If your DD has a scholarship worth $10K, and you spend $15K traveling with an "Elite" team getting her ready to play in college, then you are an expert in "fuzzy math"! It is like my wife coming home from the mall and telling me she just saved $200.....when she really just spent $1200......
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If your DD has a scholarship worth $10K, and you spend $15K traveling with an "Elite" team getting her ready to play in college, then you are an expert in "fuzzy math"! It is like my wife coming home from the mall and telling me she just saved $200.....when she really just spent $1200......
I understand your point, it's valid. I know even my DD's college coach at the Juco level almost insists she plays this summer with a good travel team, which again is valid. He wants her to stay "tuned" for his investment. With that said, she will no longer play for the exposure team for the facts YOU state. She will play for a travel team made up from some of the best "around the parts" as the Juco level doesn't travel nationwide, until playoffs.
Now there are those elite national programs that need those "ribbons" to endorse their program, I feel they MUST use their signed/committed players to win Nats/Premier. But that's another animal. I'd like to hear Brooke's fathers opinion on the matter as she will be playing at a higher level, and procedures are different.
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If the question is does it make economic sense to play travel softball, then I'll agree that in most cases the answer is no. If instead the question is why would someone play on an Elite exposure team after they've committed, then I'll stand by my answer and contend there are many other valid reasons why a player continues to play at the highest level available even when less expensive alternatives exist. In some areas the exposure team is the elite team with a guaranteed birth to Nationals, and the team that plays at the invitation only tournaments against the best competition. And some athletes are internally driven to want to compete against the best even when it has nothing to do with scholarships. Many play because they love the game and want to compete against players at or above their skill level. In most cases the further up you are on the talent pyramid the greater the expense involved in competing against suitable opponents.
Could the money be better spent on hitting lessons, individual instruction, work outs and the like? Probably. But I fear the drive and passion would suffer. And most importantly, games are so much more fun to watch than workouts!
So sometimes you tell your wife how good she looks in the $1,200 of additional clothes you'll never understand she needed, and sometimes you sacrifice more than you thought was possible so your kid attains her dream.
Coach- I would never put my DD on a team that has 5 pitchers. Regardless of no. 1 or 2 or 3 status. If you are not in the top 2 pitchers on any given team, you need to find a team that you would be. It is simple math. Most teams are playing 5-6 games a weekend, usually timed. Lets say that's 30-35 innings. You gotta think no. 1 and no. 2 will each get a game a day. That should be 25 or so innings. That leaves about 10 innings for the rest of the pitchers. So best case scenario, you are looking at 5 innings a week to get better. Oh by the way, it would be against weaker teams with back up players supporting the pitcher. There are way too many TB teams out there, to let your DD be in this situation. I would seriously have to consider another position and spend my free time working on hitting. If a player honestly calls themselves a pitcher, they need to be on a team that supports their claim.
I forgot two other selling points, which is that 1) you are experienced and 2) do not have a DD who is a pitcher on the team (I mean no disrespect to other Dad coaches BUT- my experience with Dad coach whose DD was the pitcher not so good- when coaches' DDs played other positions- much better.)
