Travel Baseball Questions

[OldSchoolBoats]

I know there are a few of you that do Travel Baseball and there are a couple teams interested in my boys. I just have some questions.

What is the average monthly cost? I have a team at $150 and another at $200. Is this the norm??

What other costs can I expect?

How often do they practice?
(One team is 3 days a week)

Anything else I should know. I just want them back to playing and the rec ball programs are a joke with Covid, not to mention the talent pool has dropped considerably over the past few years and they can't get better without leveling up and being around better players.

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[Motor Boater]

That’s about right. My sons is $150 a month plus fees for the league we play in which is $285 a season. Plus a yearly club fee of $350. Plus uniforms. It can get expensive fast. Only other thing I would say is don’t put them in club too early. I put my son in at 7 years old because a buddy was coaching and it was too young. I think 10-11 is a good age to start club. He is getting great coaching and learning a lot more than you do in little league so that’s a plus. I had a really hard time with little league because of the fake rules that change every year.

 

[sirbob]

Team uni ($)

Hotels - airfare - rental cars - food while traveling = 3-4K per tourney min for 2 parents 1 kid - add more if the family goes

Private lessons ($) - Rawlings gloves ($350) - Dimerini bats ($)

The monthly is the least of it !

Off season (opposite of little leagues season) travel ball from 6-10 then full time travel ball after 10 y/o

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

Well Joe, my son has been playing at the start of T-ball pony baseball. The next yr he went to LL because it was only a mile from our house. Than he started travel ball with a team from Temecula it cost $95 a month with 1 tournament included other tournament were extra. We had practice 3 days a week with 1 cage 2 field. After we decided to leave do to the drive. Our field practice was at wheat field park in Menifee if I remember than it got moved way in Temecula. It was hard to leave because you start to be a family together. So we found a team in Riverside a mile from us but cost $150 a month 1 field 1cage and we payed all tournaments. He wanted to finish playing LL than we went to Pony for 13-14 yr olds. When Rec ball is in it's hard for travel ball teams to rent fields so it was just time for him to get work in till travel started back up. You will see a major improvement in you kids playing travelball and it does cost lots of money and time. We went from 12 river trips to1 trip a yr and decided to sell the boat. Would I do it again yes it made for lots of long weekends but well worth it. Hope this helps you and good luck in you new adventure.

 

[DC-88]

It really depends on the team and how good they are. My oldest played with an organized outfit for years, and it was probably 200 a month . Youngest was playing in a tourney in Santa Maria for a local team when he was 9 and got asked by a team from the central valley to join which ended up being a lot better overall. The cost was always just the bare minimum, and they did fundraisers for going to the bigger tourneys far away. He still played rec which I coached, and one of my friends who is a former mlb guy and still coaches within an organization worked with my boys once a week for about 5 years which made a world of difference in their skill sets. It is no fun to put forth all the travel effort if the kids aren't having success/fun and getting better. We had some fun adventures all over the country for sure, but minimal dirt and river trips during that time period. When they play multiple sports in high school and continue to play one in college that trend continues to a lesser degree. I just bbq'd last night for my younger son who came home for a quick visit and two of the kids from that original travel team , as he and pretty much all of them were/are still playing between JC and D1 when the scamdemic took most of it into a holding pattern. I let my kids do it because they really wanted to, as I would have preferred other stuff, but it was quality time spent for sure-

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Well Joe, my son has been playing at the start of T-ball pony baseball. The next yr he went to LL because it was only a mile from our house. Than he started travel ball with a team from Temecula it cost $95 a month with 1 tournament included other tournament were extra. We had practice 3 days a week with 1 cage 2 field. After we decided to leave do to the drive. Our field practice was at wheat field park in Menifee if I remember than it got moved way in Temecula. It was hard to leave because you start to be a family together. So we found a team in Riverside a mile from us but cost $150 a month 1 field 1cage and we payed all tournaments. He wanted to finish playing LL than we went to Pony for 13-14 yr olds. When Rec ball is in it's hard for travel ball teams to rent fields so it was just time for him to get work in till travel started back up. You will see a major improvement in you kids playing travelball and it does cost lots of money and time. We went from 12 river trips to1 trip a yr and decided to sell the boat. Would I do it again yes it made for lots of long weekends but well worth it. Hope this helps you and good luck in you new adventure.

