New Travel Team

[Andrew72]

Ok as the title says... I am part of making a new travel team. This is something new for all of us but after working with our local rec league and realizing things will not work out as they had gotten our hopes up for this season ...another coach and myself with full support of many parents have decided its best to start a travel team and get our girls more games and proper training.

I do know we are running it close but with the few feet of snow on the ground I think we are safe for alittle bit.
I do have questions...we have been offered sponsors and donations but some have asked about tax write off info...not many but I want to do this the correct way.

We will be busting tail to come up with enough funds for insurance,gear,uniforms and tourney money...all girls involved are willing to do their part with fundraisers and what not.

Any and all tips are welcome....contacted 13 girls and all 13 are in.....we could have easily taken more.
Thank you all in advance, Andrew

 

[JAD]

Good luck!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-discussions/17483-tb-team-501c.html

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-discussions/16134-sponsors.html

 

[canyonjoe]

On the uniforms, get pants and socks you can buy in a local store. Find shirts that you can get new ones quickly. You will lose players early on and get new ones. Talk to tournament directors to try and figure out what class you should play in.

 

[FP26]

First of all, good luck with this project! It can be done, and it sounds like you have the support of the parents. That is definitely an important first step. Here are a few other items to consider.

1) The thread Amy linked is very good. In order to provide the tax write off some are asking for, you will probably need to register as a 501 (c)(3). However, this process costs approximately $400. That cost may be more than the sponsorship you are receiving. There is a lot of good discussion in that thread.
2) The amount of money you need will be determined mostly by the number of tournaments you want to do. As a brand new team, you may want to keep your tournament schedule a little smaller the first year, just to gain that experience and determine what your team is financially capable of doing.
3) While things like matching bags and helmets, and spiffy uniforms are really cool, they are not necessary. If your parents want to go that route, great, but the cost of matching helmets could easily pay for a tournament.
4) You are in the right place! There are a lot of good people on this site that can help you with this process.

Enjoy it!

 

[dadonachair]

My best advice is let parents know what they are in for. Keep them in the loop about money and the time they will have to put out. Those are the complaints that I hear the mumblings and grumblings on the sidelines by parents. Cost can be a very big thing to some people. The links that Amy gave you are great places to start. Sponcors can help a bunch in keeping cost down. Fundraising can be some of the best way to get money and be group activitys for the kids and parents. Sub sales, bake sales, coindrops are easy to do and make money for the team. The problem I have seen in the past is one family sells 50 subs while another sells 5. YOU have to make sure the money goes to the right family and that can take time. I like coin drops, they cost nothing so 100% of the money goes to the kids. It is easy to divide. Any time you can make find raising a team bonding activity is a good thing. Happy moms and dads = happy team. Tension among parents can kill a team quickly.

When we got into travel it sounds a lot like what you are doing. A couple of our local rec leagues got together with our best all star players and made a travel team. We kept it simple 6 tournaments that spring that were close to home and some friendlies/scrimages. The cost was low and it was a great time. We got our but kicked some games but we won a few games. At the end of it all we were two games under 500 so we thought of that as a sucess. The last tournament of the year we made a team a one and done on a Sunday that had run ruled us in the first tournament of the year. That was a big highlight.

To keep cost down we as parents bought our own pants and socks. Kept it simple. Black pants, black socks. The girls got two uniform shirts. One for Sat. one for Sun. and matching helmets. We did not buy matching bags, T-shirts, warm up suits, hoodies, under armor, coats with our name on it. There was no reason. Besides it is fun to beat those teams that have all that stuff.

Find out what class you are in. If you are a C register as a C team. You can always play up. Make sure the parents know what they are in for. There are some very good teams out there that play down in levels just to trophy hunt, just like some let pride take over and regester as A or B teams and get there butt kicked all the time. Parents that have never seen TB may think that there DD is the best in the world cause they are great at rec are in for a suprise. Play some scrimmages as soon as you can against other teams and judge where you are from that. It sounds like you are a town team. Know the difference in a town team and a club team.

