Travel ball- how necessary? (1 Viewer)

[Don't Noonan]

Just putting this out there, but the offseason tryout process is brutal.  My son has attended two different tryouts so far and both were extreme opposites.  One had a plan, but the kids moved from station to station in a single group.  They had left handed players doing the same drill as right handed players (fielding as a SS and throwing to 1B - when does a Lefty play SS?).  Then cattle-called to run bases.  Then cattle-called to field flyballs.  It was a long and exhausting tryout and I just watched.  The other tryout was a mix of stations with smaller groups that ended in a scrimmage between players to see how they react to live hitting in their primary spots.  I thought this was at least interesting and would result in actual exposure to what the kids can do during a game.  

It's our first time at tryouts, so all of this is new to me and my son.  He seemed to like the scrimmage style because "it felt more like baseball".  The downside is that these coaches tell you they are looking for 2-3 players and that they'll reach out in 24-48hrs after the tryout - then you hear nothing from them.  My son felt he did well, but keeps asking me if anyone has called yet.  He's told me he isn't nervous about things, but it's constantly on his mind.  He's 13 now.  I can only imagine what HS tryouts will be like.  But at least then the coaches will tell you up front if you made the cut. 

The travel team coaches seem to shy away from those "hard" conversations, from what I've seen so far.  My son has asked me if he could have done anything different.  Is it a bad idea to reach out to a coach to say "Thanks for giving my son an opportunity to tryout.  Do you have any feedback that may help him grow/improve as a player?"  I'm assuming no contact means the boy is not what they are looking for, which is fine.  I'd just like to offer my son some type of closure so he can move on, instead of him constantly waiting and asking.

I coached my son's 13u club baseball team here in Arizona this year and have been coaching this team for the past three years as well.  We hold a tryout every August since our season begins in September.  I reach out to every parent on the phone within 24 hours to let them know if their son made the team.  Most of the calls are difficult since they often are disappointed.  However, I feel they deserve a personal call and I let them know what I feel they can improve on.

 

[Peak]

I coached my son's 13u club baseball team here in Arizona this year and have been coaching this team for the past three years as well.  We hold a tryout every August since our season begins in September.  I reach out to every parent on the phone within 24 hours to let them know if their son made the team.  Most of the calls are difficult since they often are disappointed.  However, I feel they deserve a personal call and I let them know what I feel they can improve on.

That's how I thought it should be handled as well.  Really odd that we haven't heard from anyone yet after 48hrs.  One of his friends invited him to go to another tryout next week.  We'll see if it's a coach/team thing, or if it's a SW Ohio thing where feedback is frowned upon.

 

[Gally]

Just putting this out there, but the offseason tryout process is brutal.  My son has attended two different tryouts so far and both were extreme opposites.  One had a plan, but the kids moved from station to station in a single group.  They had left handed players doing the same drill as right handed players (fielding as a SS and throwing to 1B - when does a Lefty play SS?).  Then cattle-called to run bases.  Then cattle-called to field flyballs.  It was a long and exhausting tryout and I just watched.  The other tryout was a mix of stations with smaller groups that ended in a scrimmage between players to see how they react to live hitting in their primary spots.  I thought this was at least interesting and would result in actual exposure to what the kids can do during a game.  

It's our first time at tryouts, so all of this is new to me and my son.  He seemed to like the scrimmage style because "it felt more like baseball".  The downside is that these coaches tell you they are looking for 2-3 players and that they'll reach out in 24-48hrs after the tryout - then you hear nothing from them.  My son felt he did well, but keeps asking me if anyone has called yet.  He's told me he isn't nervous about things, but it's constantly on his mind.  He's 13 now.  I can only imagine what HS tryouts will be like.  But at least then the coaches will tell you up front if you made the cut. 

The travel team coaches seem to shy away from those "hard" conversations, from what I've seen so far.  My son has asked me if he could have done anything different.  Is it a bad idea to reach out to a coach to say "Thanks for giving my son an opportunity to tryout.  Do you have any feedback that may help him grow/improve as a player?"  I'm assuming no contact means the boy is not what they are looking for, which is fine.  I'd just like to offer my son some type of closure so he can move on, instead of him constantly waiting and asking.

Baseball tryouts are probably one of the most difficult tryouts to put on.  There are so many aspects of the game that can't be mimicked in drill form that really contribute to a player's overall skills for the game. 

Generally you want to just see a kid move and throw and see how they handle themselves under a pressure situation.  Having a scrimmage is good if you have enough pitching/kids to be able to do that.  At the younger ages this sometimes becomes a problem because if you aren't throwing strikes (or striking everyone out) then the game bogs down for the purposes of evaluation.  Then you have to go to a machine or BP pitcher which sometimes is a problem in itself. 

Bottom line a baseball tryout is to get an idea if a kid stands out.  Does he hustle to every station?  Does he put his head down and have bad body language after a mistake?  Is he smart enough to see what is going on in the drill and do what is required?  Does he warm up properly (not screw around and use bad mechanics)?  Does his basic mechanics look solid and does he seem coachable?  Those are the things that I look for in an evaluation process. 

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

My one son who still plays baseball has been through the entire gamut.   From T-Ball to Highly Competitive High School Baseball. 

Tryouts for AAA - Majors Teams in Oklahoma - Coaches are usually only looking for 1 or 2 kids that are stud athletes who don't need much coaching.  If a kid comes with a nice resume of playing at a high level it helps their chances tremendously.   Also helps if the parents are not bat #### crazy. 