Thanks Ed, great stuff right there.

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[Tooned Up]

Team uni ($)

Hotels - airfare - rental cars - food while traveling = 3-4K per tourney min for 2 parents 1 kid - add more if the family goes

Private lessons ($) - Rawlings gloves ($350) - Dimerini bats ($)

The monthly is the least of it !

Off season (opposite of little leagues season) travel ball from 6-10 then full time travel ball after 10 y/o

This pretty much sums it up...
Oh and don’t forget multiple Demarini bats a season, especially if he will be -12, -10, or -8. Your boy WILL break them regularly if he is aggressive at all at the plate. The warranty program sucks, but you can’t send him to battle with sub par weapons.

My boy has team practice 2 nights a week, and league play one night, then private lessons 2 nights, and tournaments every other weekend. Yep it’s really expensive, but if it keeps him on the straight and narrow, it’s all worth it! Your family will meet great life long friends along the way

 

[DaveC]

We really traveled a lot out of town so it got expensive. The fees were the cheap part.

the cost to travel started to get expensive. By the time you factor in my dinner and bar tab. Some tournaments were 5 days long.

It was much cheaper when I could drive to the game rather than getting a hotel

 

[jesco]

Team uni ($)

Hotels - airfare - rental cars - food while traveling = 3-4K per tourney min for 2 parents 1 kid - add more if the family goes

Private lessons ($) - Rawlings gloves ($350) - Dimerini bats ($)

The monthly is the least of it !

Off season (opposite of little leagues season) travel ball from 6-10 then full time travel ball after 10 y/o

^^^ This is pretty accurate, the monthly fee is usually the cheap part... the other thing to watch for is if the team is a feeder team or associated with a private school. That will cost you an extra $20k a year when he wants to play high school baseball... ask me how I know : (

 

[DC-88]

My boys saved some of their favorite bats from this era that survived shattering. These were probably the top 4 from the 12 u back in the day - We’re still friends with some of the parents .


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[Hardly Satisfied]

Also Joe one reason we bought a Motorhome was to take it to tournaments it was so nice between the Hot summer games to come back and sit and eat between games. We also played a lot of tournaments at noble creek in Beaumont on holiday weekends and got a camping spot with some of the other parents and had great BBQ times there.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Also Joe one reason we bought a Motorhome was to take it to tournaments it was so nice between the Hot summer games to come back and sit and eat between games. We also played a lot of tournaments at noble creek in Beaumont on holiday weekends and got a camping spot with some of the other parents and had great BBQ times there.

That's what I am talking about!

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[HBCraig]

PM me if you like. I coach an 18U team for baseball and softball. I can shoot you my cell number

I am traveling now at a tourney in Arizona ironically and coaching but I can text fast enough.


But what are the teams?
CBA?
BPA?
Canes?


Just curious

 

[Motor Boater]

View attachment 940050
My boys saved some of their favorite bats from this era that survived shattering. These were probably the top 4 from the 12 u back in the day - We’re still friends with some of the parents .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All those are all illegal now. My kids club team plays Teeter league and some tournaments. So I have to buy a USA bat for Teeter and a USSSA bat for tournaments. Good times!

 

[Magic Mike]

West coast Blackdogs in Chino, based at Caira’s cages/Boy’s republic. Great coaching!

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I know there are a few of you that do Travel Baseball and there are a couple teams interested in my boys. I just have some questions.

What is the average monthly cost? I have a team at $150 and another at $200. Is this the norm??

What other costs can I expect?

How often do they practice?
(One team is 3 days a week)

Anything else I should know. I just want them back to playing and the rec ball programs are a joke with Covid, not to mention the talent pool has dropped considerably over the past few years and they can't get better without leveling up and being around better players.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Might as well sell yore boat. You’ll never see it again with kids in travel ball. Pick up an RV from Steve.

 

[Riverhound]

Dues are about right but don't underestimate all the other line items that others have already mentioned. I did the math once and the season averaged over $1k a month . I stoped tracking it after that

With that said, We'd do it all over again at twice the price. As a family we had such a great time and watching our son flourish in a highly competitive environment while learning all the all important life lessons about hard work, selflessness, wining, loosing and above all NEVER GIVING UP was amazing. Plus he was having a great time and we made some long time friends from it.

