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re: Kirk Herbstreit slams Travel Ball culture
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:41 pm to Lgrnwd
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:41 pm to Lgrnwd
8u to 12u was a hot mess. Coach drama, parent drama, it was generally unhealthy. My fault was staying on a team solely because we had friends (parents) on the team and my son had friends on the team. 13u we played on a team with a coach who picked kids with talent, but were solid young men. It was a completely different experience. We were good and zero drama. Went from AA to AAA. That didn't mean other teams didn't act a donkey, but it was a lot easier to deal with when our parents just sort of ignored stupid behavior.
This fall we have a new coach, half the kids stayed on the team and we added 5 more kids. The same environment exists. Both coaches (13u and 14u) played D1 Baseball and are very laid back. Expect a lot from the kids, but don't scream like psychopaths when little Johnny doesn't do something right.
Play on a team with solid coaches, parents are rational adults and play on a team where your kid gets better. The stupidity that is travel ball is much easier to handle, or at least it is from my perspective on a solid team with good parents.
This fall we have a new coach, half the kids stayed on the team and we added 5 more kids. The same environment exists. Both coaches (13u and 14u) played D1 Baseball and are very laid back. Expect a lot from the kids, but don't scream like psychopaths when little Johnny doesn't do something right.
Play on a team with solid coaches, parents are rational adults and play on a team where your kid gets better. The stupidity that is travel ball is much easier to handle, or at least it is from my perspective on a solid team with good parents.
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Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:41 pm to jmorr34
quote:
Damn this topic is beat to death.
My son plays tournament ball because he wanted better competition, period. Majority of kids that do play tournament/travel also just play local tournaments +- 50 miles, with maybe 1 big travel tournament each year which doubles as a vacation. His dues are about $1600 a year and that includes use of fields for practices, entry to 10 tournaments (around 40 games give or take), team balls/gear, insurance, etc... Pretty small price to pay in my opinion. His gear will be the same whether he plays rec or travel/tournament. Games generally start in March end first week in June. He also plays both football and basketball at the moment. He loves sports and is competitive in nature.
impossible...i was told every coach made tens of thousands from the teams...impossible!!!!
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:42 pm to lsu777
quote:
well im around a lot more than you are and with the ones im around its like 99%
You have no idea what their financial outlook is
quote:
you have a fricking accountant degree, dont kid yourself.
Two actually, which is irrelevant, but since we’re talking about, that’s more than you. So just on objective measures, I win this one
quote:
and ive said....you dont have to participate
My entire point is you kind of do, which is stupid and unnecessary
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:43 pm to Mingo Was His NameO
quote:But of course you do
You have no idea what their financial outlook is
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:43 pm to lsu777
quote:
.i was told every coach made tens of thousands from the teams
No you weren’t
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:44 pm to DownshiftAndFloorIt
The irony about this topic is seeing how a couple of travel ball parents posting here are blinded by what the vast majority of posters are saying.
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:45 pm to lsupride87
quote:
But of course you do
On a specific basis, I do not, nor have I ever claimed to do so.
But I’m also not the one claiming “99%” of the people I know are statistical anomalies.
While living in an area that is ABOVE the averages
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:46 pm to Lake08
quote:The travel ball parents on here:
The irony about this topic is seeing how a couple of travel ball parents posting here are blinded by what the vast majority of posters are saying.
The system sucks
Our kids play multiple sports
Just want our kids to have a chance to play high school
You :
Lololo everyone thinks junior is Aaron judge and play baseball year round
This post was edited on 8/11/25 at 12:48 pm
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:49 pm to lsu777
quote:
ok what if i only had 1 kid??
what if every kid plays travel?
the dad going hunting every weekend in the fall is that not disrupting the family schedule? what about golf every weekend and driving range in the afternoon?
how is what you quoted not the same? when the dad leaves the kids with the mom and goes hunts every morning and afternoon in season...how is that not the same?
and sure you can do less, what you choose as a family(which i said 100 times already) should match your families commitment level.
and what are you going to do when they get to HS...lets say they do make the team....or just play football where they have saturday morning film, sunday afternoon walk through, practice every day, friday night games?
what about the mandatory summer workouts every single day, many times 2x per day?
if you dont want to be a sports family....im ok with that, especially if your kid is not extremely passionate about it.
if downshift has a kid who absolutely loves fishing and hunting and doesnt want to play sports and they spend every weekend pursuing that...im good with that. im not ever going to criticize that.
but non sports parents who party every weekend and leave their kids at home or who hunt and fish or golf every weekend fricking love to chirp at parents of sports kids. Or just like in this thread...parents of kids who arent as good love to chirp at the parents of the kids who are good.
this whole thread is non travel ball parents criticizing parents of kids who play travel ball.
I'm not saying not to do it, I literally said do what's best for your family, but this type of setup was not for me. We all got to choose what's best for our families and I don't think this would be something I would ever choose if I was in this situation. I am not telling people not to do it though, it's your kid and family.
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:53 pm to Gaston
quote:
Well that’s just insane. Sorry buddy…I know you had big dreams and did everything to make them come true…but I feel like a trip to Tuolumne is a better use of your time. You can just do it at a community college instead.
