Not posting some long winded bs. What is the financial commitment? Website. Well-roundedness: Despite the cultural drive for pursuing one sport, well-roundedness as a child makes for happy, well-adjusted adults. Very few will walk in my church doors on Sunday. Kids are smarter than what we want to give them credit for. At the high end, families can spend more than 10% of their income on registration fees, travel, camps and equipment.". Cost: Figure out what your family can afford before you even start looking at options. The cost for a year of travel softball can range from $500 to $5,000 and up, which includes a full uniform, and sometimes includes equipment. Open Access J Sports Med. Give MVP, Player of the game, most improved player of the game.. Being part of a team, no matter how long its for, isnt permanent, so as nice as it is to identify with activities that we love, we dont want them to define us or our kids. Is playing time important, or would she prefer to surround herself with the best possible teammates (even if that means less time on the field)? Competitiveness: Make sure you understand what level of competition you daughter wants. Is it a help or detriment to their character and bodies? . These are presented in the order in which I suspect most dads think about them, not in the order of importance I would rank them (#6 would be #1, and #4 would be #2). She needs to spend more than 2 days working on drills. The main ones are USSSA (United States Specialty Sports Association pronounced U-Triple-S-A), PGF (Premier Girlss Fastpitch, USA (Formerly ASA), Triple Crown, and NSA (National Softball Association). Then you get all of that extra gear and position specific lessons. You all make very good points to consider. Encourage her to be a good teammate. Can you observe some practices or games before you commit? That makes YOU the problem parent. Parents: Want to Find the #1 Issue in Your Athletes Swing, Robbing Their Power? Non-Christians exist because what they worship is false. If your daughter wanted to be a catcher at a higher level of play like travel ball, then shes going to be putting in some work. Your daughter will be around these girls for months at a time, and they say you become who you surround yourself with. So, whats the vibe of the players? My husband and I were both very competitive athletes growing up (though we had a wide variety of interests), played travel ball in high school, and won scholarships to a Big 10 university. As Ive talked to people about this dilemma, one friend proposed this to me: he said that I should start my own travel ball team, and I should commit myself to being low-key about it. That may be the girl were talking about here. But dont hold her back if she wants to push herself. Your email address will not be published. 10 Ways Softball Can Change Your Life - GOOD Tendonitis describes inflammation of a tendon, typically caused by overuse. What should she do? Do they understand that they'll have to compete for it? Travel Softball Rankings | Youth Select & Showcase Travel Sports Teams There are many benefits of pursuing sports excellence, travel like any other passion filled event children can participate can be an extremely beneficial. Having coached both my sons in travel an rec ball, and being on the board of our local rec league, serving as president for several years. SAVE 25% ON ALL HER MUST HAVES - 25% OFF SITEWIDE ALL REGULAR PRICED ITEMS. What will travel ball mean for your other kids? Maybe my son will get a chance to play as long as he continues to love the game. Do they walk away, rolling their eyes? While rec ball was enjoyable, the ever changing pool of players, coaches and parents made for inconsistent experiences for my daughter, some good and some bad. If you find yourself a great group of girls with an amazing coach, then your player can grow like crazy. Communication:Its important to have all your questions answered. It was excellent, by the way. Rec ball is where they develop and I played four years at the University of Oregon, where I was First Team All-American, played in two Womens College World Series, and went on to play six years professionally. Personally, if I could have done things differently I would have kept my child in the rec leagues but I guess Im not sure if she would have learned to pursue excellence in the manner she did had she done so. Educate them. Youre going to be paying team dues of course. Because the goal of this type of program is to prepare the athlete for college athletics, the teams want to win. But its also a major commitment, so its important to think carefully about what kind of program is best in your specific situation. Since the college softball season completely overlaps high school softball season and recruiting budgets are often far smaller, Division I coaches prefer to attend the larger travel tournaments, where they can scout more players at once. Back in the day, if you played travel softball, you were a serious player striving to become an elite athlete, and you had the full intention of playing in college. If your daughter is interested in playing college softball, youll want to be part of an organization that: When I was coaching at a Division II school, there were a handful of travel ball coaches I knew well and could really trust to give me honest feedback on a kid as an athlete and a person. You have to grab a quick breakfast to eat on the way. No. The three year old is already all in and ready to play. Dont get me wrong: I love competition. I had my schedule back. Other important considerations are coaching style, character and overall