He started playing in So.Cal as a little daisy picker and ended up in Texas and Virginia with nationally ranked teams. He ultimately ended up playing D2 ball in West Virginia until he suffered a a career ending injury. Now's he at University of Arizona finishing up Business school and has stated several times about how much he loved that time and how it shaped him to who he is today.

 

[Tooned Up]

Might as well sell yore boat. You’ll never see it again with kids in travel ball. Pick up an RV from Steve.

I seriously considered selling mine at the beginning of last summer due to this very same reason. When it came down to it I had mixed emotions about letting it go so I decided to keep it, and I never used it once all summer. Even with COVID my son still worked with private coaches 4 times a week for batting, core strength, Bull pin, catching.

I’ve told him many times the day he comes to me and tells me he’s done, we will finish the season and get back into Glamis full scale. I don’t demand he plays and make the choice his, but push him to do his best or don’t do it at all. The only thing I did tell him is if he doesn’t want to play baseball anymore that is fine, but he will play something. I refuse to raise a kid who’s only source of activity or hobby is a video game.

 

[25Elmn8r]

My son started travelball when he was 10. Everything has already been brought up in the previous posts. yes it's expensive, yes it's a ton of time, especially when your daughter is playing club volleyball at the same time. Many weekends my wife and I spent separate each at one of the kids tourneys. But it was all worth it and we'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Here's the result of our Cooperstown tourney, 9 and 0! My son is in backrow second from left.

We also sold our boat at the time due to all the time we spent at tourneys for both kids. Just didn't make sense to pay storage and insurance on something we didn't see having the time to use for a few years.

 

[25Elmn8r]

Forgot to tag @Dirtbag in here. He should have a lot of input from the team side of things.

 

[DWC]

If his passion is 100% baseball then I’d do it. It’s expensive, will take up a shitload of time and energy but worth it if that’s what they want. When they decide that football, basketball, wrestling or whatever their friends are doing is more fun then it’s pretty much a write off. The other consideration is similar to when they turn 16. Whatever you do for the oldest for a car is what you signed up for all. Not only money but time. That adds up quick

PS. The other consideration is why do they love it. If the thrill is pitching and playing shortstop then be aware. The funnel of players as they move up will most probably move them around.

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

My son started travelball when he was 10. Everything has already been brought up in the previous posts. yes it's expensive, yes it's a ton of time, especially when your daughter is playing club volleyball at the same time. Many weekends my wife and I spent separate each at one of the kids tourneys. But it was all worth it and we'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Here's the result of our Cooperstown tourney, 9 and 0! My son is in backrow second from left.
View attachment 940093

We also sold our boat at the time due to all the time we spent at tourneys for both kids. Just didn't make sense to pay storage and insurance on something we didn't see having the time to use for a few years.

That's awesome , we also did Cooperstown and wwe had a blast did a lot of fundraising to cover the cost. We went 6-0 in pool play and lost the next game in bracket play. We had lots of rain so we went to the baseball hall of fame and went to the underground caverns. After the tournament we went to New York for 3 days we all went to the new yankee stadium for a game and it was nonstop in New York 9/11 Empire State Building coney Island . Than we all took the train to Boston for 2 days went to Fenway park and did a tour of the park. What a great experience my son ryan and I had. I will never forget 1 day we were at the fields all day because it rained of and on all day so our games got pushed back and we stopped to get dinner and got back to the house around 11:00 pm and turned on espn and the angels game was on and they were playing at home that night and it was in the 2nd inning still was daylight. I don't think I could live on the Eastcoast

 

[Dirtbag]

Joe you have my number and can call me anytime. For all of you who have sons in this once beautiful game I hope you will read this. Because travel ball has become everything I hate about baseball.

My experience....I played travel ball when it was actually "travel ball" where you played teams from different cities comprised of the best players from those cities. I played for a few different programs in High School. People picked me up for different tournaments. I played college baseball at Long Beach St. I played in the minor Leagues for the Oakland A's. I made one glorious start in the Big Leagues in 2000 for Oakland at Colorado. I have been in charge of a baseball facility with travel teams for the past 11 years. I have helped hundreds of kids move on to college baseball, ive had many kids move on to professional baseball, and I have had a few play in the big leagues. Ive seen basically everything.....