My son played on the team that represent Oklahoma in the Little League World Series.   Probably 50 kids trying out for 15 spots. 

Largest high school in Oklahoma.  Graduate over 1400 kids a year.  

Tryouts for HS BALL:

Run a 60 yard dash looking for 7.5 or less. 

Field around 5 balls for infielders, outfielders get a few popfly balls. 

Catchers - Looking for "pop time" and fielding bunts. 

Hitting - each kid got 5 balls to hit that were probably thrown around 80 mph.  

We had 51 already on the team consisting of  Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. 

Looking for around 9 to 10 kids out of the 90 plus kids trying out which consisted of transfers, incoming freshmen, and older kids who were cut from team or didn't make it in an earlier in year.  

Yeah it is tough. 

 

[dgreen]

Anyone here start their own club/travel team/organization? Anyone here currently run one? There just isn't a middle ground for volleyball clubs where I live. Either you pay way too much money and travel way too much and commit too much time in order to get to play good competition or you go the cheap route and play horrible competition. My ideal would be a way for decent players to play against decent competition without it taking over their lives and parents' bank accounts. So I had a crazy thought, "What would it take to start my own?" Immediately I thought of finding a coach, securing a practice facility, equipment, and insurance (right?). Am I missing something major? Would love to hear from anyone here who has experience with this.

ETA: Not surprisingly, a quick Google search indicates there's a lot more to this.

 

[Gally]

Anyone here start their own club/travel team/organization? Anyone here currently run one? There just isn't a middle ground for volleyball clubs where I live. Either you pay way too much money and travel way too much and commit too much time in order to get to play good competition or you go the cheap route and play horrible competition. My ideal would be a way for decent players to play against decent competition without it taking over their lives and parents' bank accounts. So I had a crazy thought, "What would it take to start my own?" Immediately I thought of finding a coach, securing a practice facility, equipment, and insurance (right?). Am I missing something major? Would love to hear from anyone here who has experience with this.

We started our own travel ball team when my kid 9.  Our area is pretty small and our local little league was terrible (both organization and talent level).  At the time we had about 10 kids all of the same age that were decent players and we thought it would be nice to get some added tournaments after the little league season.  We talked to the parents and tried it out for 3 tournaments.  The kids improved more in those three tournaments then they did in the whole little league season.  After those tournaments all of the parents wanted to continue and not play in the local little league.  So we looked into what it would take.

Luckily we had access to a field for no cost so that was a big savings.  We were able to reserve it for practices.  I also had a batting cage in my back yard so we could practice there as well.  We looked into some team insurance (relatively cheap and easy to get...just look on line and you will find lots of choices).   We got cheap uniforms and started up the following season.   We split all the costs evenly between the 10 families and it came to about $500 per kid to play.  We started practicing in late February/Early March and played about 2 tournaments a month.  We stayed "local" for the most part and played within a 45 min to 90 min radius.  We occasionally went to out of town tournaments that required hotels.  Each family was responsible for their own accommodations.  We went from early March to the middle of August and then stopped to allow kids to play other sports.  We got about 50 games in a year.  On average we practiced 2-3 times a week. 

It was fairly easy as we had a relatively good group of parents.  Only a couple dust ups and those parents decided not to continue so we found a couple fills ins.  We did this through their age 13 season (just this last year).  So all told we did it for about 4 years with 8 of the original 10 players playing the whole time.  We averaged about 11 players per tournament. 

Our costs were $500 a kid times 11 kids and that covered tournaments, a new uniform/hat every year, and insurance costs.  We also did some minimal fundraising (basically parents looking for sponsers) and probably raised $6K total over the course of the four years.   

The overall experience was good and the players developed head and shoulders over the other kids in the area that didn't play with us and continued playing little league.  We were not a top level team and everyone played most of every game.  We rotated positions so every kid knew how to play every position and were well rounded players.  We played some top level tournaments and were over matched but still competed.  Our overall record had about a 60% win percentage so our kids were always challenged to their abilities.  Each kid has the tools to play at the high school level if they so choose and nobody burned out because we didn't play 12 months a year.  Our goal was to develop their baseball skills while not letting it take over their life as well as teaching them life lessons.  I think we succeeded. 

The final year (13U) was this past year.  It was by far the most difficult as a coaching staff.  Some of the kids were full of teenager attitude and were quite lazy which brought down most of the other kids.  Out of the 11 players we had 3 or 4 that just didn't care, 3 or 4 that gave everything they had and 3 or 4 in the middle that got pulled each way at times.  I had hoped this would be the most fun year as the fundamental basics were there so now we could just develop speed and work ethic.  Unfortunately the kids wanted to just screw off.   We still competed but didn't do near as well as we did the previous year and by the end of the season the kids understood that they didn't work hard enough to get better and it showed in games.  10 out of the 11 kids are planning to continue playing in high school and it will be interesting to see if they mature enough to work hard enough to be as good as they could be. 

Overall it was a great experience and the kids greatly benefited skill and knowledge wise while not being shackled to one sport.  They are all in the upper echelon of kids in our area and should be key players in high school if they continue working.  It was not that expensive and relatively easy to run but like I said he had good parents.  That is by far the biggest to key to having a successful team.  Start by having a parents meeting for those interested and make sure everyone is on the same page as far as expectations.  That will be the key to being successful.  Good Luck.

 

[dgreen]

@Gally

Thanks. Great info.

Did you join a league? If so, what was that process/cost like? If not, how were able to enter tournaments?

Did you create a legal organization? Non-profit? Or was this "off the books" and parents just agreed to chip in?

