WHY?

[NumeroUno]

Reasons to play travel ball at a very young age

1) Not enough miles on your cars
2) Bank accounts are over flowing
3) Sleeping in on the weekend is over rated
4) Your daughter has not experienced surgery yet
5) Your 10 year old does not have a six pack
6) You and your wife never accomplished anything at sports and you want to fulfill that void in your life through your dd
7) You like changing your car oil once a month
8) You are sick of eating home cooked meals on the weekends
9) You need to hear more pitchers dads say that Lil Susie throws over 60
and last but not least
10) You want to find one kid who didn't get a full ride to college

and that is why you should leave rec and go play with the big dogs

[DonnieS]

Heck, when we started we didnt even know it was called select ball or travel ball, we were just sick of the small town piss ant politics and jealousy crap. Those of us back then just figured if we pull our girls out of that wreck league nonsense (which I was 100% part of until my kids and I started being punished for things I had nothing to do with - my daughters' God given talent) and put them with other kids who were maybe a little faster or hit a little harder or hustled a little more that the kids whereever they came from.

I think we called it a tournament team because we didnt play league anymore, we just traveled over to whereever there was a tournament - as long as it wasnt close to here.

So maybe we did think our kids were a little better than the others we left behind - but now after all these years, maybe they were. So the hell what, that wasnt the point.

[hit4power]

Rec league, at least around here, is being toned down even more than it was when my DD went through it. We don't want anyone to feel left out, have hurt feelings, etc., etc. For kids that are athletic and competitive I can only imagine that they get frustrated even earlier than my DD did 6 yrs ago. I'm not a proponent of starting TB "too early" but I get why people are moving their kids out of rec earlier than ever...

[MTR]

to the big orgs..... why are you allowing more and more teams in your org? is it to help the girls grow? or to make money? can you do both? I'm just asking......

"big orgs" are only as big as the teams make them. AFA money is concerned, if they did not make money, there would be no organization. NOTHING is free and it cost some serious $ to operate any organization, in general.

[rbi]

Reasons to play travel ball at a very young age

1) Not enough miles on your cars
2) Bank accounts are over flowing
3) Sleeping in on the weekend is over rated
4) Your daughter has not experienced surgery yet
5) Your 10 year old does not have a six pack
6) You and your wife never accomplished anything at sports and you want to fulfill that void in your life through your dd
7) You like changing your car oil once a month
8) You are sick of eating home cooked meals on the weekends
9) You need to hear more pitchers dads say that Lil Susie throws over 60
and last but not least
10) You want to find one kid who didn't get a full ride to college

and that is why you should leave rec and go play with the big dogs

#6,9, 10 Classic!

[Dugout Dad]

You know, rec league has never been the same since Rae-Rae and Dani left.............

[PairOfAces]

Rec league, at least around here, is being toned down even more than it was when my DD went through it. We don't want anyone to feel left out, have hurt feelings, etc., etc. For kids that are athletic and competitive I can only imagine that they get frustrated even earlier than my DD did 6 yrs ago. I'm not a proponent of starting TB "too early" but I get why people are moving their kids out of rec earlier than ever...

I agree completely. The rec league my dds recently left got hung out to dry by the city, leaving them to pay for almost everything to do with field maintenance. All they do anymore is cut the grass once a week. And because of the financial situation/recession, sign-ups have been going down for the past few years. The league did not want to raise the cost of registration too much, so the services have been cut back as well. The fall ball uniforms were pretty terrible, both in looks and quality, but they cost less to save money.

I think the rise of number of TB teams is only supplying the demand. The product may be watered down a bit, but many of the parents will return to rec after paying for TB and watching dd sit on the bench most of the time. My dds are both the youngest on their respective teams, first year 10s and first year 12s, and are not getting a lot of playing time, but I am not complaining (yet ). They are learning and improving more than they would in rec ball.

[Fredegar]

I agree it's a shame kids are leaving so early for TB. In many cases, kids would be quite happy to stay in their community and play Rec with their friends. Especially thru 10U, when the kids are still in elementary school.

I disagree with the reasons the TB orgs are letting so many young teams in. It's not just to make a little more money. There's simply a demand, and many orgs feel that more teams equate to better name recognition. Yes, TB is more expensive, but that's because uniforms cost more, friendlies/tourneys cost more, and there are travel costs. Those are real costs ... none of which go to the orgs. It's more about name recognition than money-making.

I also disagree with those who say their DD needs TB to improve. Probably at age 9, they can improve plenty just staying in Rec. Playing all the time. Trying different positions. Hell, just learning the rules of the game (covering on steals, dropped 3rd strikes, runners holding on fly balls, etc.). No kid is gonna fall behind, and miss out on that full-ride D1 scholarship, because they stayed in Rec when they were 9-10 years old.

However, in some areas, Rec is indeed so bad that kids need to play TB for the competition -- even at 10U. Ultimately, each family needs to decide what's right for their kids.

[Dugout Dad]

My DD and many of her softball friends stayed in rec league until 12u, 7 of them are now playing college ball, most at the D1 level. All of the kids from the league that went into TB at 10u burned out by HS, none are playing college ball. I was invited to watch a 10u friendly during that time and I remember seeing a bunch of stressed kids and parents, that is what stood out about the games. The level of play was not all that better, but the uniforms were nicer. That was eight years ago and I know a lot has changed since then.

[Sam]

My DD and many of her softball friends stayed in rec league until 12u, 7 of them are now playing college ball, most at the D1 level. All of the kids from the league that went into TB at 10u burned out by HS, none are playing college ball. I was invited to watch a 10u friendly during that time and I remember seeing a bunch of stressed kids and parents, that is what stood out about the games. The level of play was not all that better, but the uniforms were nicer. That was eight years ago and I know a lot has changed since then.

And how many of the kids that started travel at 9 years old just plain physically can't play any more due to overuse issues.....

Let the kids play rec until they're an older 12U. Protect them from themselves, it is your job as parents.