- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Who actually likes “travel ball”
Posted on 5/15/23 at 5:15 pm to lsudocts
Posted on 5/15/23 at 5:15 pm to lsudocts
It's fun for the kids, get to play different teams instead of the same few teams every week, the few tournaments we've done where all or most stayed in a hotel the families have fun together away from the field.
Also, our rec ball/department is garbage
That being said, we don't do many tournaments and they are usually within an hour and a half drive, our team is cheap, and at this point they have no pressure to win $5 rings.
Told my son if he ever wants to quit he can (not mid-season), but that if we wants to play he needs to be the best player he can be.
Don't ask me to buy a plate lunch to pay for your vacation though
Also, our rec ball/department is garbage
That being said, we don't do many tournaments and they are usually within an hour and a half drive, our team is cheap, and at this point they have no pressure to win $5 rings.
Told my son if he ever wants to quit he can (not mid-season), but that if we wants to play he needs to be the best player he can be.
Don't ask me to buy a plate lunch to pay for your vacation though
This post was edited on 5/15/23 at 5:15 pm
0
Posted on 5/15/23 at 5:41 pm to Chad504boy
quote:
if you're kid isn't doing travel ball, it makes it very unlikely he's going to show up on highschool campus and not be left in the dust by all the other kids who have. assuming your kid isn't some physical specimen type athlete. travel ball is just ball now. rec ball is non existent at a competitive level.
I’ve been a high school baseball coach for 15 years and this simply isn’t true. The pay to play organizations that tell families they won’t be ready for high school if they don’t play with their club are lying thru their teeth to get your money. One family sees this and gets FOMO and the whole thing spreads like wild fire. Anything athletically that happens before puberty is meaningless anyway. I’ve had so many kids that played 100s of games from the ages of 7-14 get boat raced by kids who played a bunch of different sports in their youth and who dominate puberty. Lots of those 12 year old stars will be program kids who will get a handful of ABs on varsity as a senior. Tale as old as time
This post was edited on 5/15/23 at 5:42 pm
Posted on 5/15/23 at 5:45 pm to Stevo
quote:
Cat's in the Cradle was written for you, apparently
Hilarious coming from someone who thinks travel ball is top tier parenting.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:00 pm to lsudocts
quote:
Who actually likes “travel ball”
To answer the question, I don't like it. I agree that it is definitely a money grab. I agree that the good old days were much better -- playing a league at the local playground, followed by All Stars and then Babe Ruth in the summer. That is dead in BR because BREC is terrible, and the YMCA is a joke, and church leagues dont have real competition. Alot of schools dont even have middle school teams because so many kids play tournament ball. The landscape has completely changed.
So while I don't like it, it does feel like the only real option these days for kids that want to play competitive youth baseball. So I disagree that it is mostly about the parents. Sure there are terrible dads out there that are living vicariously through their kids and rob the joy out of the experience for the kids, but there are more parents (the majority, I think) that are making a time and financial commitment just to allow their kids the opportunity to play baseball because it is really the only option today. It unfortunate and I dont see a path back to the good old days.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:05 pm to lsudocts
quote:
Who actually likes “travel ball”
Shitty umpires, I believe some make north of $40.00 per game cash. Pretty good gig if you call 8-10 games in a weekend.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:29 pm to BatonrougeCajun
quote:
I’ve been a high school baseball coach for 15 years and this simply isn’t true.
Lol, it’s 100% fact if your kid wants to play for almost any LHSAA team that’s worth a shite. Where have you been coaching baseball these past 15 years?
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:31 pm to thejuiceisloose
quote:
Edit- Someone mentioned scholarship money, do the parents not realize that outside of football and basketball "full rides" don't really exist. If Braxtyn is good he'll get 10% at ULL, which means spending $40,000 for a 10% reduction of tuition at ULL.
Guy I worked has a daughter who played travel softball from age 9 on up. She was pretty good but peaked as a HS Sophomore and never got any better. Got a few invites to walk on at local colleges but no scholarship offers. With fees, private lessons, travel and lodging, he estimates he spent $120-150k over those years.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:38 pm to geauxtigers33
quote:
I can see this as a freshman but any player that is a decent athlete will eventually catch up when they are facing the same competition for a couple years.
That’s if they make the team. My son goes to a 5A school and they only take 10 players per year.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:43 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
With fees, private lessons, travel and lodging, he estimates he spent $120-150k over those years.
Sounds way inflated! But the costs with many teams/activities can be expensive in baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, dance, cheer, music, etc. Golf and tennis are even more expensive. Some parents enjoy doing things for and with their kids, and happily sacrifice their time and money for their children’s benefit. Other parents enjoy leaving their kids at home alone with video games. To each their own.