Did you consult with other organizations to find out what it would take? If so, how open were they to share information to someone that was sort of trying to compete with them?

 

[Bull Dozier]

My one son who still plays baseball has been through the entire gamut.   From T-Ball to Highly Competitive High School Baseball. 

Tryouts for AAA - Majors Teams in Oklahoma - Coaches are usually only looking for 1 or 2 kids that are stud athletes who don't need much coaching.  If a kid comes with a nice resume of playing at a high level it helps their chances tremendously.   Also helps if the parents are not bat #### crazy. 

My son played on the team that represent Oklahoma in the Little League World Series.   Probably 50 kids trying out for 15 spots. 

Largest high school in Oklahoma.  Graduate over 1400 kids a year.  

Tryouts for HS BALL:

Run a 60 yard dash looking for 7.5 or less. 

Field around 5 balls for infielders, outfielders get a few popfly balls. 

Catchers - Looking for "pop time" and fielding bunts. 

Hitting - each kid got 5 balls to hit that were probably thrown around 80 mph.  

We had 51 already on the team consisting of  Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. 

Looking for around 9 to 10 kids out of the 90 plus kids trying out which consisted of transfers, incoming freshmen, and older kids who were cut from team or didn't make it in an earlier in year.  

Yeah it is tough. 

My high school senior is going to a PBR rating workout later this month.  I'm curious to see if this is essentially what he is going to go through and get rated on.  He's really only hoping to play some DIII ball somewhere next year, so no scholarships are going to be based on this.  But it is interesting to see the process never really changes, in that what the kids go through never really changes from level to level.  And to my untrained eye it is really not enough to judge.

That said, I can do a basketball tryout and make assessments based on five minutes of kids going through a layup line (don't need to see anything else).  Maybe these baseball guys don't need to see anything else either.

 

[Gally]

@Gally

Thanks. Great info.

Did you join a league? If so, what was that process/cost like? If not, how were able to enter tournaments?

Did you create a legal organization? Non-profit? Or was this "off the books" and parents just agreed to chip in?

Did you consult with other organizations to find out what it would take? If so, how open were they to share information to someone that was sort of trying to compete with them?

There were leagues we could join if we wanted.  They were typically Sunday double header situations and they had various cost structures depending on how many games you wanted to play.  We did this a couple times on a week by week basis (which cost less total but more per game) to fill in games as needed.  Our goal was to get about 50 games a year and we were able to accomplish that fairly easily. 

Depending on the type of tournament (what organization was putting on the tournament) you had to "join" their organization.  Typically it was a single yearly fee (usually pretty cheap $50-$100) and show proof of insurance.  Once you did that you were eligible for their tournaments.  Each tournament had their own sets of rules (pitching limits, player roster rules, etc).  We weren't an academy type with multiple teams/rosters so it didn't really matter to us.  We had our standard roster with a couple fill in kids as needed. 

We looked into going the non-profit route for fundraising purposes but never did it.  We just collected a monthly fee ($100) from each kid for about 5 months and that covered our costs.  We did not do this for money making so we just wanted to cover our tournament costs.  We didn't even take money to cover our hotel rooms if we had out of town tournaments (I know a lot of teams that would do that for the coaches). 

We asked around to many of the tournament organizers and a couple of other teams to see what they did.  We were able to set up double header scrimmages this way with a few local teams and get extra games that way.  We didn't have issues getting info from the majority of people/coaches we dealt with.  There were a few teams who didn't have our same "values" (for lack of a better term) that we had some issues with occasionally at various tournaments but by in large we didn't have any problems.  We quickly learned what teams to stay away from just because they weren't worth the headache. 

It really depends what you are trying to do on how difficult it can become.  We were a local community team that were just trying to get a better baseball development opportunity than the local youth league could provide.  We weren't trying to be a nationally ranked high level team.  We just wanted an improved competition/development for our group of kids and it worked out really well and was relatively easy.  It helps that in California you could find a tournament every weekend of the year relatively close by at various skill levels.  That made finding games easy. 

I also cannot stress this enough...…..find good parents that are all on the same page as to what you are trying to do with the team.  If you have a few that want to win at all costs and that is not what you want then it will be miserable with dissention and accusations.  Or if you want a highly competitive winning is the most important thing team and you have parents that plan a family vacation when you have a big tourney and won't be there you will have problems that way too.  Everyone must be on the same page with regards to what you want out of the team or it will not work.

It also helps if you split responsibilities.  I didn't want the total responsibility because I didn't have the time (or desire really) so the manager took care of all the money/schedule etc.  I took care of on the field instruction and in game philosophy.  He took care of lineups.  We had a fairly nice split for what we each wanted and were best at.  It worked well.  It sounds like you want to get one organized more than actually doing the coaching.  That will be a big help if you can find a quality coach that matches your philosophies.  Being on the same page is the most important thing. 

I am not sure how volleyball works with regards to competition but we were able to find tournaments of all levels of play so that we were always challenged but not overmatched.  Our goal was to win about 60% of our games.  If you win 90% you are likely playing against too weak of talent and get nothing out of it.  If you are getting pummeled all the time it is frustrating and don't get anything out of it.  The key is to find similar talent so all games are competitive.  Win some lose some and learn how to deal with both sides with teaching life lessons.  We were successful in doing that.  We typically were on the cusp of the top bracket of most tournaments so if we played a little poorly on bracket day we were in the mid bracket as a higher seed and usually made championship games.  If we played a little better bracket day we were in the middle of the top bracket and usually had to play our best to get to the championship game.  We won tournaments and lost first games on bracket day.  But we were usually always competing.  That is important for development. 

