Athletic Support: City needs new baseball complex eli.cranor@gmail.com May 15, 2022 Eli Cranor is a former professional quarterback and coach turned award-winning author. Please use the “Contact” page at elicranor.com to send in questions for “Athletic Support.”

Dear Athletic Support: We’re deep in the throes of travel baseball season, and I love it! I read your column every week and most of the time it’s somebody complaining about something. I’m not here to complain. I just have a question. I live in Arkansas, right outside of Little Rock, and every weekend we travel all over the state, and sometimes even outside the state (to places like Oklahoma or even Louisiana) to play in tournaments. I can’t remember the last time we played a tournament right here in Little Rock, and I know why. It’s because we don’t have a quality complex. All these other places we go make Burns Park and the Junior Deputy complex look like bush-league jokes. What could be the reason behind this? Why are we forced to travel so far for these tournaments when we live near a bigger-than-average city like Little Rock? Surely, there’s money to be made!

— Come on, Little Rock

Dear Little Rock: Yes, there is money to be made. A whole bunch of money.

Let’s say there are twenty teams in a tournament. Each of those teams has at least ten kids on it. That’s two hundred kids—two hundred families—flocking into a town for one weekend.

Those families get hotel rooms. They eat at local restaurants. And that’s not even mentioning the money that’s made from the tournament.

Travel league baseball is a booming business, which in some ways makes it an exclusive sport. This is another topic that deserves its own column, but I will mention it here.

There are many families who simply cannot afford to play travel league ball. As a result, many young sluggers are denied the chance to craft the skills necessary to play baseball at a higher level.

For this reason—as well as the potential to bring in big bucks—it would be very wise for a city like Little Rock to invest in a new baseball complex.

Not only would the city stand to generate revenue, but it would also help open the doors to less-privileged young athletes.

What better deal could you ask for?

Previous columns:

• No cussing in (youth) baseball
• Hard to adjust to new coach
• I wish my son would quit travel ball
• Seniority causing rifts on the team
• Transfer Portal and NIL: the death of college sports
• Replays slowing basketball down
• Did you write a football novel?
• Dads stacking teams causing problems
• When’s a good time to talk, Coach?
• Cat’s in the cradle
• Calling it quits after that halftime show
• I won’t watch the Olympics
• Pickup games causing trouble in neighborhood
• Do coaches still cut kids from teams?
• Son falling behind, again
• Forced to play on fractured ankle
• It’s not about winning in seventh grade
• Daughter can’t keep weight-loss resolution
• The Polish Goal Line Tactic
• Is dance a sport?

Athletic Support Columns 2021
Athletic Support Columns 2020


Outside of athletics, kids’ brains are also at risk. Who knows what sort of impact virtual learning will have on their cognition and critical thinking skills. In this regard, I offer one simple tool — a good book! And luckily, I know just the book for kids struggling with the shift to virtual learning:

BOOKS MAKE BRAINZ TASTE BAD! Okay, you caught me… I’m the author of this book. It was published last week and awarded a #1 New Release ranking on Amazon. BMBTB deals directly with the same topic covered in this column, except in a much more lighthearted, kid-friendly way (zombie teachers and brain-munching screens!) If you end up purchasing this book for your children or grandchildren, I only have one final suggestion — ask them to read it while standing up! Eli Cranor's new book Books Make Brainz Taste Bad has just been released. ZOMBIES HATE BOOKS! Especially the zombie teachers at Haven Middle School. That's why they're using VR headsets to fry kids' brainz. Luckily, Dash Storey knows how to save his classmates from the zombie teachers—BOOKS! They make brainz taste bad! "Eli Cranor has an almost unbeatable advantage. He can remember how it felt to think like a twelve-year-old and he can see the very same events like the adult he is. Don't try to resist this book!" - Jack Butler, Pulitzer-Prize nominated author Eli has a new book coming out March 8th. Don't Know Tough is a football-themed thrilled reminiscent of Friday Night Lights. The book is published by Penguin Random House and is available on Amazon.com.