- May 29, 2015
- 4,067
- 113
Don't get me wrong, you can "travel ball" on a budget. Like @Chilixa describes, this was the limitation we put on our daughters for softball and volleyball. It is what I would call "day trip ball" with maybe one bigger trip each season. We scrapped and pinched to make that happen (all of my umpiring money went back into that for years, all of my hotel points from work went back into that, etc.).
While we can say that is "cheap" compared to the teams that travel the country (at Atlanta last week, I overheard a parent conversation in which one family's softball budget was $40,000 for the season and they went over), it is still a significant barrier to entry to many. No child or family should have to pay burdensome costs just to see if their child might like the game. This is where community ball should play a crucial role.
Even just the cost to get into playing the game prevents many talented athletes from ever discovering it. There is a reason soccer and basketball are as popular as they are around the globe.
The problem is that organizations like the ones who will accept any team who can write the check are killing off community programs. The perception is out there that a kid MUST be on an 8u travel team (something that should NOT even exist, IMO) immediately, begin skill specific coaching at 5 years old, and that playing on a community team means you are no good.
Even Little League has begun to abandon its core values in an effort to remain relevant in the high visibility area of television viewership.
This is the White Flight of the sport. The only ability that matters to move to a travel team is the ability to write a check. In the mean time, valuable once thriving communities wilt and die with the "undesirables" left behind with it.
While we can say that is "cheap" compared to the teams that travel the country (at Atlanta last week, I overheard a parent conversation in which one family's softball budget was $40,000 for the season and they went over), it is still a significant barrier to entry to many. No child or family should have to pay burdensome costs just to see if their child might like the game. This is where community ball should play a crucial role.
Even just the cost to get into playing the game prevents many talented athletes from ever discovering it. There is a reason soccer and basketball are as popular as they are around the globe.
The problem is that organizations like the ones who will accept any team who can write the check are killing off community programs. The perception is out there that a kid MUST be on an 8u travel team (something that should NOT even exist, IMO) immediately, begin skill specific coaching at 5 years old, and that playing on a community team means you are no good.
Even Little League has begun to abandon its core values in an effort to remain relevant in the high visibility area of television viewership.
This is the White Flight of the sport. The only ability that matters to move to a travel team is the ability to write a check. In the mean time, valuable once thriving communities wilt and die with the "undesirables" left behind with it.