Has travel ball hurt your local rec programs?

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Jul 15, 2016
115
18
So, DD2 is 6 and still in our local rec league. We had our skills eval a couple weeks ago and the enrollment numbers were way down from when DD1 played there (yep, shes one of the ones that left rec for travel). It seems like over the last 2 or 3 years the explosion of travel teams has eaten up a number of players and some that should probably still be playing rec. I was wondering if this was isolated to the southeast, or was this happening all over.
 
Feb 3, 2016
502
43
I think in my region of the country Softball participation is way down for TB for young start up teams. I don't see but a couple 8u teams in travel ball but rec leagues around here are doing ok. The commitment is huge and cost of travel to play great competition is increasing every year.

Can't say I've not thought about the Softball community shrinking as Soccer growing around my town.

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Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
It wouldn't surprise me if soccer is down in our area too.

Past 5 or so years lacrosse has taken off in our area.

I would guess they are sucking players from all the other sports.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Short answer: Yes, rec is suffering locally. No doubt about it.

Lots of reasons - but the one I think hurts most is that the serious parents - i.e. the one who leave early for travel only - are not staying as long as they used to in rec because travel commitment levels have risen over the past few years and therefore they are not helping manage and run the rec league because their kid is no longer in it.

When my DD started in 8U (which is 8 or 9 years ago), you could play rec and travel with only a slight overlap. So a travel girl could play in a rec program and not be burned out with trying to play too much. There were less - if any - travel tournaments during the rec season. If you wanted to play softball you HAD to play rec because travel teams had few options to play while rec was on.

Now there is multiple travel tournaments EVERY weekend so parents correctly decide it is one or the other, and the talent or the serious parents tends to choose travel. So now rec is weaker as the talent isn't there and there are less numbers. And younger travel burns players out because you are playing ALL weekend anywhere from 4 to 8 games which is a lot for a 9 year old.

What has happened is that B/C travel is replacing rec but that is bad because it is not a casual commitment. It is an ALL weekend thing and that is not what a parent and kid trying out the sport wants to commit to.
 
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Dec 2, 2013
3,410
113
Texas
I personally think kids should stay in rec as long as possible. I also think that the horrible to mediocre players are on these travel teams where they should be honing their skills in a rec program. The program that we were associated with has grown every year for the past 8 years and our All Star teams usually do pretty dang good. Number of Teams: 6U-10, 8U-20, 10U-12, 12U-11, 14U-1 (Coop with other leagues)

For those wanting to jump to TB they will have to find a team and will most likely have to drive all over as there are no TB teams linked into our rec program which is why we keep so many. When my DD made the jump to TB in 8th grade, we ended up in a great program but the team was horrible. My all star team would have destroyed this team. So our first year in TB was brutal. Allstars is fun for those families that want to play 6 to 7 summer tourneys without the full year commitment. It is the gateway to the life that we live now.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
For us the 1st year of full player pitch was 10U, it was rough.

Saw a lot of players make the jump then.

If it was a better game more players would probably stick around.

8u and 12U and up is Ok, 10U not so much IMO.
 
Jun 29, 2013
589
18
Yes, travel has decimated a lot of rec leagues in Northern CA. Just 5 years ago, the 10U divisions were pretty competitive in nearly every local league and you would see a lot of talent at the rec all star tournaments through 12U, and the majors (13-16) division wasn't that bad. It's rare to see much pitching after 10U now due to the number of kids who have gone to travel.
 
Aug 23, 2016
359
43
DD's league is still doing okay, though we've benefited from problems with other nearby rec leagues (somehow our league has been getting families who are dissatisfied with their current leagues). The girls in DD's league generally stick around through 12U, then move to travel. So TB has definitely hurt DD's league at the 14U level.

But I also think, based on what I hear from the various softball parents I know (in DD's league and others), that mismanagement, bad coaching, and overbearing sports parents are hurting rec leagues more than TB is.
 
Apr 16, 2010
924
43
Alabama
DD's league is still doing okay, though we've benefited from problems with other nearby rec leagues (somehow our league has been getting families who are dissatisfied with their current leagues). The girls in DD's league generally stick around through 12U, then move to travel. So TB has definitely hurt DD's league at the 14U level.

But I also think, based on what I hear from the various softball parents I know (in DD's league and others), that mismanagement, bad coaching, and overbearing sports parents are hurting rec leagues more than TB is.

I think you hit with your last line. DD#2 played one season of softball in 6U. We had issues with management and one former commissioner plead guilty to stealing money from his employer and was suspected of doing it at the park. Moving to coaches DD#2's coach was a great guy but I have never been to practices that were more of a waste of time except for maybe two or three kids who got a ton of reps while everyone else watched. The girls were simply bored. It took all the energy I could manage not to tell the guy how to do about 50 drills the girls would love and get something out of. Add in crazy parents that were worse than the group my oldest came through with and I have no questions as to why DD#2 isn't interested in trying it again.
 

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