? About Travel Ball Org having two 10u teams

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Jun 8, 2016
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DD was just accepted onto a travel ball team with a well established organization. That organization is starting up a second 10u team in the same area. They have said that the two teams will be equal rather than one team being an A/B team and the other team being a C team. Is this pretty common? How does it work if both teams are doing the same tournaments? Is there anything else I should be concerned about?

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How do they know they will be equal? Did they have one big tryout and then try and divide the teams up evenly? Doesn't sound like it. That said, does it really matter? If you are happy with the team your DD is on that is all that matters, in particular at the 10U level. In my DD's org, they have 3 10U teams. One team, my DD's team has been with the org for 3 years (my DD joined last year) and is an 08 (second year 10U) team. There is also another 08 team which was just started last spring and an 09 team. We have played each of these teams in tournaments. The other 08 team isn't very good at the moment but I see them in the facility working hard all the time and the kids seem to be having fun. At the end of the day, the more younger age group teams the org has, the more they can be used to subsidize the older teams which give the org the publicity they need...The only issue becomes a matter of space for practice time. The org just added another indoor practice facility so they at least recognize that if they are going to have a bunch of teams at every age group they are going to need to pony up some cash to make space available.

Edit: As a sidenote, see if you can get buddy buddy with the Org head. Over the past year I have chatted him up a bunch and as a result he has given me the key code to the indoor facility so we can use it whenever we want!!! :)
 
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Apr 30, 2018
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Did both or either of these teams exist last year? If so check find out which players were on what team and see if that goes back more than that season. Especially if the coaches are young, you are looking for parents who really run the team in the background.



Great you are doing your research and asking the right questions. Always remember that travel is very much a season-by-season thing - so even if it is not the right fit THIS season, next season is never really all that far away.
One team existed last season, the 2nd team will be new this spring. Haven't had a chance to talk with the org leader/owner about which team she would be on. This organization has been around for awhile with baseball teams, but is branching out to add softball. It is run by a former MLB player (from a quick google search I think he might have played in the minors, but I'm not 100% sure). He and two other coaches were huddled at the practice talking. Shortly after the leader approach my DW and DD and extended an offer to join the team. Their website has bio's up on a bunch of their coaches, but I don't see a bio up the female softball coach. I'll see if I can get in touch with the leader today and get some more info.

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Apr 28, 2014
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I agree with the comment about having too many pitchers for one team. If you have enough arms to suffice 2 teams then most orgs will do it. But they sometimes fail to see that you need catchers and all other positions to support the pitchers.
 
Oct 4, 2018
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This org has paid coaches that don't have daughters on the team. Both teams are out of the same county and will be using the same private building and public softball field for practice. Sounds like it is more common than I thought. This is our first travel ball team so I'm trying to make sure this is the right fit, but options are also pretty limited unless we start driving an hour or more each way to the nearby big city. That would be tough on school nights with both my wife and I working.

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Wild. I wonder how much switching between teams there will be. One team might have 3 catchers and the other just 1. Or perhaps a girl doesn't like the coach and wants to try the other team.

I too would prefer them sorting this out and having one A/B team and one C team (assuming that's where the talent falls). That would give more competition to the better girls and help them improve but also give the C girls a chance to win some as they too improve.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
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DD was just accepted onto a travel ball team with a well established organization. That organization is starting up a second 10u team in the same area. They have said that the two teams will be equal rather than one team being an A/B team and the other team being a C team. Is this pretty common? How does it work if both teams are doing the same tournaments? Is there anything else I should be concerned about?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

DD’s org has multiple teams at each age level. They’re separated into local, regional or national teams rather than strictly talent based. Local teams being more developmental and national the most competitive. At younger ages they often have two regional rather than creating one national team. While that’s not the route I would go, the players and families seem to like it as many return the following year. All of the coaches are current or former college players. Any complaints go through the program directors to limit parents manipulating the coaches. Having watched several games the girls do a pretty good job of controlling them anyway.

The comments warning of problems with former players are mostly unwarranted. It’s no different than parent coaches. Some are great and others not so much. Painting either group with a broad brush as daddyball or too immature isn’t fair. For me the biggest advantage of former/current college players is female role models. I have nothing against male coaches. I just don’t like seeing how so often men are head coaches and women are assistants, team Mom’s or run the fundraisers. I think its important for girls to know they can coach or be anything they want.
 
Feb 26, 2018
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Our org has 4 teams for each age group except for 10U that has 2. So for 12U there are two teams that have all 2025 grad years and two teams with 2024 grad years. Once they get up to true 14U, they get split into local, regional, and national teams.
 
May 24, 2013
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So Cal
Large orgs in So Cal have a ridiculous number or teams in some age divisions. Sometimes those teams are connected, but most often they are each their own thing. My DD's team is one of 14 14U teams in the org. Other than complying with certain org-wide policies and standards, the team ls left to operate as it sees fit. I have seen connected teams that will move players back and forth, but have not experienced that ourselves.
 
Jun 29, 2013
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Large orgs in So Cal have a ridiculous number or teams in some age divisions. Sometimes those teams are connected, but most often they are each their own thing. My DD's team is one of 14 14U teams in the org. Other than complying with certain org-wide policies and standards, the team ls left to operate as it sees fit. I have seen connected teams that will move players back and forth, but have not experienced that ourselves.

Batbusters or Firecrackers? Just kidding, I see the same thing in Nor Cal but the numbers are a lot smaller (for instance, 4 14U teams instead of 14). It's the new thing, everyone seems to think you have to get bigger to fight off attrition from other organizations. Plus, the organizations make more money this way, even if they are technically non-profits the income pays for someone to make this a full-time job.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Batbusters or Firecrackers? Just kidding, I see the same thing in Nor Cal but the numbers are a lot smaller (for instance, 4 14U teams instead of 14). It's the new thing, everyone seems to think you have to get bigger to fight off attrition from other organizations. Plus, the organizations make more money this way, even if they are technically non-profits the income pays for someone to make this a full-time job.

So Cal Athletics - LOL. 14U has the most number of teams in the org, by quite a bit.

From my observations, new teams that join a larger org have a lower failure rate than teams that try to do it independently. What I see frequently is an all-star team try to become a travel team. They are all happy and excited at the start, thinking it's just going to be the same fun as all-star tournaments, but when they start getting curb-stomped on a regular basis by powerful, experienced TB team, the shine starts to wear off. Parents get irritated by losing, they see what better teams looks like, and think their DD needs to be there (they might be right), so they leave team...and a few others follow. Now, this new and unknown team without a decent track record needs to recruit new players who weren't part of the happy, warm all-star family. Generally speaking, the caliber of new recruits tends to be really low, which just continues the struggles. Very often, the stream of new recruits dries up, and the team is forced to fold. Now, being part of a larger org is no guarantee of survival, but I see frequently see parents favoring the big org names when looking for new teams for their DDs.

The math on Firecrackers is ridiculous...There are approx. 200 teams in the FC org. Each team pays the org $35/player/month. With an average of 12 players per team, that's over $1M/year going to the org!
 

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