Is your travel team required to play rec ball in 10 and 12u?

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Aug 29, 2018
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My dd is part of a rec league that sponsors travel teams for 8-12u. This year they are ramping up the program since it’s grown so much by creating a more competitive team who will play some A and open tournaments with practices starting in January and some tournaments in winter and spring. The caveat to be on this team, is they are also requiring you to play rec ball in the spring on top of the travel ball team. Normally travelball practices start in May for the summer season, which is st the end of rec season.

I don’t think this is a good idea. rec players will not be able to compete with the players on this team. It doesn’t make sense to me, and They are still offering a C travel team starting in May on top of the Black” team so those travel players can stay in th rec league.

My dd likes to do other things besides softball and with playing on 2 softball teams at the same time, one with very beginner or rec players, which won’t be that fun for her, she won’t have time to do anything else and might get burned out.
 
Jun 11, 2012
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When DD played travel for the town they were required to play rec because the travel team was run by the same league.
 
May 16, 2016
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First, participating in the rec league means, the travel team will be split up and distributed among the rec league teams. Generally there is a draft, and the travel team girls will be scooped up in the first or second rounds.

If you don't want to play rec ball, then I guess you need to find a new travel team. Most likely, it's the rec league that pays the bills for the facilities and maintains the fields your team will be practicing on, so it makes sense to support the rec league in this manner.

If Travel-ball (this sounds more like All Stars to me) starts in May, then you will only be on "two" teams for a few weeks. That doesn't sound too bad.
 
Jun 29, 2013
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It sounds like a Select team. Lots of leagues in Northern CA have a Select team that requires their players to play Rec ball as well to make the numbers work for the rec teams. If they're going to play A tourneys and open tourneys, I'm guessing one of two things occurred: 1) they changed the rules with Sac USA softball and the Select teams are no longer required to play in just the Spring Series tourneys or 2) your league is the one that has dominated over the past few years and wants to try something bigger.
 
May 24, 2013
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So Cal
In So Cal, the common practice is that once you make the move to travel, you leave the rec league behind. Travel teams aren't connected to leagues.
 
Last edited:
Aug 29, 2018
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Our travel team is connected to a rec league, but the past few years, travel ball started when rec league ended. All Stars is made of coaches kids and top travel players. It’s separate from travel and rec. but still part of the rec league. It’s just 1 tournament weekend, before rec playoffs. Now they added a more elite team considered B level that will start playing in January. They will play in A level and open tournaments in addition to the B tournaments. They will still have a C travel team that starts at the end of May when rec season is ending. The C team will only be on 1 team during rec season, their rec team, up the B team will be required to play on a rec team, likely All Stars, and their travel team. I think it’s too much. Plus those players will be on rec teams with newbies and casual players which is competitively unfair to both types of players. Not sure how that will work out since it’s the first time they are doing it. The reason they are creating this team is so these players don’t leave the area to play on more elite teams which is what started happening the past couple years.
 
Jan 22, 2011
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What state? My understanding is that is how it works for younger ages in Minnesota. As Eric and Elk Grove noted, in California many parents whose daughters are playing rec All-Stars delude themselves into thinking they are playing travel. I do not consider my daughter having played true A until she plays in a PGF tournament Sept 8th/9th. She played 6 years of rec All-Stars in the summer and most falls. Even though her team this past spring went 6-6-1 in PGF, I did not consider them a true A team.
 
Jun 12, 2015
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I definitely don't see the point of having kids who are good enough to play A level travel dropping down to play rec. That sounds like a bad idea for everybody.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
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Perhaps the point is to maintain a viable Rec league. When DD and I started this journey, younger age "travel" teams did exist, but they were rare compared to what I see today. I coached kids in the younger Rec league age groups who are now signed to play in college. Everyone has to start somewhere. Now, the orgs strip kids as young as six away from Rec leagues or, even worse, place their hand-picked teams in the Rec leagues to pummel everyone else. Ten years ago, there were viable Rec leagues even for 14-18U, but that is a dim memory.

Speaking from experience, having a few kids on a Rec team who know what they're doing makes the experience better for everyone. Heck, I used to play in a private adult league full of ex college and pro ball players. I was not in either category, but those guys were always willing to help others get better, and even train a player from ground up. I think that resistance to mixing experienced with newer players for a few weeks in a Rec league is pretty snobbish. What your kids hear at home will be taken to the ballfield. If the more experienced players go to the ballfield with a positive "lift their teammates up" attitude, you might discover some diamonds.
 

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