attitude. At 12, our son tells us he thinks we have made the right decision. Id venture no but the travel ball experience can be quite beneficial to that pursuit can it not provided travel ball doesnt become a means to an end which, unfortunately, it often is. Was it really worth it? (Sometimes you'll find an assistant coach who is a parent, but rarely a head coach.) Parents also will also have to give their own free time to volunteer. Another common problem is not having the right equipment. I think the key is finding the right team and families. First up, travel softball is a lot more intense than traditional one. The only time we had awful politics was before our team separated and we joined the head coach. Once we knew about travel ball there was no going back. Many of the families on our team actually make it a family affair. See caveats in opening and closing paragraphs. I wanted to play all the time, until I got to college and had to do so. Jim, The physical and mental challenges of pursuing more than one sport is healthy in every respect. Picture this. Of course, we dont love spending a lot of money every weekend. Rec ball and travel ball can coexist, BUT, it has to be done with the kids as the foremost priority. Every expert agreed that kids are being played too hard and too long. Or are they truly passionate about the sport? Just last year, I finished your work Gods Glory in Salvation through Judgment. I imagine that we could have lived a little more comfortably had I not been playing softball. However, they are much more severe. 10 types of CRAZY baseball parents & how they're RUINING This is great information, but unfortunately rec ballaka little leagueis a political nightmare where I am from and for many others. Turn your focus and see a different view. I had played non-stop from the summer before my freshman year, through fall ball, winter weights, the spring season, then summer ball before it started all over in my sophomore year. If you can not recover or a fix an error as quickly as another player then you will be replaced. Tell him he's great and anything is possible if you put your mind to it, but don't let him be an entitled little asshole out there on the field, because that's your fault! Id bet if you polled the MLB players the vast majority of them would agree. Hey, for years sports programs operated quite successfully without Sunday morning scheduling. Create a Logo and Brand. Here are 10 reasons I think you should keep your kid in the rec league rather than quitting it for travel ball. As parents, however, we can sometimes unknowingly pressure our kids to continuing pursuing things at a higher level because we want it for them, not because they want it, and we proverbially try to put a square peg into a round hole. To establish an active select fastpitch softball organization in the area of Kitsap County, WA, exclusively to foster national and inte rnational amateur sports competition by support and development of amateur athletes for competition I fastpitch softball at the national and international level and to conduct such competition; b. Since you are spending so much time with your teammates, long-term friendships are formed more likely than on a rec ball team. This can be a big problem if you are trying to compete in tournaments or leagues. It was good for us a s a family although the wallet didnt think so. coming down the pike. I was sent the letter about "What if you can't . The most elite tournament teams (especially at the high school level) travel the farthest and play the most. Kids need to play more than one sport so their rotator cuffs can recover, so their elbows can rest, so they dont have to have Tommy John surgery at 17. Yes, there are ways to make this lifestyle a little more affordable (check out used gear at places like SidelineSwap, Ebay, or take some tips from our post here on bats) but regardless of how much you cut the costs, you will still be paying a decent amount of money to be doing this. For example, when you look at a solid team of 12u girls and there is that one girl that is nowhere near the level of the rest of the team. I think this is an important topic that needs to be discussed. Travel ball gives high school softball programs boost with restricted Are you prepared and willing to skip regular family vacations because your weekends and your travel budget are going into softball? All your doing is increasing the strain and the chance of injury for no appreciable gain. Rec ball. My son (now aged 26) was approached from age 10 on to play travel ball, but we declined year after year because it would pull us away from church plus cost us a small fortune. Of course, we dont love those miserable weather days where its cold and wet. The best outcomes were consistently when we stayed in the local rec leagues. But lets recap. Allows them to play against better competition. For us, travel has been amazing. I think God led me to this article to reassure me that we are doing right. Be a parent. Some teams charge a flat fee up front, some allow parents to pay as they go and some combine the formulas. She does it for fun and its not overwhelming even though its a little more competitive than a local rec league. Thank you for sharing your experiences. This causes an influx of these types of players. Of course, there are other ways to be the problem parent such as bad-mouthing the coach and other parents, not paying your dues, not bringing your daughter to practices, etc. Focusing on winning games is short-sighted and ignorant.
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problems with travel softball