Questions! Questions? Who's Going to Answer?

[Pale Rider]

Communications and transparency?...By whom?
A realistic big name team...a fly by night scheister org?...A sanctioning body?
I can tell you what you'll receive by the high end teams if you come in like gangbusters with demands...
You get shown the door with a statement to the effect..."Dont let the gate hit ya , where the good Lord split ya....

Do you *really* want a sanctioning body to have that much control of TB?
ASA has tried with the Team USA thing...its bit them in the arse...
PGF vs ASA...as far as 'the best playing the best'...battles over...PGF won...

[Hurricane]

No. I really don't want a sanctioning body to oversee PGF or for that matter any TB teams.

However, as many are noticing - with the expansion of TB and subsequent dilution of team-wide talent on those teams -- it is becoming quite clear to many that something needs to be done to rein in the "problems".

Travel Ball is becoming "big business" to some. Whether it be baseball or softball. It might not be a bad idea to start self-policing. We all know there are just too many lawyers out there with not enough work to do and it might just be a matter of time before more amateur sports are pseudo-regulated.

I know I'm crazy. However, over the past 20 years I've also seen a lot of crazy ideas become commonplace and accepted, too.

[Pale Rider]

Well...the wish (or 'someone to step in' is a disease in this country..."I need someone to take care of me/us/you...
I think I know what you're referring to as out of control...
but...Give people credit for some sort of intelligence...most anyway..
A parent wishes to pay an arm and a leg to play...that's their business, their money...If it works out cool, if it doesn't, chalk it up to life experience...I don't want a TB Police Investigation / Litigation force...

Trust me...People, sanctioning bodies and other teams will take care of it...Softball is a small world and bad people don't last long...

[ontheblack]

No one entity will ever have control over club sports.

You wanted discussion. You got it. But what you do is then characterize the answers you dont like as vitriolic.

If you know so many people in this game, why is this a problem for you? You should have an understanding of how it works. Are you having a problem finding a place for your kid? Is that why you dont like the how coaches run their teams?

If she is good enough, coaches will seek her out. If not, you will need to consider making compromises to the standards you want others to run their teams by. Of course the easiest option is to take Sam's suggestion and start your own org and teams. If you think this is a need that many are clamoring for, then they will beat a path to your door. Thats free market business principles 101, something many of us on here have been practicing for more than 20 years.

[Sam]

The organizations could do one single act that would clean up a OT of the issues. They could mandate that pitchers throw no more than 7 innings per week. That would force teams to carry mor pitchers, which would reduce the number of teams, increase the level of play, and keep kids in rec ball that have no business playing TB. The reduction in teams would weed out some of the bad actors. The reduction in innings would keep the pitchers healthier and make TB coaches actually have to manage games.

[CatWoman]

We are a year removed from travel ball but I am sure that most issues still arise out of promises made or alluded to about playing time, money, and what a coach can do for your kid recruiting wise. In club volleyball, you generally pay a very large down payment up front and then have either monthly dues or large increments due at specific dates with very little fundraising and you sign a binding agreement on your first day of practice. I learned recently of a player who was riding the bench. The organization she played for was not going to sign a release unless she paid all money owed for the rest of the year. Apparently the writing was on the wall early on and she wanted to leave for more playing time on another team. She could not get out of her contract and she still owed a couple more thousand dollars so she sat. I have not heard of this happening in travel ball where you have to play for the rest of the year before you leave. most coaches would say if you are not happy here, go somewhere else.

Everyone makes it sound so easy when they say to do your homework, especially at tryout time. Sometimes you just have to go out and wing it and hope for the best and watch the teams you play. You may see a future fit for dd there. We kept our mouths shut as much as possible and listened to everything and then tried to ask good questions because we were pretty clueless.

[59Invicta]

Assuming you ask ALL of the questions on Hurricane's list, and assuming you get answers to all of them, it still doesn't answer the question of whether your DD and the particular team are a good fit - which is arguably more important to success than the answers to any of these questions. I agree that you have to do your homework and go see the teams ahead of the tryouts.

Regulating the whole thing......really?? The "marketplace" is working - it doesn't need regulation. Travel ball is like ice cream - there is a team, or a flavor, for everyone. And, yes, it has become big business, but is that bad? If it hadn't, there would not be so many teams, and many, many fewer girls would be playing. And if there weren't the Dad coaches, there also wouldn't be so many teams, and many, many fewer girls would be playing.

Some girls become great at 8 or 10 or 12, and would be playing no matter what. But what if your DD is one who doesn't become good or great until later - maybe 14 or 16? If there weren't the "other" teams within the big umbrella organizations, and if some Dad wasn't willing to take on these teams, even though his last name isn't *ico or *tith, then many girls would have never made travel ball teams and would have been sent back to rec ball or quit the game altogether. Softball is growing in college, and there is more $$ than ever for scholarships. Logically, it has to grow at the early ages to fuel the growth in college. So big business or not - the system is working and lots more girls are getting to live the dream and play in college.

As a parent, make your own list of questions you may be comfortable asking. But more importantly, do your homework, make sure your DD is the ONLY reason for any decisions you make, and the rest will work out.

[Hurricane]

No one entity will ever have control over club sports.

You wanted discussion. You got it. But what you do is then characterize the answers you dont like as vitriolic.

If you know so many people in this game, why is this a problem for you? You should have an understanding of how it works. Are you having a problem finding a place for your kid? Is that why you dont like the how coaches run their teams?

Pot meet Kettle.

I never said I didn't like the answers. But please read the way you write some of your answers. Writing in e-mails might not convey the message you trying to give because of the way you write them. Your writing on some of your replies seems like you "talk down to others" and you know everything. Be more polite and others might take more of your message to heart and heed your advise and counsel.

This is a forum for all.

I know how it works. I don't have a problem with my daughter finding a team. However, there are many, many, many parents out there who are frustrated and taken advantage of in TB. I thought it would be a good idea to have civil discourse about it. You choose to be negative. Fine. Everyone here knows where you stand on the subject. Blame the parent I guess.

[Hurricane]

Assuming you ask ALL of the questions on Hurricane's list, and assuming you get answers to all of them, it still doesn't answer the question of whether your DD and the particular team are a good fit - which is arguably more important to success than the answers to any of these questions. I agree that you have to do your homework and go see the teams ahead of the tryouts....do your homework, make sure your DD is the ONLY reason for any decisions you make, and the rest will work out.

good points! thanks for sharing!

How does one go about doing their "homework" on a team at this point?

Does a parent try to find a roster of the team they are trying out for and then match the last names? That will work for relatives maybe but not friends. They would have to find the team's web site, but then there are many teams that do not have a website or do not have rosters. So, then what?

Does a parent start a thread that asks questions about the team they are trying out for?

PGF and ASA Nationals are over. So is the softball season. Can you give information how to do your homework now before tryouts this month?

[59Invicta]

How does one go about doing their "homework" on a team at this point?

Can you give information how to do your homework now before tryouts this month?

Like any important decision, you have to plan ahead. You go watch a friendly and see the coaches interact with the girls. See a tournament to see how well the girls and coaches handle pressure. Ask to attend a practice. But all of these things have to be done ahead of time. You probably can wait until August and then try to scramble to get useful information on any team.