This post was edited on 5/15/23 at 6:57 pm
Posted on 5/15/23 at 6:56 pm to lsudocts
Moms love it because they can put a sticker on the $900/month SUV. Some dads like it so they brag on little Braxxtynn to the baws at work.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:09 pm to lsudocts
Well, in Florida if you don t you have zero chance of playing high school ball unless your high school stinks at baseball or maybe in a small town.
The daddy ball teams usually don’t last past 12u. The legit academy teams transition to high school prep at 13u and 14u.
My kids have to play it because rec ball is so far behind that they really play a different sport. It’s pitiful.
I would love to play in a League setting but around here it’s drunks and ghetto thugs kids that play rec. it’s awful. That has been the biggest contributor to the travel/tournament ball growth.
My oldest is 16, he plays high school ball . ZERO kids in the program came out of rec. 6A baseball school.
You also can’t stay in the team without yearround workouts and a strong summer showcase. It’s just the way it is here.
The daddy ball teams usually don’t last past 12u. The legit academy teams transition to high school prep at 13u and 14u.
My kids have to play it because rec ball is so far behind that they really play a different sport. It’s pitiful.
I would love to play in a League setting but around here it’s drunks and ghetto thugs kids that play rec. it’s awful. That has been the biggest contributor to the travel/tournament ball growth.
My oldest is 16, he plays high school ball . ZERO kids in the program came out of rec. 6A baseball school.
You also can’t stay in the team without yearround workouts and a strong summer showcase. It’s just the way it is here.
This post was edited on 5/15/23 at 7:11 pm
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:14 pm to Stevo
quote:
Some parents enjoy doing things for and with their kids, and happily sacrifice their time and money for their children’s benefit. Other parents enjoy leaving their kids at home alone with video games. To each their own.
My kid is gonna be making millions playing video games on twitch while yours is riding the pine at a Mississippi community college
Or they’ll probably be normal young adults. Idk
This post was edited on 5/15/23 at 7:14 pm
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:27 pm to Chad504boy
quote:
if you're kid isn't doing travel ball, it makes it very unlikely he's going to show up on highschool campus and not be left in the dust by all the other kids who have. assuming your kid isn't some physical specimen type athlete. travel ball is just ball now. rec ball is non existent at a competitive level.
Exactly this. This post having 25 downvotes tells me there are alot of retards on here.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:32 pm to Stevo
quote:
Some parents enjoy doing things for and with their kids, and happily sacrifice their time and money for their children’s benefit. Other parents enjoy leaving their kids at home alone with video games. To each their own.
As if these are the only 2 options
Putting the vast majority of that $120-150k in a 529 will do much more to benefit a child than wasting it on travel/tournament sports. And it's not binary, where your kid is on a travel team or he/she is playing video games. Lots of other options are much cheaper and will help your child over his/her lifetime, like coding, chess, music, etc. Plenty of rec sports or other individual pursuits for pure physical development.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:33 pm to blueboxer1119
quote:
Exactly this. This post having 25 downvotes tells me there are alot of retards on here.
By this logic, only the top 1-5% of tournament players should participate. This thread is targeted at that 95-99% left over.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:41 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
And it's not binary, where your kid is on a travel team or he/she is playing video games.
Of course it's not, using a little hyperbole to point out the ridiculous criticism of Tournament baseball.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:42 pm to UnoMe
quote:
Shitty umpires, I believe some make north of $40.00 per game cash. Pretty good gig if you call 8-10 games in a weekend.
Too many good ones have stepped down due to parents and coaches being douchebags. The ones that have replaced them are paycheck grabbers. Before my son got involved in travel baseball, I worked high level travel and high school softball. Toward the end of doing that, I started getting paired with guys who just saw the rule book as a suggestion. And they wouldn’t listen to the veteran guys. That was my cue to get out.
But while I would make decent pay the weekends I worked, travel expenses and the occasional hotel stay, along with sanctioning fees and good plate gear ate up a good chunk of that. No umpire is getting rich doing it.
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:44 pm to Stevo
quote:
Travel Ball is mostly a misnomer. Tournament ball is more accurate since most teams rarely travel that far to play, and it's a weekend tournament format.
I know parents with kids in it now, they travel pretty damn far and beyond the weekend.
This post was edited on 5/15/23 at 8:04 pm
Posted on 5/15/23 at 7:45 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:
By this logic, only the top 1-5% of tournament players should participate. This thread is targeted at that 95-99% left over
You don't know the top 1-5 % is for any activity until the progress and development through high school. The process and friendships made are still amazing for those who don't continue activities beyond high school, and the life lessons transfer to adult life.
Page 3 of 28
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News