Travel ball with no Sundays?

[bjenkins24]

So my family has chosen to not do Sunday games. My daughter is pretty into softball and it really seems like the next step is travel ball, but from what I can tell that really isn't an option unless we're willing to do Sunday games. I figure we're just out of luck unless we just do the Sunday games, so figure we would just be in rec for the long haul.

I haven't been in the travel ball world, so I really don't know how it all works, but from what I can tell it's just weekend tournaments constantly. Is there any thing like league play that would be during the week and a Saturday? Just wondering if there's any way to start my own travel ball team and don't schedule the weekend tournaments or if that's unlikely to work too. Figure I wouldn't get a lot of good players if we weren't playing the big tournaments. We're in southern California if that helps.

Pretty sure I know what the answers will be, but figured I'd throw it out there if anyone had any thoughts.

 

[Lightning]

I think you're going to have a hard time avoiding playing on Sundays. You'll be able to find some one-day tournaments but these tournaments don't always attract the strongest teams.

I have known two softball families who do not play on Sundays. One family played rec until their girls were high-school aged and then the girls only played high school ball. The dad was a great coach and he really helped elevate the rec league, and his girls were stars at their school.

The other family had their daughter join a team with a larger roster with the understanding that she would not be available to play or practice on Sundays. She got some playing time, but not being available on Sundays limited her opportunities because the coaches wanted to focus more on the girls who would be there for bracket play. She didn't last too long in travel ball, unfortunately.

 

[Lance Steckler]

travel ball is mostly summer tournaments and usually Fri-Sun or just Sat &Sunday. Not playing Sundays is really going to limit opportunities.

Let me ask, is there any reason why you couldn't do church other times during the week? Or just not June and July sunday attendence.

 

[HunterMO]

Not playing Sundays as a whole can be done, but as others have said....is admittedly tough.

Depending on the program you join, they may not play every single weekend. If coming out of rec and joining a lower level travel program, they may only play a couple weekends out of the Summer.

Here, a lot of the local "travel" clubs play in a weeknight Rec/C-level league (usually double headers) and then maybe 2-3 weekend C-level tournaments over the Summer.

 

[Eric F]

From my experience with So Cal TB for the last 7 years, if you can't participate Sunday, you're probably better off not making the step to TB. It's not really something you can do only half way. As a coach, I would probably not to take a player with that kind of limitation on my team.

Also, in So Cal, TB isn't just summer. It's year-round, and will basically dictate the schedule of your family.

 

[Orange Socks]

We were pretty involved with our Church, and was able to do both TB and worship on Sundays. But yeah, we missed services when we played early games or were on the road. Now many churches have an online option. As a family we often times divided duties. Btw, TB is all year, not just Summers...unless we are talking Summer All stars. AS is a great starting point with a finite start and finish comprising of 5-6 tourneys.

If your DD excels as softball, don't hold her back because of your faith. I can't think of a better way to spend time with the family. Lots of windshield time spent with DD that I can never replace.

Have you seen Chariots of Fire? "When I run, I feel his pleasure." God made Eric Liddell fast.

 

[softball dad 6]

If religion is your reason I respect that but agree that tb is probably not an option. DD played with a girl whose family were Catholic They always looked at game times when we were out of town at tournaments and tried to make a service at a local church on Saturday or Sunday. It didn't always work out but I would say they managed to go roughly half the time. Everyone has to make their own choices and this seemed like a good compromise for them

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[Hawk_]

"rather be on the field thinking about God, than in church thinking about softball"

 

[NJZoo]

It's hard, but not impossible. In our area we have rec, town travel, and club. Many town travel teams will almost exclusively play a league schedule with games on weeknights and Saturdays against other town travel teams. You'll need to investigate teams in your area to see if you have that option. However, there will be a ceiling to the level of play that she can participate in. At the higher levels of play (more skilled), tournament play (Saturday and Sunday) is the standard. Good luck.

 

[YoungBuck]

Maybe it's already been stated... is she a pitcher ?