 

[Gally]

My high school senior is going to a PBR rating workout later this month.  I'm curious to see if this is essentially what he is going to go through and get rated on.  He's really only hoping to play some DIII ball somewhere next year, so no scholarships are going to be based on this.  But it is interesting to see the process never really changes, in that what the kids go through never really changes from level to level.  And to my untrained eye it is really not enough to judge.

That said, I can do a basketball tryout and make assessments based on five minutes of kids going through a layup line (don't need to see anything else).  Maybe these baseball guys don't need to see anything else either.

You can usually tell who has talent and knows the fundamentals in just this amount of time and you can see how they handle stress.  With very few opportunities it is stressful and you get an opportunity to see if they get down on themselves.  Maturity and attitude are more important than raw talent to me. 

What you don't get to see is the players instinct for game play so you can miss out on the guys that make up for their lack of physical skills with game knowledge and intensity.  Sometimes this is more important that sheer skills.  A scrimmage is always the best tryout evaluation tool but it is usually not practical. 

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

I am sure that baseball and basketball is pretty easy to pick and choose based on what teams the players have already been on.   If Timmy is playing for  a high level travel team and the coach already knows said coach is only going to have studs it makes work easier.   

 

[dgreen]

It really depends what you are trying to do on how difficult it can become.  We were a local community team that were just trying to get a better baseball development opportunity than the local youth league could provide.  We weren't trying to be a nationally ranked high level team.  We just wanted an improved competition/development for our group of kids and it worked out really well and was relatively easy.  It helps that in California you could find a tournament every weekend of the year relatively close by at various skill levels.  That made finding games easy. 

I also cannot stress this enough...…..find good parents that are all on the same page as to what you are trying to do with the team.  If you have a few that want to win at all costs and that is not what you want then it will be miserable with dissention and accusations.  Or if you want a highly competitive winning is the most important thing team and you have parents that plan a family vacation when you have a big tourney and won't be there you will have problems that way too.  Everyone must be on the same page with regards to what you want out of the team or it will not work.

It also helps if you split responsibilities.  I didn't want the total responsibility because I didn't have the time (or desire really) so the manager took care of all the money/schedule etc.  I took care of on the field instruction and in game philosophy.  He took care of lineups.  We had a fairly nice split for what we each wanted and were best at.  It worked well.  It sounds like you want to get one organized more than actually doing the coaching.  That will be a big help if you can find a quality coach that matches your philosophies.  Being on the same page is the most important thing. 

Yeah, like I said, I'm annoyed (and my daughter, too) with the lack of a middle ground. She played a season of "travel" (which is all local "travel" stuff). It was super cheap but the competition was horrible. My daughter was on a HS team and most of their opponents were younger (some teams even had some elementary school girs!") club teams looking to challenge themselves to prep for tournaments. She then played a club season this year. Despite her playing on a scholarship (a $4,500 savings), we still ended up spending close $3,000. It was much better competition and she grew a lot as a player, but it was too much and she didn't like how much of her time it took. So, that's the motivation.

And agree about finding parents who are on the same page. I think it would be fairly easy to find some, but would probably need 10 girls. She has several friends and HS teammates who played the local "travel" league this year and it was the same disappointing set up where they had no competition. They didn't lose a set all season and almost every set was a blowout. I may reach out to a couple parents this week at their next HS game to see what they're looking for.

And, you're correct, I don't have interest in coaching. I don't know enough and I'm not that good at coaching anyway. Me as a head coach would be a disaster.

 

[Gally]

And agree about finding parents who are on the same page. I think it would be fairly easy to find some, but would probably need 10 girls. She has several friends and HS teammates who played the local "travel" league this year and it was the same disappointing set up where they had no competition. They didn't lose a set all season and almost every set was a blowout. I may reach out to a couple parents this week at their next HS game to see what they're looking for.

And, you're correct, I don't have interest in coaching. I don't know enough and I'm not that good at coaching anyway. Me as a head coach would be a disaster.

This is the exact situation that led to us starting our team.  We were only at 9 yrs old though.  I have no idea how the volleyball scene is but it sounds like you have a big hole in the middle of competition.  Baseball in California is huge and has any level of competition you want to find.  It takes awhile because some teams do sandbag to get the trophy and play below their level but for the most part you can eventually find the tournament directors and organizations that fit what you need.  I am not sure how volleyball is. 

As a start you may see about talking to the club organization your daughter played for outlining your concerns and letting them know you are looking into starting a team that fits the middle ground you described.  You can ask about tournament set ups and if there are tournaments based on level that hit the middle ground.  It sounds like your biggest obstacle may be that there just isn't enough opportunity at the middle level.  You may have stumbled on a real need and may have an opportunity to start something that fills a void.  I am sure there are a lot of girls in your situation that don't want the sport to be their life but are better than the people just starting out. 

You may not get the answers you are looking for from that organization but it doesn't hurt to ask. 

 

[[scooter]]

Anyone here start their own club/travel team/organization? Anyone here currently run one? There just isn't a middle ground for volleyball clubs where I live. Either you pay way too much money and travel way too much and commit too much time in order to get to play good competition or you go the cheap route and play horrible competition. My ideal would be a way for decent players to play against decent competition without it taking over their lives and parents' bank accounts. So I had a crazy thought, "What would it take to start my own?" Immediately I thought of finding a coach, securing a practice facility, equipment, and insurance (right?). Am I missing something major? Would love to hear from anyone here who has experience with this.

