#axzz2w6HmmQ6K). He has expressed gratitude to have made it as far as he has.
Tomorrow’s ball players also work hard at their sport. They work hard in school, too. There are a lot of major league ball players with college degrees. Fuld has gone further than most: grad school. After all, there is life after basketball – even for those who make it to the pros. “Despite my uncertain job future, my USF diabetes sports camp is still very much a go!” he Tweeted to his tens of thousands of Twitter fans.
Concord Cannnons
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