re: Do 90% of these kids really need to be on these competitive travel ball teams?

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Every parent I know whose kids were involved eventually quit altogether. Broke the parents hearts but the kids got over it in about 30 seconds. It can not be fun for anyone.

I played youth football in the 1970s and did so in a rec league through about Halloween and then in all star games (they were basically the same concept as travel ball in that anyone who could afford it was an all star). I loved it...but it wasn't for everyone. In the 7th and 8th grades I played on a youth league team, a middle school team and a high school JV team...played a game on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings and usually either monday or Tuesday nights. Practiced with the JV team the rest of the time....they were all tied together eventually feeding the HS Varsity team. In the 8th grade I was to old for the youth league so I played middle school, JV and Varsity....had a game Thursday - Saturday and practiced with the Varsity Monday - Wednesday. Started on the middle school and JV teams, did not play much until my Freshman year for the varsity team but started from midway through that season until I graduated. I was only "allowed" to play JV and Varsity because no one kept up with it. IT was a lot...but I loved it. Me and another kid did it from 7th grade through graduation. Looking back I wish I had been in the marching band LOL...but at the time I loved it. Both of us had some offers to small schools out of high school but we both opted out and got on with life.

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another old as frick person talking about how everyone shouldnt play travel ball.

NEWSFLASH....things change, things evolve....many times for the betterment of the skill....and sometimes that means some kids are left behind.

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The downvoters are either parents to unathletic kids, or hate you for doing for your kids what they wont, which makes them feel guilty.

Those downvotes are their guilty tears.

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99% of the time its from someone who thinks spending all weekend every weekend at the fishing camp getting drunk is PEAK life.

i can say without fail...most of these threads...the haters bithc about how can you give up your social life or something else. from reading this board the last 2 decades i can say its usually the posters that think drinking 6 beers a night is normal so i try not to worry about the downvotes

but you are 1000% right.

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I'm convinced that these threads are started to troll lsu777. TD gets him wound up then three days later he comes up for air.

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man most of projects are in constuction so i got plenty of time to kill right now at work.....another month and that shite will be over again.

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I'm convinced that these threads are started to troll lsu777

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there may be some truth in that, baw

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Are these similar to the “elite” teams around DFW? Just wondering bc I only hear about travel ball from Louisiana people, mostly here.

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when we lived in FL it was like a cult, the Mafia, the Nazis, and big business all rolled into one

Here is the issue we have at the high school I coach football at. The Baseball program, for the past decade, has been run by coaches who also have travel teams. Every year, baseball coaches convince 7-10 parents that their sons are a generational talent, that will be receiving multiple D-1 scholarships, and be a high MLB draft pick, and the sons need to play on their travel ball teams to remain relevant. They also talk the parents into not letting their sons play any other sports because the potential for injuries could hurt their son's baseball future. So, for the past decade, the once-prominent football and basketball programs at the high school have had a hard time filling rosters.

The cost of the travel ball team these coaches run is roughly $14K a year. Do you want to know how many of these kids have received a D-1 baseball scholarship, or have been drafted by an MLB team. 1 D-1 scholarship, and 0 drafted since 2013. Do you know what the parents are told every year when their son is graduating high school without any college offers, or being drafted? "The scouts found a hole in your son's swing we tried to correct but he just didn't respond to coaching." "Your son's arm slot will keep him from progressing any further." "There's something about your son's work ethic that the scouts just couldn't get past."

Year after year, these coaches fleece these gullible parents out of tens of thousands of dollars. It is such a scam that these parents willingly participate in.

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The Baseball program, for the past decade, has been run by coaches who also have travel teams. Every year, baseball coaches convince 7-10 parents that their sons are a generational talent, that will be receiving multiple D-1 scholarships, and be a high MLB draft pick, and the sons need to play on their travel ball teams to remain relevant.

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Most high school governing bodies don’t allow a coach to coach his own players in travel ball. While travel ball can be expensive, $14k sounds just as made up. Where are you located?

I haven't read through this whole thread but this topic comes up all the time. As usual everyone draws a hard line in the sand and doesn't account for the significant nuance that goes into the decision for each family.

Overall the "travel ball" concept is a net negative for sure but not every parent is doing only for themselves or because they think Jaxxton or Brayleigh are going to the majors.

The park I played in growing up split each age group into 2 leagues: American League was for the more advanced players and national was for "less" advanced. After the season there was Allstar teams for both leagues.

I was fortunate enough to play on the national league allstar team when I was 13, which was the last year before the renegade teams took over.

8 players from the national league team (including myself) ended up playing varsity baseball at the 3 different highschools in our area and only 3 from the american league allstar team.

If your kid wants to play baseball, keep them playing no matter the league. Kids improve at different times!