ETA: Not surprisingly, a quick Google search indicates there's a lot more to this.

I help out with my brother's club soccer team (U12 girls). He was in a similar situation, coaching a local rec league team and dominating the competition. He wanted to join a club but the closest club organization had a $1500 entry fee per player and would have required him to cut all of his rec-level players. So, he ended up joining a club from out of town which allowed him to keep his team intact while playing at a lower level of competition. They have a 10 game schedule in the fall, and then another 10 game schedule in the spring.

But club soccer has multiple levels of competition so it might not be applicable to your volleyball situation. (Our team plays in "Division 2" which honestly has some teams that are worse than the rec league.)

 

[dgreen]

I help out with my brother's club soccer team (U12 girls). He was in a similar situation, coaching a local rec league team and dominating the competition. He wanted to join a club but the closest club organization had a $1500 entry fee per player and would have required him to cut all of his rec-level players. So, he ended up joining a club from out of town which allowed him to keep his team intact while playing at a lower level of competition. They have a 10 game schedule in the fall, and then another 10 game schedule in the spring.

But club soccer has multiple levels of competition so it might not be applicable to your volleyball situation. (Our team plays in "Division 2" which honestly has some teams that are worse than the rec league.)

In my experience, volleyball mostly does tournaments at the older ages and doesn't have regular season schedules. Younger ages will sometimes compete in local "travel" leagues against older kids, which as I said before really sucks for the older kids. Volleyball tournaments have multiple levels. Ones I've seen are Open, American, USA, and Club; in that order (Open the highest level), I think.

Cheapest volleyball club I've seen is $1500 and they travel to 3-4 out-of-town tournaments (travel not included in the $1500) and do probably 8 local one-day tournaments. My daughter's club this past year was $5,000 (of which we only had to pay $500 since she played on a scholarship), $400 more for the backpack and jerseys, and then we probably paid around $2000+ for 8 out-of-town tournaments (including one in Denver - ridiculous) and another 8-10 one-day local tournaments. My daughter ended up having only 2-3 weekends off from mid December to end of May and one of those included a last-second Saturday tournament being added to the schedule that we skipped. The first one-day tournament ended up being on a Sunday where there was already about 6 inches of snow on the ground by 5 AM. We don't clear snow quickly here in the DC area. The tournament host (which happened to be our club owner) didn't cancel the tournament. We showed up at 7 AM on this Sunday after driving through several inches of snow on major roads to see that only three teams showed up (two of which were from our club). The owner didn't seem to understand why other clubs canceled and didn't come.

We like volleyball. We don't love volleyball.

 

[houston]

An old thread for sure, but hopefully will get some baseball eyes on it.

Who has been to Myrtle Beach for Triple Crown summer nationals in July? Looking for pros/cons, tips on where to stay etc. 

 

[jobarules]

Funny to read this thread now (I was the OP). My and my son's life has been consumed by travel ball and it was the best decision we ever made! He became a stud pitcher and 3rd basemen. We all made life long friends. Even if he didnt make his HS team it was worth the money for the memories and relationships built. We even created our own travel organization!

 

[Todem]

I coached 8U thru 16U Travel Ball, Middle School ball and summer showcase high school ball. We have life long memories.

My son is turning 17 this March and playing Varsity at Stoneman Douglas (2016 and 2021 7A National Champions). We are head deep into the College Recruiting journey. It has been a fun ride and it will probably continue at the collegiate level for him. He is a scrappy hard working high level middle infielder and can play OF as well. Just a tireless hard worker and I am proud of him. 

Travel Ball for us had plenty of ups and some downs along the way......but I ran a very tight ship with parents and had a manifesto I made every single parent sign to play on my teams. I have cut studs because I had zero tolerance for any BS on and off the field from the players and especially from the few toxic parents who broke the manifesto rules I laid out. 

My job was to prepare their son’s for high school ball (starting at 13U I made that shift in terms of expectations going higher with practice and dedication and loyalty to our program). And I did my job. I have almost 2 dozen young men I coached playing at the high school level. Mission accomplished. More importantly they are all respectful and humble players who understand what it really is about. 

I know the horrors of travel ball all too well.....but if you find he right coaches and parents.....stay loyal and see it through. The memories are amazing. 

Cooperstown

Ripken in Myrtle

Disney at Wide World of Sports (AAU national Championships)

And now the high school summer circuit.....a lot of fun. (More fun than Spring high school ball).

Enjoy the ride Dads.......it goes by way too fast.

 

[jobarules]

I coached 8U thru 16U Travel Ball, Middle School ball and summer showcase high school ball. We have life long memories.

My son is turning 17 this March and playing Varsity at Stoneman Douglas (2016 and 2021 7A National Champions). We are head deep into the College Recruiting journey. It has been a fun ride and it will probably continue at the collegiate level for him. He is a scrappy hard working high level middle infielder and can play OF as well. Just a tireless hard worker and I am proud of him. 

Travel Ball for us had plenty of ups and some downs along the way......but I ran a very tight ship with parents and had a manifesto I made every single parent sign to play on my teams. I have cut studs because I had zero tolerance for any BS on and off the field from the players and especially from the few toxic parents who broke the manifesto rules I laid out. 

My job was to prepare their son’s for high school ball (starting at 13U I made that shift in terms of expectations going higher with practice and dedication and loyalty to our program). And I did my job. I have almost 2 dozen young men I coached playing at the high school level. Mission accomplished. More importantly they are all respectful and humble players who understand what it really is about. 

