Younger kids and higher level of competition

[njparent]

We are having first thoughts of getting away from the town rec/travel scene and having 10u & 12u start looking at playing at a little more competitive level. They've gone to a few tryouts, and get offers from teams usually the evening after the tryout, or first day after a team has a batch of tryouts (helps they are both pitchers).

We've discussed in depth as a family. They are aware of what their commitment will be. Also letting them know either way is correct and there is no wrong decision with staying with town, or going with a more competitive travel team.

Being new to this two concerns I have are costs and burnout (not only them, but me...). When I see what these teams are charging for a year I kind of get floored. I know it's a business and all, but is $3000-$4000 a year (fall tournaments, winter training, spring/summer tournaments) an average normal amount? Trying to justify that it's 16-18 tournaments, 2 practices a week, and 2 winter workouts indoors a week for 8 weeks, so maybe it's not that far off? And then that is 16-18 weekends, of possible 8 AM games, getting them there by 7, up by 5:30...

Please, any learnings you can share into your entry into higher level travel ball would be appreciated. In my area there are just town teams, or a very few within driving distance travel ball teams that I would consider (there are some of the National chains, but feel they are way beyond what we are looking at for now).

 

[_MIA_]

We are having first thoughts of getting away from the town rec/travel scene and having 10u & 12u start looking at playing at a little more competitive level. They've gone to a few tryouts, and get offers from teams usually the evening after the tryout, or first day after a team has a batch of tryouts (helps they are both pitchers).

We've discussed in depth as a family. They are aware of what their commitment will be. Also letting them know either way is correct and there is no wrong decision with staying with town, or going with a more competitive travel team.

Being new to this two concerns I have are costs and burnout (not only them, but me...). When I see what these teams are charging for a year I kind of get floored. I know it's a business and all, but is $3000-$4000 a year (fall tournaments, winter training, spring/summer tournaments) an average normal amount? Trying to justify that it's 16-18 tournaments, 2 practices a week, and 2 winter workouts indoors a week for 8 weeks, so maybe it's not that far off? And then that is 16-18 weekends, of possible 8 AM games, getting them there by 7, up by 5:30...

Please, any learnings you can share into your entry into higher level travel ball would be appreciated. In my area there are just town teams, or a very few within driving distance travel ball teams that I would consider (there are some of the National chains, but feel they are way beyond what we are looking at for now).

A) As crazy as sounds, that price tag for a full year for what it entails isn’t bad especially in the Northeast where things tend to be more expensive. Are they planning on playing tournaments which require hotel stays? If so add on another 1000-2000 depending on how many there are. Are uniforms included in the price tag? Are you paying coaches and if so is that included?

B) If your kids love ball they will likely enjoy it, especially at that age. I’ve been around a lot of tournaments the last 6 years and while I see some parents dragging as$, I rarely see kids who don’t seem to want to be there. They get to hang out with their friends all day while playing ball..

C) As I alluded to in B) if you as a parent enjoy doing adult things on the weekend more then once or twice a summer you are going to have to adjust your life

 

[GunnerShotgun]

It's not an investment it's a lifestyle choice in my opinion. You can find anything from $1,000 at the "A" level to $5000+, depending on what you are looking for and where you live.

With your daughters being pitchers you can be picky in what you seek. There are more teams than pitchers.

 

[Orange Socks]

We are having first thoughts of getting away from the town rec/travel scene and having 10u & 12u start looking at playing at a little more competitive level. They've gone to a few tryouts, and get offers from teams usually the evening after the tryout, or first day after a team has a batch of tryouts (helps they are both pitchers).

We've discussed in depth as a family. They are aware of what their commitment will be. Also letting them know either way is correct and there is no wrong decision with staying with town, or going with a more competitive travel team.

Being new to this two concerns I have are costs and burnout (not only them, but me...). When I see what these teams are charging for a year I kind of get floored. I know it's a business and all, but is $3000-$4000 a year (fall tournaments, winter training, spring/summer tournaments) an average normal amount? Trying to justify that it's 16-18 tournaments, 2 practices a week, and 2 winter workouts indoors a week for 8 weeks, so maybe it's not that far off? And then that is 16-18 weekends, of possible 8 AM games, getting them there by 7, up by 5:30...

Please, any learnings you can share into your entry into higher level travel ball would be appreciated. In my area there are just town teams, or a very few within driving distance travel ball teams that I would consider (there are some of the National chains, but feel they are way beyond what we are looking at for now).

The gateway drug for Travel is Summer Allstars. Have y'all been down that avenue? Play 5 or 6 tourneys to get a feel for what this animal is like. There are different smells and sounds at a tourney vs Rec league on Tuesday night. That's how many of us got hooked.

 

[_MIA_]

The gateway drug for Travel is Summer Allstars. Have y'all been down that avenue?

Our rec league didn’t have all stars.

 

[Orange Socks]

Our rec league didn’t have all stars.

Blasphemous!!! Sounds like it was WRECK league.

 

[_MIA_]

Blasphemous!!! Sounds like it was WRECK league.

As I was leaving for TB I told the powers that be that if they wanted to keep kids in the league longer they needed to have All Stars…Six years later nothing has changed.

 

[Orange Socks]

I really enjoyed our 5 Summers of All Star ball. We put up with rec league just so we could play Summer AS.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I really enjoyed our 5 Summers of All Star ball. We put up with rec league just so we could play Summer AS.

We always played LL so we could participate in All-Stars. In fact, one of my daughter's players is in LL Regionals in Connecticut right now after winning the NYS championship. They're 2-0, and two wins away from going to the WS.

 

[Vertigo]

Our All-Star team wound up forming a “travel lite” team at 10U. At the end of our first year minors season, all the players in minors and majors were invited to try out for the All-Star teams. The players were then ranked and the top 12 players in each division made All-Stars and then were invited to play on the “travel team“ the following fall. If they turned the spot down, we would just move down the list until we had 12 players. We wound up having enough interest to field 3 travel teams - 10U, 11U, and 12U. While the players were all from our LL, the travel team was a separate entity and charged it’s own fees which was only about $350 per season. The stipulation was that rec ball came 1st and any tournaments we entered could not occur on the same days as rec games. We played in maybe 3-4 tournaments in the spring and had to be done before the new All-Star teams were selected.

Forming those teams definitely helped to keep our better players in LL longer, and was a nice stepping stone for those who wanted to move on to real TB after they aged out of our LL.