Your experience with extended summer travel spans (2weeks +)

[RubberBiscuit]

Hey y'all

Curious what your experience has been (14u and above) with travelling (being away from home) for two weeks or more?

I would like to hear it all, the good,the bad, the ugly, and the "amazing".

Our summer team appears to be scheduling three weekends in a row on a "tour of the south".

Like to see how others accomplished a trip like this.

Thx!!!

 

[InsidePitch]

Is that 3 weeks straight on the road? We were an hour plus out of town for 10 of 12 tourneys over the summer and 8-9 this fall at 18u. It's a grind. It costs a lot and wears out your car. I typically put more miles on the truck on the weekend.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

It should be about 2.5 weeks living from a motor home for the team (no parents). (Club gets the motorhome on discount from one of the families).

Reason I ask is that DD is 18G now BUT back in 14u we had an ambitious coach that said "hey let's do 2 different organizations nationals on back-to-back weekends".

This ended up really stratifying the team between those girls that had no boyfriends vs the ones that did. THe ones that had "the loves of their lives" just crumbled in the second week away from home and destroyed the team.

I am very concerned about this happening again.

Just looking to see if others had similar or other experiences with extended tourney-travel-time.

 

[InsidePitch]

Even a motor home based on a greyhound bus frame would get pretty cramped full of a teams worth of HS girls. Run away. Innocents could be injured or killed.

 

[starsnuffer]

This sounds more like a plot for an MTV "reality" show then it does a 18 gold fastpitch program.

-W

 

[Greenmonsters]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Don't know the player's ages, but IMO the last year of 18U should be more laid back and fun - a welcome break before they begin the rigors of college academics and softball.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Ya this will be a social experiment that I am nervous about. But it's representative of how a college team needs to get along too....right..?

And ya GM, I wanted the same easy going summer before college too - but DD wanted to dedicate the summer towards helping the other girls on the team get their college spots AND she wants to stay "playing the best". (the local "in-state" circuit here would not see top play...)

I guess I just wanted to hear some extended travel success stories here to get me thinking positive... Not happening yet ;-)

 

[InsidePitch]

Maybe clear something up. Are they staying in the RV or just using it to go from A to B and checking into a hotel.

I know a coach that used to run two 9 person vans all summer and the girls would load up and go but they had hotels to go to. They would stay gone 2-3 weeks at a time.

 

[James Smith]

I know a coach that used to run two 9 person vans all summer and the girls would load up and go but they had hotels to go to. They would stay gone 2-3 weeks at a time.

There are saints in the world, where do I sign my DD up?

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Maybe clear something up. Are they staying in the RV or just using it to go from A to B and checking into a hotel.

I know a coach that used to run two 9 person vans all summer and the girls would load up and go but they had hotels to go to. They would stay gone 2-3 weeks at a time.

Good point to clarify - the motorhome is for point A to Point B AND for air-conditioned rest inbetween games on tourney days. Nights once they get to their destination are in hotel.