I know the horrors of travel ball all too well.....but if you find he right coaches and parents.....stay loyal and see it through. The memories are amazing. 

Cooperstown

Ripken in Myrtle

Disney at Wide World of Sports (AAU national Championships)

And now the high school summer circuit.....a lot of fun. (More fun than Spring high school ball).

Enjoy the ride Dads.......it goes by way too fast.

Do you happen to have a copy of that manifesto you can share?

 

[Todem]

Do you happen to have a copy of that manifesto you can share?

Holy Moly........I may have to see if I saved that thing. It has been 2 years since I made parents sign a manifesto. 

Let me see what I can find. 

 

[belljr]

An old thread for sure, but hopefully will get some baseball eyes on it.

Who has been to Myrtle Beach for Triple Crown summer nationals in July? Looking for pros/cons, tips on where to stay etc. 

What complex? We did it for softball

 

[belljr]

Funny to read this thread now (I was the OP). My and my son's life has been consumed by travel ball and it was the best decision we ever made! He became a stud pitcher and 3rd basemen. We all made life long friends. Even if he didnt make his HS team it was worth the money for the memories and relationships built. We even created our own travel organization!

Lol. This is good and bad. Around here there are so many organizations that are split because someone got upset so they created their own. Not saying this was you but it's not always positive

 

[GoBirds]

Started this adventure recently, good stuff. 

 

[jobarules]

Lol. This is good and bad. Around here there are so many organizations that are split because someone got upset so they created their own. Not saying this was you but it's not always positive

We did it to cut expenses and put the focus back on the kids. Our coaches dont make a dime. Started as one team. Now up to 6 teams. We charge around $1000 vs what other organizations charge (around $2k-$3k) around here and we don't cut kids if someone better comes along. Our goal is development and getting kids ready for HS. The focus isnt winning (although thats obviously nice). The guy who started it, his kid wasnt even on a travel team. I pulled my son off his original travel team because all the BS daddy ball and politics and expenses and put him with this organization because I trusted the guy running it. Then we expanded and I volunteered to take a team.

 

[belljr]

We did it to cut expenses and put the focus back on the kids. Our coaches dont make a dime. Started as one team. Now up to 6 teams. We charge around $1000 vs what other organizations charge (around $2k-$3k) around here and we don't cut kids if someone better comes along. Our goal is development and getting kids ready for HS. The focus isnt winning (although thats obviously nice). The guy who started it, his kid wasnt even on a travel team. I pulled my son off his original travel team because all the BS daddy ball and politics and expenses and put him with this organization because I trusted the guy running it. Then we expanded and I volunteered to take a team.

Thats how we started.  Well the organization we were in.

I posted my own thread.  Unfortunately, our team imploded this last off season so its been a hot mess.  Sucked too going into Junior year of HS.  The big recruiting year.  The team we are on was a great fall but we shall see. Hopefully the seniors dont blow off tournaments since they are all playing in college I hope not.  It was good to my daughter to grow but the close knit feel is gone

 

[Bluesbomber]

My nephew just got a baseball scholarship to Nebraska so it worked out for him.

 

[houston]

What complex? We did it for softball

North Myrtle Beach complex and/or Central Park

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

This will be the first baseball season since 2008 where I am not coaching or watching one of my kids play ball.  Very bittersweet.  My second youngest played for Buena Vista University at Shortstop' but this Fall (his senior year) he hurt his labrum and will miss out on his senior year.  So I went from looking forward to watching his last season to realizing his last season had already occurred.  It was a fun ride as a parent, coach and fan.  Now I just need to get the grandkids old enough to start coaching them or cheering them on.

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

This will be the first baseball season since 2008 where I am not coaching or watching one of my kids play ball.  Very bittersweet.  My second youngest played for Buena Vista University at Shortstop' but this Fall (his senior year) he hurt his labrum and will miss out on his senior year.  So I went from looking forward to watching his last season to realizing his last season had already occurred.  It was a fun ride as a parent, coach and fan.  Now I just need to get the grandkids old enough to start coaching them or cheering them on.

ETA - travel ball is great if you find the right organization and can avoid daddy ball or money grabs.  If your kid is playing significantly games more than practicing though you might want to question the motivation behind the team.  You get better through practice and games show the progress you have made through practice.  I have seen too many teams that practice hard before the season then never practice again in season.  It just doesn't make sense to me.

Also, encourage your players to be multi-sport athletes.  Too much focus on one sport can lead to burn out or injury caused by repetitive movements.

 

[PIK95]

It was like fifteen degrees and breezy at my sons 7pm-9:30pm outdoor soccer practice this week.  If you ever wanted to know what the temperature mark is, where it is to cold to practice, it's fifteen degrees apparently.  Coach sent them home forty five minutes early that night.  First time in years (ever?) he did that.  They usually practice when it's snowing, lol.  They looked horrible anyway.  My son said it was because nobody could feel their feet!

 

[belljr]

North Myrtle Beach complex and/or Central Park

We stayed at the OCean Reef Resort - a bit outdated but good location and large room upgrade available.

It was PACKED when we were there in July

 

[Charlie Steiner]

This will be the first baseball season since 2008 where I am not coaching or watching one of my kids play ball.  Very bittersweet.  My second youngest played for Buena Vista University at Shortstop' but this Fall (his senior year) he hurt his labrum and will miss out on his senior year.  So I went from looking forward to watching his last season to realizing his last season had already occurred.  It was a fun ride as a parent, coach and fan.  Now I just need to get the grandkids old enough to start coaching them or cheering them on.