Here is the best advice I can give you. And I will put it in terms we can all understand. If you have a performance boat. Or a boat that is pretty good but you want to get more out of it. You want it to maximize its performance. Well where do you take it? What do you learn from the place you take it so that you can make minor adjustments to keep maximizing its performance? Would you take your performance boat to the new guy who opened his shop down the street? would you take it to the mom and pop shop who stays in business because they are good people and provide good service, or would you take it to High End Performance Places with a track record of working with the top players in the game and focuses on longevity and keeping the boat fundamentally sound?. Or would you take it to someone who actually has experience in racing that provide a quality service and understands the game never ends and you always have to push the limits?

All of these options are ok. It all depends on what you believe will help your son. How likely is it that your son will be a college athlete? The numbers say very unlikely. How much do you want your son to be a good human? Baseball can teach that provided you have the right guys teaching. Ill tell you where I send my kids at the end.

Understand Travel ball is now little league. Dads coaching everywhere. Travel ball is all about winning. much of it is about money and making a buck. and many of these programs make a TON of money. I live in poverty but absolutely love teaching kids. Thank god my mom and dad take me with them everywhere. Tournament Organizers do not care about baseball you are just a piece of meat writing a check and all they do is provide a field upires and balls. Social media makes you think you have to play in these tourneys to have a chance at a scholarship. Its getting even worse now with showcases to see how hard your son can hit a ball off a tee or throw it into a net with no regard for fundamentals and actually being playable. Travel baseball has become an evil monster and its getting worse. Its going to continue to.

Many years ago I changed the philosophy of our Travel Program to a developmental program. Its funny how many are using that term now....Just the word development scares people. They think that means bad players. And it has been detrimental to my business. But I believe in it 100000% Because i know what is right and wrong with baseball because of my experience. Development happens in practice. Sure some development happens in game situations but Ill ask you this. In 20 minutes of a game How many ground balls could your son get? In 20 minutes of practice on a field how many ground balls can he get? Big difference. Practice is the difference maker. But if you are practicing with horseshit technique taught by a guy who watches video on youtube guess what happens? Your son gets really good at having horseshit technique. So the question is which program do I put him in? The mom and pop? The extreme performance guy?

Winning attracts players and families. Winning programs make a ton of money. They dont necessarily teach rather they just manage. Parents buy into the winning. Ive watched many of these programs for quite a few years and very rarely do any of these kids move on to the next level. They are usually just bigger and stronger at a younger age and dominate on physical ability. But the little guys catch up in HS and become the big guys and work and leave those guys in the dust. But hey that program sure made its owner a ton of money! Dumb parents imo.

Enough of my rambling i could do this for pages on everything that is wrong with baseball.

My advice to all of you. Find a program that has coaches who played the game at a high level. College baseball and above. That means they were taught by the right people who have forgotten more about this game than you will ever know. Research their careers, so many liars out there. Baseball-reference.com is the equalizer lol. Go to a few workouts see how the coaches interact with the kids. Is there MUTUAL respect there? Ask what you want to get out of the program? What do you want for your son? What do you hope for his future? Do you want him to make his High School team? Play in College? These are all questions I would ask myself, my son, and my wife cause its a massive investment.

If your answer is to just play and have fun. Take him to the mom and pop place.
If your answer is to raise his performance? Find a developmental program with coaches who played the game and teach fundamentals.
If you want to push the limits and just win....go find the best team with the best players and let your kid sink or swim

I want my kids to be good humans and learn the fundamentals of the game. I want them to work on those fundamentals daily. I want them to have a place they can work on them. I want them around HIGH Quality coaches who care about my kids like i do. For that reason I found an awesome place for my daughter which did exactly that. They practiced 2-3 times a week had a huge facility she could go on off days. Had high level coaches who were coaching at the JC and D1 level. The staff had USA Volleyball National Team coaching experience. We didnt have all the best players. But my daughter learned got better and was an awesome teammate. She has now committed to a Division 3 School(I think she could play low end D1) and this year HER program for the last 5 years told her it was time to leave. THE PROGRAM wanted her to go to a more competitive program so she could get more looks by college coaches. That says a lot about the program my wife and I picked for my daughter. They cared about her. And wanted the best for her! Not for them. It cost them money! Thats the kind of program you should be looking for imo. Wins and losses dont mean shit in development. Games dont mean shit in development. GET THE TOOLS. Learn the game. Play it right. Then you can start competing. As my buddy Nomar Garciaparra told us when we started this. Learn First. Dominate Later.

