How far would you drive?

[KPower]

I would not drive far at 10U. We drive 30 min one way 3x per week and that is as far as I'm willing to go at this point. We do drive 45 min each way for hitting/catching once a week but we are usually able to carpool with another family for this. There are 2 families on our team who have to drive probably 90+ min each way depending on traffic. They have actually stopped coming to practices regularly because of time spent in the car. It is frustrating because our team rarely ever has everyone there at the same time for practice. I understand what a pain traffic and time in the car is...but they knew what they were committing too when they signed up. In fact our coach moved practice closer to them and pushed it back 30 minutes to help them and still they rarely attend.

As an earlier poster said, as my daughter gets older I will be willing to drive further (Or let her drive further)..but for now 30 min is my limit.

 

[djcarter1966]

10U?? I could not see driving more than 30 mins...but sometimes geography matters in a crowded big city that could be 10 miles; in the middle of nowhere it could be 35 to 40 miles does that make it feel different I don't know

 

[grcsftbll]

I would not drive far at 10U. We drive 30 min one way 3x per week and that is as far as I'm willing to go at this point. We do drive 45 min each way for hitting/catching once a week but we are usually able to carpool with another family for this. There are 2 families on our team who have to drive probably 90+ min each way depending on traffic. They have actually stopped coming to practices regularly because of time spent in the car. It is frustrating because our team rarely ever has everyone there at the same time for practice. I understand what a pain traffic and time in the car is...but they knew what they were committing too when they signed up. In fact our coach moved practice closer to them and pushed it back 30 minutes to help them and still they rarely attend.

As an earlier poster said, as my daughter gets older I will be willing to drive further (Or let her drive further)..but for now 30 min is my limit.

We'd decided, before finding this team, that we'd go up to 35 minutes. I love this organization, a LOT. But yeah, I think it's just too far. I am the same way - once we join a team we're committed. We only miss things on very rare occasions, like if DD is sick or if we have something really special planned. And that would only be practice - we would only miss a tournament for sickness or a death in the family. I worry that the drive would make it become a chore for all of us, when it's supposed to be FUN. I just wondered if I was being inflexible or maybe if there was something I hadn't thought of. But most of these posts are reinforcing my gut feeling. I asked my DD as well, and she said she definitely does not want to drive that far just for practice. We drive that far for tournaments often, but that's different.

 

[Jojo]

Here, driving an hour means you live 8 miles away.

And where I live driving an hour means you finally reached a population big enough to have a decent travel ball team.

 

[grcsftbll]

I'm somewhere in the middle of those 2 extremes. This team is about 65 miles away. But if I have to go during traffic (which honestly is usually around here) it's going to take 2+ hours. Pretty much nothing is convenient where I live.

 

[Eric F]

10U TB...I'm currently driving 30-60 minutes (depending on time of day) each way for practices 2x during the week. Weekend friendlies are usually within an hour of home.

Despite the fact that So Cal is a hotbed for TB, this is the closest decent-quality 10U team to us.

 

[InsidePitch]

8? 20-30 minutes would be tops. It's all about playing and having fun. Sitting in the car isn't and they don't have enough homework to bother.

 

[Jquick823]

I would drive as far as needed honestly. But right now at 14U there is a team with great coaches and a succesful track record 5 minutes away from home.

 

[JAD]

One of the keys to getting better is not necessarily to be on a great team, but to PLAY against great teams, especially if your DD is a pitcher. Getting on the best team in town and kicking the crap out of all the other weaker teams in the area that you turned your nose up at is really kind of counterproductive....

 

[Jquick823]

One of the keys to getting better is not necessarily to be on a great team, but to PLAY against great teams, especially if your DD is a pitcher. Getting on the best team in town and kicking the crap out of all the other weaker teams in the area that you turned your nose up at is really kind of counterproductive....

This is what my DD's team has been doing this year. We win some and lose a little more. But we are playing some of the best teams within 5 hours of us every weekend.