Never coached but my boy started travel ball in '08 (actually, he played up on an 8U team as a 7 year old in '07, then was one of the older kids on his 8U team when a new coach took over the next year and moving forward) and is near the end as well; he just has his internship left but still has eligibility thanks to covid wrecking the last two seasons, so he's taking a class so that he can play one last time. I know I should just try to enjoy this last season, but the finality of it is also making me more emotional about it, and it won't even start for a couple more weeks.

I honestly believe I grew from the travel ball experience as much as my son did. He was lucky to have had a travel ball coach in those early developmental years who was focused on building skills and memories over worrying about winning, and my wife and I were lucky to have been with a group of parents who bought into that approach for so long, it really helped us collectively survive a lot of drama off the field as well as on it, and they were the embodiment of the slogan 'it takes a village to raise a child'.

Though I've only participated as a parent, I'd like to say that I know enough to have some weight behind my words in this matter, and encourage you to be ready to step in and coach your grandkids if you sense the situation they're going into isn't about building memories and skills, and in that order. 

 

[Todem]

Never coached but my boy started travel ball in '08 (actually, he played up on an 8U team as a 7 year old in '07, then was one of the older kids on his 8U team when a new coach took over the next year and moving forward) and is near the end as well; he just has his internship left but still has eligibility thanks to covid wrecking the last two seasons, so he's taking a class so that he can play one last time. I know I should just try to enjoy this last season, but the finality of it is also making me more emotional about it, and it won't even start for a couple more weeks.

I honestly believe I grew from the travel ball experience as much as my son did. He was lucky to have had a travel ball coach in those early developmental years who was focused on building skills and memories over worrying about winning, and my wife and I were lucky to have been with a group of parents who bought into that approach for so long, it really helped us collectively survive a lot of drama off the field as well as on it, and they were the embodiment of the slogan 'it takes a village to raise a child'.

Though I've only participated as a parent, I'd like to say that I know enough to have some weight behind my words in this matter, and encourage you to be ready to step in and coach your grandkids if you sense the situation they're going into isn't about building memories and skills, and in that order. 

Coaching baseball has been one of the most fulfilling things I have done in my life outside of raising my son. 

You are so correct about it needs to be about the development over the winning. But you are always going to have those bonehead programs that will win at any cost. 

I had good teams. Never stacked, and we earned everything. But that is what made it so great for the kids and parents. Winning games and tourneys we were not supposed to because everyone bought into the goals and the culture. It got to a point I unfortunately had to turn away players because we were full and rarely lost any players from 11U thru 14U. 

Once we got to 15U and 16U it changed a bit. The tone was a bit more serious and I had to take on a different animal of some parents having very unrealistic expectations of their kid’s college ball aspirations. Seems like a lot of parents think their kid is D1 material......ummmmm.

My first parent meeting for our first summer of high school showcase ball went something like this and we had 50% turnover from 14U to 15U. After our grand finale in regular travel ball at 14U in Myrtle Beach half the team went with my assistant coach who is a head coach at a high school those kids would attend. And that was a natural thing. He is a great coach too and I wished those players well. I kept 6 who were going to my sons high school and played for me on our Middle School Club team. I had relationships with several coaches on that staff and had fed them players for two years prior that I coached at Middle School which was right next door to the high school. 

With all that being said......I was very clear about expectations with summer ball. And the first thing I told my parents before we started the summer (2019).

7% of all high school ballplayers move on to the collegiate level......let me say that again. 7%. What does that mean?

500,000 high school players.....about 35K move on. And that number is between D1,D2,D3, NAIA and JUCO. 

That’s it.

So really understand.....it is not easy. And how many of those do you think are D1 material? How many get any scholarship money? You get the picture. 

So when I started hearing we need to be in the biggest and best tourney’s...blah blah blah blah....I said look. No one is coming to see your son play....unless you make the connections and relationships. I had no D1 bluechip prospects on my squad. I simply did not. I have some D2 level (my son is a D2 D3 or NAIA prospect 100%) some D3’s but no STUDS. And I made it clear to my parents the goal of the summer is to first of all have a lot of fun and play loose. High School ball at my sons school is intense...really intense. Nothing like what they ever had experienced. I wanted the summer season to be about getting a lot of quality reps vs good competitive teams and playing in mostly tournaments we can compete and have a chance at some success.

The best way to be seen......videos, emails to coaches and going to specific college prospect camps for schools your son has a realistic shot at playing for if that is the right fit academically and location as well. 

I had 80% buy in.....I cut the other 20% and replaced with players and parents who understood what our goals were for them.

Development above all else and having some fun playing ball in the summer where there is no pressure. Just go out and play and travel to some great locations and have a great time together as a team and the parents also having fun.

You are going to run into the The elite of elite teams sometimes.....there is our chance to potentially be seen. It happened to my son last summer. He had a fantastic game vs one of the 5 best 2023 teams in the country and got some traction with a few schools. So yeah....you want to play in at least one big tourney.

Not 5. 

You don't want to go out there and get your clocks cleaned. That is not fun. LOL.

Anyway.....great times. 

This is the second summer I am not coaching anymore and I have loved just sitting behind the fence. My time is done. Obviously I still work out with my own son and he enjoys that time we spend together to this day. 

And ironically.....he is playing for my former assistant coach this summer on a National Team.....go figure that one LOL. He will have a blast. 

