How far do many of you travel

[Amy in AZ.]

and want to talk about awful things.

Oh, yes those awful things like "What is your science project on?" "Who called last night?" "Why did Jill get kicked off the team?" "Have you read the fliers that colleges are sending?" - all of those awful things.

 

[amanda_cake]

5 minutes here. Our 16U team has a girl who lives 120 miles away. She makes the weekend practices. I know a guy who had an 18G team in the late 90's and he had girls come from as far away as 5hrs (Spokane to Seattle). He would have 5hr practices on the weekends to accommodate the kids who traveled far distances.

Five HOUR practices? They had to have been serious to withstand that.

Oh, yes those awful things like "What is your science project on?" "Who called last night?" "Why did Jill get kicked off the team?" "Have you read the fliers that colleges are sending?" - all of those awful things.

It's usually worse than that. "Why is Jilly in trouble with her mother? Name every single person you saw when you left the house last night and tell me all about it. Or if you don't stop doing this and this, I'm going to lock you in your room and you'll never see daylight again."

That might be a bit extreme though. ;-)

 

[shockcoach]

My soon to be 12U daughter is going to try out for a team about 35 mins away with good traffic (and that freeway never has good traffic) which gives me pause.

I mapped your tryout location shockcoach...1 hour and 5 minutes...too far .

Was that via I-90 or going through Duvall/Monroe???

 

[andyh64000]

That was I-90 to I-405 to hwy 9.

Actually it shows 53 minutes that way in no traffic and 1 hour 5 in traffic .

Although the All-Star State tournament was in Mill Creek and that really only took me about 35 minutes.

 

[MsDinosaur]

What a timely topic! We just said yes yesterday to a team that's 35 minutes away (if there's no traffic, hah!).

However, I had looked around and seen that there weren't many teams and much club depth in our part of the city (north/northwest). My dd is a second yr 10U who is trying to move out of rec and while she's a decent rec player, she looks rough next to the comp girls. There are a couple of existing second year 10U teams within 10-15 miles, but they're only looking to add one or two players and there are a couple of new first year 10U teams, only one of which is willing to consider a 2000, and neither of which is part of a club that will have a 12U team she could play on in 2012. This organization has teams in every age division and a good second year 10U team and also a younger 10U team; both of the 10U coaches say they feel dd is very coachable and has a great attitude. They think the best thing for her is to put her on the younger team and train her there for a year. DH and I aren't thrilled about the extra driving we'll be doing, but we're willing to give her this year so she can see if she can learn to play at a higher level. If she can't or won't, then she'll still probably become a much better rec or C level player, but if she can, she'll have a shot at fulfilling her dreams of playing college ball. I don't know if she could make it out of rec if we waited another year, so we'll be putting on a lot of miles.

 

[3'sDad]

DD is just finishing her 1st year of 12 U travel.....practice is 25-30 minutes away (more with traffic).....Wife will take her to practice and I'll pick her up on my way home from work.

It would be nicer if closer, but the team is well coached and the girls get along and play like a team, so it's worth it.

Pitching coach is 30 minutes away and that is 1 x per week in addtion to regular practice.

 

[amanda_cake]

If she can't or won't, then she'll still probably become a much better rec or C level player, but if she can, she'll have a shot at fulfilling her dreams of playing college ball. I don't know if she could make it out of rec if we waited another year, so we'll be putting on a lot of miles.

I wouldn't count her college years out yet if the first year of 10U travel doesn't go that great. It's going to be a different ballgame than rec and it will take some getting used to.

Once heard a story about three girls on a 16U A team. One of the top teams in the area. One played C ball at 10U, one played B ball, and one played A ball. Looking at them at 16U, you'd never know the difference.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

For pitching practice we travel about 30 feet into the back yard. For batting practice we drive about 5 mins to a friends house with a batting cage and machine. For team practice we travel about 10 mins. But some of of our girls come from as far as 2 hours away.

 

[shockcoach]

That was I-90 to I-405 to hwy 9.

Actually it shows 53 minutes that way in no traffic and 1 hour 5 in traffic .

Although the All-Star State tournament was in Mill Creek and that really only took me about 35 minutes.

I saw two of your girls at the Lake Breeze tryouts on Sunday. Tack on another 25 minutes to get to there.

 

[MsDinosaur]

I wouldn't count her college years out yet if the first year of 10U travel doesn't go that great. It's going to be a different ballgame than rec and it will take some getting used to.

Once heard a story about three girls on a 16U A team. One of the top teams in the area. One played C ball at 10U, one played B ball, and one played A ball. Looking at them at 16U, you'd never know the difference.

Thank you, amanda_cake! But...Eeeek, that means we may have to steel ourselves up for MORE years of driving. At least we'd have lots of time to grill...er, talk to her about awful things.