Letting your kid fail and not getting to do certain opportunities are a big part of parenting when done in the right environment.
Community college is more than a lot of these travel ball kids will ever experience.
Most of them are burnt out before they even get to high school.
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:55 pm to Lgrnwd
Youth sports is like driving on the Interstate. Anybody going faster than you is a crazy psycho and anybody driving slower than you is a slacker and getting in the way.
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:56 pm to Mingo Was His NameO
quote:
You have no idea what their financial outlook is
we werent talking finance, at least we werent...we were talking balanced outlook i.e. not thinking their kid is going pro or to an SEC school kind of thing and not flying all over the country
quote:
Two actually, which is irrelevant, but since we’re talking about, that’s more than you. So just on objective measures, I win this one
never claimed to have a masters but im also not the one acting like im hot shite with an iq over 150 because of an accounting degree.
quote:
My entire point is you kind of do, which is stupid and unnecessary
i just specifically laid out how you can do it with only playing rec at least until 13 because there arent many rec leagues after 12 in the state and you need game reps. but it takes the type of sacrifice and effort from the parent 99% dont have
This post was edited on 8/11/25 at 1:01 pm
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:58 pm to lsu777
quote:
we werent talking finance, at least we werent...we were talking balanced outlook
In direct response to my comment on them not being financially balanced
Damn
Posted on 8/11/25 at 12:59 pm to Dam Guide
My son did travel soccer and quit after his freshman year of HS…Pretty sure he hasn’t kicked a soccer ball since then…loved it until he didn’t. We probably all played some role in that loss of interest. I thought he wanted to play for the US national team, he didn’t.
This post was edited on 8/11/25 at 1:09 pm
Posted on 8/11/25 at 1:02 pm to Marciano1
quote:
I do agree that the "culture" sucks arse. We really can't compete with the true travel teams because they play every damn weekend all over the place. The players and parents are entitled douches
My kid plays high school ball now, and he will probably never be a starter.
Ask me how I feel now about all the stress and heartache we spent on baseball while he was a little boy.
If your kid is a great athlete, then he doesn’t need to play ball all year to be good enough for the high school team, and if he isn’t a great athlete, then all of those innings are mostly a waste of time.
Posted on 8/11/25 at 1:02 pm to BugAC
quote:you thought this was some gotcha but all you are doing is proving his point. Yes, I would say at least 95% of them or more played travel ball
So, 38,850 NCAA baseball players and 100% of them are travel ball kids
Posted on 8/11/25 at 1:07 pm to Lake08
quote:
The irony about this topic is seeing how a couple of travel ball parents posting here are blinded by what the vast majority of posters are saying.
nobody is blinded...pretty much everyone has said specifically the system sucks, especially for those that arent truely elite but that its the system that is in place that pretty much allows you to have any chance to play HS ball
Do i want to spend the money i do on travel? frick no, i been blessed enough i can afford it but I dont like it
Do i want to spend the time i do on travel? frick no, been blessed to be able to have the time and ability to allow them to pursue it but i dont like it. Rather be golfing or fishing.
Do i want my kids to have the chance to pursue their passions at the expense of my own hobbies? yea i do
DO i want to make the decision for them that they cant play HS baseball at 8 or 9...no I dont. So I allow them to have the chance until the day they say they want to quit, their choice not mine. and they chose to play travel, not me.
i dont think you will find many travel parents that love the system and are blind to the system...not at all
but you also have a bunch of people that comment and criticize based on 2nd, 3rd and even 4th hand accounts that have zero experience in travel.
to sum it up...most TB parents just want their kids to pursue their passions and if the kid wants, have a chance to play HS ball. thats it.
Posted on 8/11/25 at 1:08 pm to lsu777
quote:
but you also have a bunch of people that comment and criticize based on 2nd, 3rd and even 4th hand accounts that have zero experience in travel.
And the ones with 1st hand experience you just ignore or dismiss because you don’t like it
Posted on 8/11/25 at 1:09 pm to Earnest_P
quote:
My kid plays high school ball now, and he will probably never be a starter.
Ask me how I feel now about all the stress and heartache we spent on baseball while he was a little boy.
If your kid is a great athlete, then he doesn’t need to play ball all year to be good enough for the high school team, and if he isn’t a great athlete, then all of those innings are mostly a waste of time.
so you are telling me...he couldnt identify his weakness(which is prolly, size, bat speed and throwing velo and running speed) and spend the next 6 months training 4 hours a day to improve those weaknesses and be a starter?
and travel baseball in and of itself is just for game reps against better competition. you get better with individual work.
Posted on 8/11/25 at 1:10 pm to Mingo Was His NameO
quote:
And the ones with 1st hand experience you just ignore or dismiss because you don’t like it
who?
i didnt dismiss any of them. just like the poster above saying his kid prolly wont ever start. Just because you play travel ball doesnt mean you will be good.
in fact i specifically said...if you are still in AA ball at 12 or 13 and even if you are in AAA and not one of the better kids on the team...you may want to reevaluate.
i said that 3 times already in this thread. nobody is ignoring any
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