Family Vacations

Thanks guys (and gals). I knew folks were going to equate travel ball to vacation, but...
a) The travel team she was on last year was a subset of the rec league (a higher-level all-star team). The rec league didn't have a 12U travel team last year, but did have two 10U teams. I don't know if they'll do the travel team again in '10, or if she'd even make the team.
b) We (I) like to plan vacations 9months-1year in advance. Usually makes it better for airfare. Kind of hard to plan around tournaments when things won't be set (or at least announced) until May.

I'm thinking we go the end of May/1st week in June (as soon as the kids get out of school) and just let the coach know. Hate to miss anything though.

In Minnesota our season gets compressed by the weather so I think more than some there is a tendency to play a tournament every weekend from May-August 1st.

We have HS ball from Mid April-June 1st. Our travel ball usually resumes the last weekend in May unless we have kids on one of the 8 teams still alive in the HS State tournament. We ended up playing almost every weekend, but we had told the parents back in March that the weekend before 4th of July would be a weekend off and no softball activity that weekend. IMO that one weekend off of rest just prior to the final push going into nationals was good for the girls and the team and by planning it in advance there was an opportunity to schedule family vacations into that slot.

We also had some time off in August because we returned 10 of 11 players and didn't need to do tryouts, but for many girls taking a vacation in August isn't possible because that is tryout time to make a team.

mudbug said:

Well that depends on you and the team your on.

These are run by "for profit" organizations like USFA, NSA, etc, who allow everyone in, even very weak teams, to make the most money. These are conducted in a family vacation destination to attract low tier teams who want a sort of family vacation combined with a tournament at the end of the season, hence their popularity. But, these are REGIONAL tournaments, not NATIONAL tournaments, and 8 out 10 teams are really mediocre at best. Some very good teams do go to those locations, but often they can be warmups for ASA national championships. Other very good teams just happen to have a great team, but are not the type that want to compete at the highest levels.

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We played in ASA, NSA, USAAA, USFA, 'national' tournaments over the years. The best competition we have was at ASA. The worst competition we ever had was at ASA. Qualifying for nationals at ASA makes people think 'wow - we must be good' - when in some areas of the country, all it takes is to breathe air for 7 innings.

Welcome to softball. Went 6 years without a true vacation that was not softball related with my oldest. We figure it will be that long again with our youngest. We play indoor winter ball Nov 1 thru Feb 1. Then High school till May. Travel from May to Nov. Plus she plays high school soccer in the fall 6 days a week, Softball on Sundays. Since she is a Freshman , have 4 more years of this.

DD is doing the same as your daughter. We found the 1st two weeks od August work best. Tournaments are complete and try-out season is just warming up.

SBFAMILY said:

Since she is a Freshman , have 4 more years of this.

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Famous Last Words.

You guys are crazy if you give up a family vacation for sports. News flash: Your kids leave home and grow up. And, when they are gone, you don't get a "do over".

I had two DDs that played sports in college. We always took a week in August to go on family vacations. We didn't necessarily go to some exotic location, but we always went somewhere together.

SBFAMILY said:

Welcome to softball. Went 6 years without a true vacation that was not softball related with my oldest. We figure it will be that long again with our youngest. We play indoor winter ball Nov 1 thru Feb 1. Then High school till May. Travel from May to Nov. Plus she plays high school soccer in the fall 6 days a week, Softball on Sundays. Since she is a Freshman , have 4 more years of this.

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I feel your pain, at least I only had one daughter. This was the first time in 13 years that we actually had a vacation that didn't involve softball. We went to the Malibu Beach Inn for spring break this year, and believe it or not, one morning, I woke up, and jumped out of bed, thinking I had overslept and was going to be late to get to the field. Yea, sad I know.

I don't remember a year when my daughter didn't go to at least 2 Nationals. We said that it would get better when she got to college but she signed with a college half way across the country, so it was actually was worse. We had the spring tournament, then the conference tournament, followed by regionals, then supers. My wife and I actually would trade tournaments. I'd go to one then she would go to the other.

I know Sluggers.......Crazy but, looking back, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

DonnieS said:

We played in ASA, NSA, USAAA, USFA, 'national' tournaments over the years. The best competition we have was at ASA. The worst competition we ever had was at ASA. Qualifying for nationals at ASA makes people think 'wow - we must be good' - when in some areas of the country, all it takes is to breathe air for 7 innings.

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Was my experience as well.

for sure there are good teams wherever you go, and some weak ones too. It is unfortunate that the "for profit" organizations have lured many good teams away from even wanting to compete for a national championship. But the fact remains, ASA nationals are the only true national, and overall the hardest to qualify for with structured limited berths, and you wont find the top teams from California playing anything else. Ask a college coach where they would rather watch, ASA nationals or the others, Fireworks or "sparkler " (where everyone plays!)" They want to see the most elite teams because they have the concentrations of elite players.

I do think it is sad that a trend is that more good teams are foregoing shots at ASA to go other fun places, but that is their choice. You cannot claim to be #1 unless you compete for it though. Neither of the top 2 teams in my state (IMHO) competed for ASA berth last yr, and that is thier choice, but sad.

"for profit" organizations are hurting softball , and most are blind to it. It has generated a tremendous # of mediocre teams where real talent maybe one or none per team. A travel team has to "travel" to find competition worthy of playing, how many of todays teams meet that definition??? Id say about one or two out of ten in my experience, and I find that sad. The rest are really just masquerading. They say they are a "travel team" , they go to "nationals", etc. But they travel in a one or two hour driving distance and never spend the night, play the same local teams over and over all season long, and go to nationals at a place where everyone can play. Of course they lose immediately too.

The problem with that is this. It lures in many talented girls who dont know better, and they can waste several years figuring it out and finding a truly competitive team. In the meantime, the truly elite teams in some areas can have difficulty finding the best players, because they are spread thin. Everyone loses except the mediocre players that get to pretend, which is of course the majority.