As for how much they cost? What do they offer? Do they have a facility? How many practices? are games extra? What is the typical monthly cost all said and done? What are you willing to invest in your sons future? I honestly dont know why I dont have 1000 players. We have a facility with 6 cages, bullpens, strength training facility, L screens, tees, iron mike machines, that our players can use every single day its included in their monthly dues of $199/mo. They also get 1 practice on the field and one practice hitting indoors a week. Double headers are $30 and Tournaments are $75. We try to play 3 times a month with one weekend off. 1 tourney and 2 double headers or 3 - 4 double headers. Total cost about 300-350 a month.

Now if only i could get my son to like baseball.......kinda hard when I dont like where its heading...

 

[Motor Boater]

@Dirtbag What club are you with and where?

 

[Dirtbag]

@Dirtbag What club are you with and where?

GBG Orange County. Our facility is in Anaheim.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Joe you have my number and can call me anytime. For all of you who have sons in this once beautiful game I hope you will read this. Because travel ball has become everything I hate about baseball.

My experience....I played travel ball when it was actually "travel ball" where you played teams from different cities comprised of the best players from those cities. I played for a few different programs in High School. People picked me up for different tournaments. I played college baseball at Long Beach St. I played in the minor Leagues for the Oakland A's. I made one glorious start in the Big Leagues in 2000 for Oakland at Colorado. I have been in charge of a baseball facility with travel teams for the past 11 years. I have helped hundreds of kids move on to college baseball, ive had many kids move on to professional baseball, and I have had a few play in the big leagues. Ive seen basically everything.....

Here is the best advice I can give you. And I will put it in terms we can all understand. If you have a performance boat. Or a boat that is pretty good but you want to get more out of it. You want it to maximize its performance. Well where do you take it? What do you learn from the place you take it so that you can make minor adjustments to keep maximizing its performance? Would you take your performance boat to the new guy who opened his shop down the street? would you take it to the mom and pop shop who stays in business because they are good people and provide good service, or would you take it to High End Performance Places with a track record of working with the top players in the game and focuses on longevity and keeping the boat fundamentally sound?. Or would you take it to someone who actually has experience in racing that provide a quality service and understands the game never ends and you always have to push the limits?

All of these options are ok. It all depends on what you believe will help your son. How likely is it that your son will be a college athlete? The numbers say very unlikely. How much do you want your son to be a good human? Baseball can teach that provided you have the right guys teaching. Ill tell you where I send my kids at the end.

Understand Travel ball is now little league. Dads coaching everywhere. Travel ball is all about winning. much of it is about money and making a buck. and many of these programs make a TON of money. I live in poverty but absolutely love teaching kids. Thank god my mom and dad take me with them everywhere. Tournament Organizers do not care about baseball you are just a piece of meat writing a check and all they do is provide a field upires and balls. Social media makes you think you have to play in these tourneys to have a chance at a scholarship. Its getting even worse now with showcases to see how hard your son can hit a ball off a tee or throw it into a net with no regard for fundamentals and actually being playable. Travel baseball has become an evil monster and its getting worse. Its going to continue to.

Many years ago I changed the philosophy of our Travel Program to a developmental program. Its funny how many are using that term now....Just the word development scares people. They think that means bad players. And it has been detrimental to my business. But I believe in it 100000% Because i know what is right and wrong with baseball because of my experience. Development happens in practice. Sure some development happens in game situations but Ill ask you this. In 20 minutes of a game How many ground balls could your son get? In 20 minutes of practice on a field how many ground balls can he get? Big difference. Practice is the difference maker. But if you are practicing with horseshit technique taught by a guy who watches video on youtube guess what happens? Your son gets really good at having horseshit technique. So the question is which program do I put him in? The mom and pop? The extreme performance guy?

Winning attracts players and families. Winning programs make a ton of money. They dont necessarily teach rather they just manage. Parents buy into the winning. Ive watched many of these programs for quite a few years and very rarely do any of these kids move on to the next level. They are usually just bigger and stronger at a younger age and dominate on physical ability. But the little guys catch up in HS and become the big guys and work and leave those guys in the dust. But hey that program sure made its owner a ton of money! Dumb parents imo.

