Any recommendations on youth gloves for a 9 year old? Don't want to break the bank for something that he'll probably only use for a year or two. So something around $100 or less (less is always better) would be ideal.

He plays SS on rec, CF on challenge and also pitches.

He had a Mizuno that was great, but the laces gave out and it was probably too small anyway. We replaced it with a Mizuno prospect that we don't like at all. Despite all manner of coaxing and breaking in, it closes thumb to middle finger. Two other kids on the challenge team have the same glove and it basically closes the same way. His hands are smaller than average so something that is easy to close is key - whether out of the box, or that breaks in well.

If you want a youth glove, you probably can't do any better than a Rawlings Pro Taper Custom from homerunmonkey.com. They offer the Elite, which is HOH leather, the Gold, which is Kip leather, and the Platinum, which is Primo leather. The prices are great for what you get -- just remember that good leather will take some breaking in. The primo might be too stiff for a youth, imho. Here is the link:

Pro Taper Custom Series Baseball Gloves

My son is 10 and I was afraid those youth models would be small for him, so we got a Louisville Slugger Pro Flare. It's an adult glove, but they run small. I can't say enough good things about this glove. It will last way more than one year, and my kid loves it. You can find all kinds of bargains on them if you look around. Here is the exact one my son has, and you can get it for an extra 30% off:

http://www.baseballexp.com//Baseball-Gloves/Louisville-Slugger/Louisville-Pro-Flare-BrownV-Gold-11-14-Baseball-Glove/baseball/lev/6/productId/19356/No/10/Nty/1/Ns/PRODUCT_AFFINITY|1/Ne/14/Nao/10/N/33+36+16+4294967137+4294967113/index.pro

Baseballexpress.com (the link above) has the different colorings. If you don't like those colors, Amazon.com sometimes has really good prices on them.

Good luck in your hunt!

A rawlings pp11tb 11" would be a good one it is less than $50 A good one for a youth player I play center with it really good ss would be good and i use it for pitching so it is good for all of them.

regarding quality , is a nokona more preferable than a rawlings ?

When the boys are 9, they are eligible for All Stars in Little League, but it is much slower play than the 12 year olds you see at the LL World Series. There are also a few boys who play Majors at nine but not many. Most 9 year olds prefer to be the Star on their Minors team, and possibly look for a Travel Ball team. One thing that confused me is your note about the Challenge team. (In Little League it means the handicapped league, which I doubt you meant.) Given that your Player spends time at SS and in CF, you have a size issue and model issue problem. In Minor Leagues it will not make any difference, therefore you can get away with a lighter duty glove. If you are talking Challenge as in All Star or Travel Ball tournament ball then you may want to look into the future a bit.

In Minors at 9, my son played Middle Infield with a Louisville Omaha pro Flare 11.25" with the "I" (some people call it an "H") web. The 11.25 I-web is good enough for pitching also, because it is light and won't throw him off balance when he extends his throw toward the Catcher. My son also pitched but he used the 10.75" Akadema Ozzie Smith "Claw," which had a blind pocked so they could not see his grip on the ball. My son loved them both. Both gloves are less than $100 on Ebay, and you might be able to find one used for $50. Both gloves are great for a combo SS and Pitcher. However, in the outfield, the gloves will be too small, particularly if he is in the Majors. My son moved to Majors at 10, and played some RF so I bought him the 12.75" Omaha Louisville Six Finger Trapeze for about $99 and sold his Akadema glove.

The problem is: in Majors, the Middle Infield is a different speed of play. At 10 we upgraded his Omaha infielder to a Louisville TPX, which is slightly more heavy duty; and we moved into the 11.5" "T" web. The T web is an infield and outfield combo web. For All Stars and Travel Ball we bought a $30 Palmgard insert glove with the Index and Middle finger pad. The TPX 11.5" I-web or T-web, (without the insert glove) is good enough for CF in the Minors and 9-10 Travel Ball. The TPX is about $30 over your budget unless you plan ahead. You can add the protection of an insert glove later. The other thing you have to plan for is the Pro Flare breaking down if you leave it in his bag all the time. Take it out and reshape it after every session.

