How much help should a Rec. league give?

[SoCal_Dad]

The unfortunate thing about ASA Nationals/Westerns is that it's a week-long commitment and many families coming out of the rec programs aren't prepared for that, especially when it comes to scheduling time off work and budgeting for an extra vacation.

It really depends on the league. Some leagues have several teams go every year, so those parents are more prepared - especially the older ones. However, after any team gets through their district playoff, they should be looking ahead. It looks like almost half the 32 teams at SoCal State qualified for Westerns.

Good luck to your team. With over 80 teams, it should be a good tournament...

To clarify, that's total for 10U and 12U combined.

 

[Rocketech1]

Congrats! At least you don't have airline travel. Last year we qualified for nationals in AZ and basically did all of the fundraising ourselves. Since we were are 10u team and most families hadn't done anything like this before they were highly motivated to solicit funds for 3 weeks. We raised enough money to cover all costs for every family and had money left over for a team party. It's a wonderful experience for the girls no matter what the cost. Look at it like a family vacation in beautiful Sacramento! One year they will host western nationals in a city that people will want to travel long distances to go to : ), but the is a separate thread. Good luck to your team.

 

[Mocoso]

Non profit leagues are made up of volunteers and for the benefit of ALL the girls. They should provide no monetary assistance for teams going to Nationals. They should facilitate the communication to league members of fundraiser etc. and make facilities available for such fundraisers.... Our league is very up front about the potential costs to participate in All Stars and the expected commitment from parents. There is enough drama with who makes it to all stars and who doesn't without adding monetary compensation into the mix. Personally I would be pissed if my league gave an all star team money for their personal expenses specially when every parent was told up front it may cost X amount of money, be sure you can commit to it before saying yes.