13 is a good number to start with. 11 is the minnimum you want. Do your best to give the girls equil playing time. I have never once been upset when my DD (neither has she for that matter) was sitting the bench or playing another postion and a less experienced player was playing her spot. Number one DD was getting a chance to make her skill better and playing another spot is a learning lesson the way she looks at it. The other is the team doesn't go into a panic if they loose a SS. They just incert player X and keep going. When it is hot in June and July it is good to get a break and be fresh later, but parents need to know these things. Some parents look and see DD sitting the bench and become unhappy really fast.

Keep track of the money. Keep track of the playing time. Know what level you are and play that level and make sure you are challenging the girls to get better. Make sure to have fun! Buy a lot of Pepto/Tums and asprin and Red Bull.

Come here to get advice and tell the parents on your team about this site so they can learn with you.

 

[CoogansBluff]

My best advice is let parents know what they are in for.

That's perhaps the best single bit of advice. First, you need to come up with a good game plan. But having one, expressing it well and sticking to it would put your team above many from the start. Put a lot of time into the game plan because there are many things to consider in terms of teams goals and philosophy.

One of the main things to plan is your philosophy on playing time, batting order, how frequently you plan to move players around in the field. Having 13 players is a lot., although since it's a new team perhaps you want to have some insurance against players finding out that travel isn't for them. I think 11 is the ideal number. Some tournaments might not let you bat all 13. I'd let parents know of the challenge you'll have regarding playing time.

And finally, if it's an entry-level travel team, your goal is probably going to be more developmental than anything else. Players can't get better sitting the bench.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

After LL season last year, I met with a start up team and the parents. I spelled out the cost to them - and I suspected that most were living paycheck to paycheck. I could tell that they weren't taking in what I was saying. I told them that the yearly cost can be $5,000 easy. I told them about the cost of equipment, the cost of private lessons, the cost of motels in Phoenix and the to realize that the cost to get in even to a local park is $3.00 per person. Then, add the concession stand and bottled water to that (because you can't bring in your water, and this is Tucson.) I might as well have told them that everything is free. They were using old Walmart bats and paying me 1/2 now and 1/2 later.

They had a sponsor willing to buy some equipment, but it was contingent on his DD being the star. Well, that didn't work, either. The team only lasted a few months.

Treat it like a business and have a business plan. Trying travel ball on a shoe string, is never a good thing.

 

[Andrew72]

Thanks to each and everyone of you for the tips...I am sorry I haven't commented back till now...work and being sick isn't much fun.

We do know this will not be an easy thing and I have spoke with many parents about the fact that it will take time as travel ball is a diff beast the rec ball. Our rec league was 8 games...that's not enough for these girls. The reason we went with 13 is jic we have vacations come up or injury.

I am torn on leaving rec ball because it looks as though it is finally working to get better as a program...but sadly our girls cant wait another year or 2 till it starts to take shape.

I will be talking with another coach today to discuss this more in depth and lay out a plan then have a parent meeting...for the most part all the parents I have spoken with understand we will not make a team and just crush everyone in our paths and that we may not win many or any games.....but they all agree that in time the girls will improve and playing better teams is what they all need.

 

[YOCOACH]

The only other thing I would add to this excellent advice is to set realistic goals for the team as well as the individual players. An example for the team may be that you would like the team, as a whole, to have a batting average of. 350 and an on base percentage of. 500 (just throwing numbers out there) or by the end of the season, limiting the number of errors to no more than 2 per game. For individual players, an example might be that you would like to see your catcher blocking every WP by the end of the tournament season. I'm not saying that this is not happening now, just giving a few examples. If you can get the individuals to achieve their goals, you would be surprised at the backing you get from the parents because the team itself will improve. As a starting TB team, that IMO, is the key to a successful season....showing improvement both as individual players and as a team.