One last thing, stay with an all brown glove. The black gloves are not premium leather and the blonde gloves turn an ugly ugly gray when you put on the mitt oil. A brown/tan glove turns a beautiful chocolate brown for awhile and then fades back to tan brown when the oil is gone.

Nokona vs Rawlings. Nokona, according to my buddies, is supposedly the last mitt that is still manufactured in the USA. For me, that is a selling point, but it means it is not cheap. However, last year I spotted some models that are nolonger USA made and they are running under $150. Nokona is high quality leather, that is used by adult soft ballers. They do make an I-web infield glove that is small enough for hardball, but most are tall wide and heavy.. It is the mitt you get for the rest of your life, unless you buy Kangaroo. Kangaroo is an elite leather used exclusively by Nokona, which breaks in quicker, and is lighter, but it eventually stretches or bags like deer skin. That is why you do not see a lot of deer and kangaroo cowboy boots. They stretch to easily.

Rawlings... millions and millions of Rawlings are made every decade. They are on every shelf Walmart has. In South America it is hard to buy anything but a Rawlings. Quality? Not until you get to the highest rung: the $350 Pro Preferred available in every web design or size. If you don't shop around, you can pay $400+ for one. That is the one that the MLB guys buy just before they go to their $1800 custom made gloves from Japan.

Now please, do not harp on me just because I did not mention your Heart of the Hide Rawlings. HOH comes in the same models, and is probably superior to a Spalding, Akadema, Easton and any Wilson lower than an A2000 or A2K. HOH is a little tougher leather and a little thinner in the laces. You don't break it in by playing catch with your teenager, you take it to an 80mph Big Mike pitching machine with the heavy rubber balls, and you keep putting in quarters until you have 100 snagged. If your hand isn't broken, you have a glove that is ready to go.

I have a Rawlings Heart of the Hide 11.75
It's a great glove for infield and pitcher. It's on the expensive side, so it's not reccomened if you want one under 100bucks. Go with either Mizunos or Nokana... they have cheap gloves for the youth

That's not true. Nokona's are made in the U.S. and also outside of the U.S. Rawlings are the U.S.A glove if you want to be a American homeboy. About 99.9% of their gloves are made in America. The .1% are made in Japan for their players, yet they still use American materials rawlings uses.

Kelz...Knucklehead asked about a glove for a 9 year old for under $100 because it was probably only going to get used one Season. Little League, via their Coaches forum recommends 11.5" for large 12 year olds. The article states that 75% of youth players are using gloves that are too big for them. That is why LL limited all gloves to 12" or under, for several years, last decade. Long time LL coach and equipment expert Dr Bragg Stockton said there is no good reason to spend a lot of money but do not throw them into a High School glove and tell them to "grow into it." He recommended Akaeema across the board.

Chuckle... I knew the minute I left out someone's favorite brand, that I was going to get dinged like I had just called their glove something horrible. And the HOH comment was meant to be tongue in cheek.

As far as Rawlings goes, they are not evil. Their gloves are global, and they own well over 50% of the cheap end or Starter gloves in the US and almost 100% south of the Border.

There is an $80 Player Preferred 11.75" selling on Ebay in two hours. New still in the plastic sack, they want $20 and $8 shipping. No bids so far, where as an A2000 for 10 times the money would have had 10 bids two days ago. The main reason is over supply... which is why I can not sell the Rawlings I bought 8 years ago. If I wanted to get rid of it I would get $1 over shipping cost. Same as free. It is selling new on Ebay for $28. I thought it was "good" when I bought it for $36. BUT,,, it is too big for a 9 year old, so it is irrelevant.

Good luck with your Rawlings HOH, I think it is cool that you like it.

Here is a quote off their website:
Rawlings Baseball Gloves

Rawlings is probably the most well known of all baseball glove makers, and has been making their gloves for more than 80 years. Rawlings makes both top of the line baseball gloves as well as inexpensive, low end Rawlings gloves that are made in Asia. The most expensive glove by rawlings is the "design your own" custom glove that the company sells for nearly $400! Players can choose from 8 different series of baseball gloves featuring more than 60 models of gloves from Rawlings.

I got my son a glove from www.baseballbargains.com . They have a pretty good selection of youth gloves under $100.