re: I don’t get dripping $1000’s on kid’s travel ball in hopes of a scholarship

Worked for Lori and Felicity.

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Out of the 12 I coach, 2-3 of them will probably get scholarships

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Bullshite

I know there are people that spend $1000s a year on travel ball in all different sports. I don't think most people fall into that category though.

But some of you show literally zero understanding of the landscape of youth baseball/softball today. I have a 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter that both play multiple sports, in addition to both playing an instrument.

Since its baseball season, I'll stick to that. My son is on a 12AA team. We are in the OKC area. Our team plays tournaments about every other weekend from March to July. This team is full of boys who actually like baseball and are striving to improve, but we don't have any exceptional players.

We'll be about a .500 team in tournaments (play almost exclusively AA/AAA tournaments). With that said, we'll go 15-0 and won't have a game closer than about 8 runs in league. That's how bad it is and why everyone plays tournaments. If you have a kid who cares at all about baseball, you can't play rec league exclusively.

We'll play all tournaments within an hour of home, with the exception of one per year in Dallas (3 hrs from home). Between my two kids, we'll probably spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000 total for both kids for the entire year for baseball/softball.

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At least the female sports get full scholarships

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A swing and a miss..

We did travel softball for three years (1 at 10U and 2 at 12U). I was originally against it but she wanted to do it and I couldn't tell her no. First two years were fairly local day trips mostly with a few over nights. The last year had more overnights but never more than about 4-5 hours away. The last year probably spent $7k and my daughter will not play college ball and doesn't want to. She started on her High School team as a 7th grader (stopped travel at end of 6th grade). Waste of money maybe, but memories made last a life time. My daughter and I bonded over those three years as my wife (no pics) didn't make many trips. I was both glad (more time for golf) and sad when she decided to quit travel. If all you care about is the money and possible return then don't do it. If you want to make lasting memories and watch your child enjoy being a part of something then do it. If you do it, as soon as your child says they are done don't push them to keep going or you will loose what was gained. Just MHO.

TLDR; It's not worth the cost but memories and bonding last a life time and are priceless.

You mean like John smoltz?

You should read his driving threads....

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As I’m a travel baseball coach, I’ll speak from our side since the unathletic masses don’t get it and I’m sure I’ll be “wrong” in some way shape or form.

Majority of people elect to play travel ball because of competition. I could take my team and let them play in a local YMCA league, win every game 25-0, get no better at the game, hear other unathletic parents kids complain about losing to us, which in return makes the whole thing miserable for everyone.

If your kid is better than the typical ymca player and can afford to travel, why does it matter?

Out of the 12 I coach, 2-3 of them will probably get scholarships which is great. They love the game, the parents love the game, and it’s a win win for everyone. If I take those same 2-3 kids and stick them in ymca, what does it do for them? 90% of those kids can’t even hold a bat correctly much less play at an advanced level.

On the flip side, I do realize some parents do it for social status or think their kid is the next Mike Trout. To each their own, and if they want to blow their money, then let them. If they’re too stupid to realize it, that’s on them.

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I read this in the voice of that coach from old animated Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. Even pictured him with the antlers, baseball cap and whistle.

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Not debatable. You would have to make 12 to 14 percent on the 529 every year to come close to matching a scholarship at a top school. Doubt that is going to happen.

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You are not considering the odds of even getting a scholarship. Even if you just put your travel ball money in a jar earning nothing your kid will be starting college with more money than 98% of those that played travel ball hoping to get a scholarship to fund their education. The odds of even playing at a D1 school are only 2%, the odds of getting a scholarship are less than that. Scholarship is really a deceptive term for what you get since the average D1 player has to devote about 40 hours a week to playing ball. This is why so many student athletes never graduate, or graduate with less rigorous degrees like physical education instead of engineering, Its not that they are not smart, they just don't have time to do the work necessary to succeed in more challenging curriculums.

LINK

Don’t forget. Baseball and softball are partial scholarships.

You must work with my buddy at a car dealership. My buddy has two daughters and that is all they do. Travel to softball tourneys every weekend. Sometimes split up at different tourneys.

Another buddy had a son that played travel ball for 6-7 years. Had one surgery on his elbow as a freshman in high school and another one later on. Now he just goes to Southeastern. No ball