 

[SwampDawg]

It was like fifteen degrees and breezy at my sons 7pm-9:30pm outdoor soccer practice this week.  If you ever wanted to know what the temperature mark is, where it is to cold to practice, it's fifteen degrees apparently.  Coach sent them home forty five minutes early that night.  First time in years (ever?) he did that.  They usually practice when it's snowing, lol.  They looked horrible anyway.  My son said it was because nobody could feel their feet!

25  last night for my sons practice, he said his feet were frozen until they got done even with double socks. It was a real shock also because they were in Florida playing earlier this week. I think that has to be about the limit as well. 25 and sunny and the turf warm is one thing but when it gets to be night and everything is cold it is tough.

 

[SwampDawg]

We stayed at the OCean Reef Resort - a bit outdated but good location and large room upgrade available.

It was PACKED when we were there in July

I've stayed there for golf trips, good location and they use to have a great breakfast buffet per-Covid, not sure if they still do.

 

[GoBirds]

Coaching baseball has been one of the most fulfilling things I have done in my life outside of raising my son. 

You are so correct about it needs to be about the development over the winning. But you are always going to have those bonehead programs that will win at any cost. 

I had good teams. Never stacked, and we earned everything. But that is what made it so great for the kids and parents. Winning games and tourneys we were not supposed to because everyone bought into the goals and the culture. It got to a point I unfortunately had to turn away players because we were full and rarely lost any players from 11U thru 14U. 

Once we got to 15U and 16U it changed a bit. The tone was a bit more serious and I had to take on a different animal of some parents having very unrealistic expectations of their kid’s college ball aspirations. Seems like a lot of parents think their kid is D1 material......ummmmm.

My first parent meeting for our first summer of high school showcase ball went something like this and we had 50% turnover from 14U to 15U. After our grand finale in regular travel ball at 14U in Myrtle Beach half the team went with my assistant coach who is a head coach at a high school those kids would attend. And that was a natural thing. He is a great coach too and I wished those players well. I kept 6 who were going to my sons high school and played for me on our Middle School Club team. I had relationships with several coaches on that staff and had fed them players for two years prior that I coached at Middle School which was right next door to the high school. 

With all that being said......I was very clear about expectations with summer ball. And the first thing I told my parents before we started the summer (2019).

7% of all high school ballplayers move on to the collegiate level......let me say that again. 7%. What does that mean?

500,000 high school players.....about 35K move on. And that number is between D1,D2,D3, NAIA and JUCO. 

That’s it.

So really understand.....it is not easy. And how many of those do you think are D1 material? How many get any scholarship money? You get the picture. 

So when I started hearing we need to be in the biggest and best tourney’s...blah blah blah blah....I said look. No one is coming to see your son play....unless you make the connections and relationships. I had no D1 bluechip prospects on my squad. I simply did not. I have some D2 level (my son is a D2 D3 or NAIA prospect 100%) some D3’s but no STUDS. And I made it clear to my parents the goal of the summer is to first of all have a lot of fun and play loose. High School ball at my sons school is intense...really intense. Nothing like what they ever had experienced. I wanted the summer season to be about getting a lot of quality reps vs good competitive teams and playing in mostly tournaments we can compete and have a chance at some success.

The best way to be seen......videos, emails to coaches and going to specific college prospect camps for schools your son has a realistic shot at playing for if that is the right fit academically and location as well. 

I had 80% buy in.....I cut the other 20% and replaced with players and parents who understood what our goals were for them.

Development above all else and having some fun playing ball in the summer where there is no pressure. Just go out and play and travel to some great locations and have a great time together as a team and the parents also having fun.

You are going to run into the The elite of elite teams sometimes.....there is our chance to potentially be seen. It happened to my son last summer. He had a fantastic game vs one of the 5 best 2023 teams in the country and got some traction with a few schools. So yeah....you want to play in at least one big tourney.

Not 5. 

You don't want to go out there and get your clocks cleaned. That is not fun. LOL.

Anyway.....great times. 

This is the second summer I am not coaching anymore and I have loved just sitting behind the fence. My time is done. Obviously I still work out with my own son and he enjoys that time we spend together to this day. 

And ironically.....he is playing for my former assistant coach this summer on a National Team.....go figure that one LOL. He will have a blast. 

Really enjoying the stories from you, @Charlie Steiner and others having 2 kids in rec with one that just scrapped his way on to the last spot on a travel team. Will be interesting to watch and see if he can hang but great to hear these positive stories. 

 

[Charlie Steiner]

Really enjoying the stories from you, @Charlie Steiner and others having 2 kids in rec with one that just scrapped his way on to the last spot on a travel team. Will be interesting to watch and see if he can hang but great to hear these positive stories. 

I appreciate the support; travel ball is one of the few subjects I feel I have a good perspective on and I love sharing those experiences.

At your son's age, the focus should be on getting a chance to play himself in or out of different positions. I saw too many kids--coach's son most of the time, get locked into one position, usually pitcher or catcher, to the ultimate detriment of the kid. One coach had his own son throw over 100 pitches in an 8U tournament game. At the time, he had a good arm for a kid his age, but when my son's team faced them again 3 years later, he hadn't gained any velocity and they teed off on him. A kid on my son's team had an older brother who was a stud catcher, and the parents put the pressure on him to be a catcher too. It got to be too much on him trying to live up to his brother and he quit after 11U and switched to hockey. As for your son, at his age he should be getting the chance to play himself into and out of all the positions on the field, and as long as he pays attention, works hard doesn't get too frustrated, he'll be fine. Good luck to him and keep us updated on his progress.