re: Can someone explain travel ball to me

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That's some of the tournaments the Farragut Tribe play, my bad

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Perfect Game is a team? You sure about that?

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i was assuming you didnt know what your were talking about...thanks for confirming

so you know couple kids on 1 team and you automatically assume that is how all teams are?

from their gamechanger they start playing in august....99% of other teams do not. looks like they play in lots of fall tournaments mainly AA which is dog shite.

cool you know a some kids that suck and play on shitty teams that over do it big time....understand that is not how it is for most other teams. most "travel" kids is not really travel, especially the level that the tribe team plays and most "travel" kids play other sports

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All I have to add to the thread is, AP Rec league has done a great job IMO, of turning that league around. Was a rec league ran by meth heads it seemed for many years. They’re bringing kids in from all over and it’s attracted competent coaches as well. Nothing will ever be perfect, but I’d be willing to bet that AP has one of the best rec leagues in the state now.

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they do but even them...they dont get most of the best kids from the Rays, saints, traction, pelicans to go play....they will get kids from teams like Ascension Select but the better kids dont even play it most years.

but understand the level AP LL is at....that is the rarity. and even then...the all stars is made up of all travel kids that play the league minimum games to make the AS team. Same with Eastbank and others.

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Rec ball is pretty much dead just about every where. Low level travel ball (which is what majority of kids play) is just the replacement for rec ball. It's little to no travel, and it's not as expensive as people will try to make you believe if you are on a team like that. 99% of parents aren't putting their kids in travel ball with MLB dreams.

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This is a fairly accurate statement.

I do wish better conversations could be had than just shitting on every decision one way or the other.

The fact of the matter is when it comes to travel is it goes both ways. You have some parents that do it because they think their kid is the next Acuna and they think they are better than anyone else on the field, and deep down they are doing it for themselves. Then you have the parents that do it for the kids and because they do truly believe this is a better overall experience for their kid.

We have travel organizations around us that are essentially pay to play (Canes) Last i heard of you roll in with $3,000 (at 9U) they find you a spot. That local team is awful, truly bad baseball. But they have a paid coach and all the gear and swag,

Then you have some teams that are a part of a Rec organization. Different organizations handle things differently. Our organization is an "at cost" organization. Want to say our normal due amount for 8U-11U is around 1500-2000 for Fall (a lot of the kids play other sports in the Fall but most teams do a few Sunday only tournaments just to keep the juicing flowing) , Spring, and Summer.(Feb to end of June) Which ends up being less out of pocket after fundraising and sponsorships.

When it comes to "travel is killing rec ball"....ehh not exactly. Of course it depends regionally. But where i am we have 9 travel teams from 8U-15U supported in our organization and we have 800+ kids signed up for rec between 3U-18U (tee ball to senior league)....Our organization is capped at team/player count due to field limitations. So if these 100 kids didnt play travel then they would remove 100 kids that are currently playing rec from being able to play. So travel in our organization let more kids play.

What it does do is saturate the skill level in rec. Most age groups the top 12 kids are no longer in rec. My son moved into Travel at 9U. A big eye opening moment for me was I had our 3rd highest assessed kid at 8U playing first and my son threw a ball from SS to him at first and the 1st baseman turned his head and extended his glove palm up to try and catch it. The ball went by his head by about 2 inches and at that point i realized my son outgrew rec.

I do not believe kids get better by being the best on a team or by being the worst on a team. For the previous 2 seasons my son was by far the best on his teams and he felt he couldnt throw the ball hard for fear he would hurt someone.

His team now he is in player range 6 to 9. So he is solidly on it and has his role but also is chasing more talented players that make him a better player.

My middle son who is a little more naturally talented still plays rec and we have no immediate care to move him to travel due to the coaches and situation of the age group.

One thing is do see a lot in travel is misuse in kids arms. We played a team in the fall that had a kid close out a game with almost 30 pitches. Then take a 20 minute break between games then throw 40+ against us at 9U! Our team has 10 reliable pitchers and in 9U fall at 25 pitches it was kids last batter before a change was made. I think coaches plan is to push it to 30 pitches this spring and hopes to end the summer letting kids go 35-40 if all is going well.

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and it's not as expensive as people will try to make you believe

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A cheap team is $1500.

Mine just liked to have fun. We did soccer, football, and baseball at the local rec. He liked them all, but could give two shits about practicing on his own.The rec district barely has enough kids to make up one baseball team since everyone is doing travel balll, it's sad.

He started golf lessons with First Tee last year and really enjoys it. He actually wants to go to the driving range on his own time and hit balls. So we'll stick with that. He also does a handful of outdoor camps every year (sailing, canoing, sleep-away camp for a week). And he's also a gamer kid and takes piano. So he won't be scouted to play professional ball, but he'll be well-rounded and hopefully develop some skills that will help him throughout life.

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and it's not as expensive as people will try to make you believe




A cheap team is $1500.

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You have dad ball travel teams that can do it right and your paying for pure costs. And then you have organizations out there that make overhead and profit and some even will supplement some coaching costs etc. Lots of factors go into a "cost of a team". When they get older, your essentially paying for organizations that have the best recruiting networks and services to help your kid.

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what does your amateur comment have to do with a hyperbole comment about kids playing 30 world series tournaments a year?

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I didn't take that comment literal, I think he was exaggerating and was just saying they play in a lot of tournaments or do we not do this around here? Everything is literal?

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Can someone explain travel ball to me

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It’s where parents travel to other cities to take their kids to play sports, normally staying in places like La Quinta upon arriving in said cities.

What does travel ball cost per year? Trying to see if I pay more for my competitive dancer or if travel ball is more.