Enough of my rambling i could do this for pages on everything that is wrong with baseball.

My advice to all of you. Find a program that has coaches who played the game at a high level. College baseball and above. That means they were taught by the right people who have forgotten more about this game than you will ever know. Research their careers, so many liars out there. Baseball-reference.com is the equalizer lol. Go to a few workouts see how the coaches interact with the kids. Is there MUTUAL respect there? Ask what you want to get out of the program? What do you want for your son? What do you hope for his future? Do you want him to make his High School team? Play in College? These are all questions I would ask myself, my son, and my wife cause its a massive investment.

If your answer is to just play and have fun. Take him to the mom and pop place.
If your answer is to raise his performance? Find a developmental program with coaches who played the game and teach fundamentals.
If you want to push the limits and just win....go find the best team with the best players and let your kid sink or swim

I want my kids to be good humans and learn the fundamentals of the game. I want them to work on those fundamentals daily. I want them to have a place they can work on them. I want them around HIGH Quality coaches who care about my kids like i do. For that reason I found an awesome place for my daughter which did exactly that. They practiced 2-3 times a week had a huge facility she could go on off days. Had high level coaches who were coaching at the JC and D1 level. The staff had USA Volleyball National Team coaching experience. We didnt have all the best players. But my daughter learned got better and was an awesome teammate. She has now committed to a Division 3 School(I think she could play low end D1) and this year HER program for the last 5 years told her it was time to leave. THE PROGRAM wanted her to go to a more competitive program so she could get more looks by college coaches. That says a lot about the program my wife and I picked for my daughter. They cared about her. And wanted the best for her! Not for them. It cost them money! Thats the kind of program you should be looking for imo. Wins and losses dont mean shit in development. Games dont mean shit in development. GET THE TOOLS. Learn the game. Play it right. Then you can start competing. As my buddy Nomar Garciaparra told us when we started this. Learn First. Dominate Later.

As for how much they cost? What do they offer? Do they have a facility? How many practices? are games extra? What is the typical monthly cost all said and done? What are you willing to invest in your sons future? I honestly dont know why I dont have 1000 players. We have a facility with 6 cages, bullpens, strength training facility, L screens, tees, iron mike machines, that our players can use every single day its included in their monthly dues of $199/mo. They also get 1 practice on the field and one practice hitting indoors a week. Double headers are $30 and Tournaments are $75. We try to play 3 times a month with one weekend off. 1 tourney and 2 double headers or 3 - 4 double headers. Total cost about 300-350 a month.

Now if only i could get my son to like baseball.......kinda hard when I dont like where its heading...

Your insight is priceless brother and I will give you a call next week to chat. Appreciate you taking the time to educate myself and others.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[hallett21]

Joe you have my number and can call me anytime. For all of you who have sons in this once beautiful game I hope you will read this. Because travel ball has become everything I hate about baseball.

My experience....I played travel ball when it was actually "travel ball" where you played teams from different cities comprised of the best players from those cities. I played for a few different programs in High School. People picked me up for different tournaments. I played college baseball at Long Beach St. I played in the minor Leagues for the Oakland A's. I made one glorious start in the Big Leagues in 2000 for Oakland at Colorado. I have been in charge of a baseball facility with travel teams for the past 11 years. I have helped hundreds of kids move on to college baseball, ive had many kids move on to professional baseball, and I have had a few play in the big leagues. Ive seen basically everything.....

Here is the best advice I can give you. And I will put it in terms we can all understand. If you have a performance boat. Or a boat that is pretty good but you want to get more out of it. You want it to maximize its performance. Well where do you take it? What do you learn from the place you take it so that you can make minor adjustments to keep maximizing its performance? Would you take your performance boat to the new guy who opened his shop down the street? would you take it to the mom and pop shop who stays in business because they are good people and provide good service, or would you take it to High End Performance Places with a track record of working with the top players in the game and focuses on longevity and keeping the boat fundamentally sound?. Or would you take it to someone who actually has experience in racing that provide a quality service and understands the game never ends and you always have to push the limits?

All of these options are ok. It all depends on what you believe will help your son. How likely is it that your son will be a college athlete? The numbers say very unlikely. How much do you want your son to be a good human? Baseball can teach that provided you have the right guys teaching. Ill tell you where I send my kids at the end.

