Travel ball is all about getting a college scholarship. It is rarely about winning. For the ones who do win, it is because they were able to get the best players all together for a season, or two.
Building a great team through teamwork, commitment, and shared sacrifice does not happen in travel ball, after 12U.
It is the fault of the adults who make the system. Not the players.
The big travel org's do provide a good service, but have a tremendous conflict of interest. The real goal of the big org's chiefs is to be highly regarded, personally, by the college community, and to keep getting paid. I have seen first hand players who are made to workout year round for a big org., and do double duty on high school teams. To the point of being injured and harming their whole career, and yet not have the big org ever say "stop working with us, go play for your high school, and get healed up".
High level travel folks will go out of their way to marginalize high school softball, where teamwork matters, much because they are jealous of all the "press" given to high school softball.
Travel ball has been good to us, but high school softball has offered more character building, and teamwork principles, hands down.
Building a great team through teamwork, commitment, and shared sacrifice does not happen in travel ball, after 12U.
It is the fault of the adults who make the system. Not the players.
The big travel org's do provide a good service, but have a tremendous conflict of interest. The real goal of the big org's chiefs is to be highly regarded, personally, by the college community, and to keep getting paid. I have seen first hand players who are made to workout year round for a big org., and do double duty on high school teams. To the point of being injured and harming their whole career, and yet not have the big org ever say "stop working with us, go play for your high school, and get healed up".
High level travel folks will go out of their way to marginalize high school softball, where teamwork matters, much because they are jealous of all the "press" given to high school softball.
Travel ball has been good to us, but high school softball has offered more character building, and teamwork principles, hands down.
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