Understand Travel ball is now little league. Dads coaching everywhere. Travel ball is all about winning. much of it is about money and making a buck. and many of these programs make a TON of money. I live in poverty but absolutely love teaching kids. Thank god my mom and dad take me with them everywhere. Tournament Organizers do not care about baseball you are just a piece of meat writing a check and all they do is provide a field upires and balls. Social media makes you think you have to play in these tourneys to have a chance at a scholarship. Its getting even worse now with showcases to see how hard your son can hit a ball off a tee or throw it into a net with no regard for fundamentals and actually being playable. Travel baseball has become an evil monster and its getting worse. Its going to continue to.

Many years ago I changed the philosophy of our Travel Program to a developmental program. Its funny how many are using that term now....Just the word development scares people. They think that means bad players. And it has been detrimental to my business. But I believe in it 100000% Because i know what is right and wrong with baseball because of my experience. Development happens in practice. Sure some development happens in game situations but Ill ask you this. In 20 minutes of a game How many ground balls could your son get? In 20 minutes of practice on a field how many ground balls can he get? Big difference. Practice is the difference maker. But if you are practicing with horseshit technique taught by a guy who watches video on youtube guess what happens? Your son gets really good at having horseshit technique. So the question is which program do I put him in? The mom and pop? The extreme performance guy?

Winning attracts players and families. Winning programs make a ton of money. They dont necessarily teach rather they just manage. Parents buy into the winning. Ive watched many of these programs for quite a few years and very rarely do any of these kids move on to the next level. They are usually just bigger and stronger at a younger age and dominate on physical ability. But the little guys catch up in HS and become the big guys and work and leave those guys in the dust. But hey that program sure made its owner a ton of money! Dumb parents imo.

Enough of my rambling i could do this for pages on everything that is wrong with baseball.

My advice to all of you. Find a program that has coaches who played the game at a high level. College baseball and above. That means they were taught by the right people who have forgotten more about this game than you will ever know. Research their careers, so many liars out there. Baseball-reference.com is the equalizer lol. Go to a few workouts see how the coaches interact with the kids. Is there MUTUAL respect there? Ask what you want to get out of the program? What do you want for your son? What do you hope for his future? Do you want him to make his High School team? Play in College? These are all questions I would ask myself, my son, and my wife cause its a massive investment.

If your answer is to just play and have fun. Take him to the mom and pop place.
If your answer is to raise his performance? Find a developmental program with coaches who played the game and teach fundamentals.
If you want to push the limits and just win....go find the best team with the best players and let your kid sink or swim

I want my kids to be good humans and learn the fundamentals of the game. I want them to work on those fundamentals daily. I want them to have a place they can work on them. I want them around HIGH Quality coaches who care about my kids like i do. For that reason I found an awesome place for my daughter which did exactly that. They practiced 2-3 times a week had a huge facility she could go on off days. Had high level coaches who were coaching at the JC and D1 level. The staff had USA Volleyball National Team coaching experience. We didnt have all the best players. But my daughter learned got better and was an awesome teammate. She has now committed to a Division 3 School(I think she could play low end D1) and this year HER program for the last 5 years told her it was time to leave. THE PROGRAM wanted her to go to a more competitive program so she could get more looks by college coaches. That says a lot about the program my wife and I picked for my daughter. They cared about her. And wanted the best for her! Not for them. It cost them money! Thats the kind of program you should be looking for imo. Wins and losses dont mean shit in development. Games dont mean shit in development. GET THE TOOLS. Learn the game. Play it right. Then you can start competing. As my buddy Nomar Garciaparra told us when we started this. Learn First. Dominate Later.

As for how much they cost? What do they offer? Do they have a facility? How many practices? are games extra? What is the typical monthly cost all said and done? What are you willing to invest in your sons future? I honestly dont know why I dont have 1000 players. We have a facility with 6 cages, bullpens, strength training facility, L screens, tees, iron mike machines, that our players can use every single day its included in their monthly dues of $199/mo. They also get 1 practice on the field and one practice hitting indoors a week. Double headers are $30 and Tournaments are $75. We try to play 3 times a month with one weekend off. 1 tourney and 2 double headers or 3 - 4 double headers. Total cost about 300-350 a month.

Now if only i could get my son to like baseball.......kinda hard when I dont like where its heading...

Not even a parent but thank you for posting this.


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