Elite Travel Ball fees

[Rolltide1011]

DD#1's team cost is $3500 plus travel. They go to CA twice, CO, FL, and VA twice each season, so total travel costs are typically an additional $9-10K. I have a sneaking suspicion that InsidePitch and I may know each other.

Assuming she finishes out her travel career on the same team, we will have paid out somewhere around $40,000 for her travel fees over the last three years. The scholarship she has earned has a 4-year value of approximately $240,000.

Ego? Not at all. For kids playing at the highest level, it's an investment. I'll be doing the same for DD#2 starting next year. It's a risk, certainly.

Thanks ScottyDont for that knowledge.........Im sure your DD's team have big Sponsers...do that cover anything?
They play in Elite showcases like the PGF Nationials in CA and The Invitional in CO every year im sure...

Do you have any knowledge on what the avg. scholarship percent is for softball?...I know there very few full rides in softball, so is the avg offer 50%, 70%, ?

Thanks for the knowledge for all....im truly grateful

 

[ScottyDont]

Thanks ScottyDont for that knowledge.........Im sure your DD's team have big Sponsers...do that cover anything?
They play in Elite showcases like the PGF Nationials in CA and The Invitional in CO every year im sure...

Do you have any knowledge on what the avg. scholarship percent is for softball?...I know there very few full rides in softball, so is the avg offer 50%, 70%, ?

Thanks for the knowledge for all....im truly grateful

No sponsors. Ours is a very inexpensive team by comparison to many in the area. The coaches are not paid (though their expenses are paid), we do a bunch of fundraising, and the younger teams do pay a per-player fee that funds some of the top teams' costs.

We play in the top local showcases as well as the Colorado IDT, PGF Nationals, and a few Diamond 9 events. The majority of our players are committed to schools within 200 miles of our home fields, so much of the long-distance travel is probably not necessary except to promote the organization.

Most of our girls have earned scholarships that combine athletic and academic money. I can't really speak to the percentages for all of them. My daughter's athletic scholarship covers approximately 50% of the total school cost and the rest is academic. The other offers she received were similar. I know one other player who was offered 70% athletic with no academic money.

Honestly, for most of the top level Gold teams, just making the team is enough to get plenty of looks from colleges. Look at the rosters, and you'll find that most of the players are committed to D1 schools and presumably getting at least SOME money. Again, I can't speak to how much money is involved outside of my own personal experience, but I think that if you're on the right team and have a recruiting staff willing to do the legwork for your daughter, it's not a high risk investment.

 

[Rolltide1011]

No sponsors. Ours is a very inexpensive team by comparison to many in the area. The coaches are not paid (though their expenses are paid), we do a bunch of fundraising, and the younger teams do pay a per-player fee that funds some of the top teams' costs.

We play in the top local showcases as well as the Colorado IDT, PGF Nationals, and a few Diamond 9 events. The majority of our players are committed to schools within 200 miles of our home fields, so much of the long-distance travel is probably not necessary except to promote the organization.

Most of our girls have earned scholarships that combine athletic and academic money. I can't really speak to the percentages for all of them. My daughter's athletic scholarship covers approximately 50% of the total school cost and the rest is academic. The other offers she received were similar. I know one other player who was offered 70% athletic with no academic money.

Honestly, for most of the top level Gold teams, just making the team is enough to get plenty of looks from colleges. Look at the rosters, and you'll find that most of the players are committed to D1 schools and presumably getting at least SOME money. Again, I can't speak to how much money is involved outside of my own personal experience, but I think that if you're on the right team and have a recruiting staff willing to do the legwork for your daughter, it's not a high risk investment.

Wow...That was really some great information.......

From my understanding and research....Most offer are 50% - 70% of total cost.....while full rides are rare and usually for elite pitchers, catchers, or just a true 5-star athlete.
This is because D-1 softball are only allotted 12 total scholarships a team /per year....but they can be divided up in any way that dont exceed the 12.

Unlike football where all are full rides and 20-25 are give annually pending on a teams graduating class and total number on team------i believe the limit is around 85-90 per team

 

[InsidePitch]

I have a sneaking suspicion that InsidePitch and I may know each other.

If you're paying a fee at the lower levels I could venture an educated guess on who your DD plays for. We probably have at least seen each other at Pennbury, Team NJ, Boulder and Huntington Beach. We don't go to D9 any more. To many of our parents are already screaming at 3 trips west.

Congrats on your DD getting a D1 offer.

 

[mj1569]

DD#1's team cost is $3500 plus travel. They go to CA twice, CO, FL, and VA twice each season, so total travel costs are typically an additional $9-10K. I have a sneaking suspicion that InsidePitch and I may know each other.

Assuming she finishes out her travel career on the same team, we will have paid out somewhere around $40,000 for her travel fees over the last three years. The scholarship she has earned has a 4-year value of approximately $240,000.

Ego? Not at all. For kids playing at the highest level, it's an investment. I'll be doing the same for DD#2 starting next year. It's a risk, certainly.

Like I said, this is for some, not all. I totally agree with let it be fun's logic. I might feel different if my DD was a stud . Also at $60,000 a year I am assuming your DD has some great grades and did very well on her SAT/ACT. At 12 scholarships per year for a D1 and around 7 scholarships for a D2 school most kids only receive partial athletic scholarships so spending big money to try to get your kid to a top softball school can seem crazy to some people. On a side note that is awesome that your DD has turned her youth softball career into a way to get a top tier education!

 

[JAD]

School me on your assumption here. UT seems to have about an average roster (20) that I can count on their website. Auburn on the other hand, has about 30 listed on their roster.

Also, according to Coach Weekly at camp this past June, a "scholarship at Tennessee is worth $250K".

They must have lost some players, in years past they have carried @ 25. If you look at their current roster 10 of the 20 are freshman...hard to give out full rides when you bring that many per class, unless several are preferred walk-ons or on academic scholarships with no athletic money.

 

[IRONMAN]

They must have lost some players, in years past they have carried @ 25. If you look at their current roster 10 of the 20 are freshman...hard to give out full rides when you bring that many per class, unless several are preferred walk-ons or on academic scholarships with no athletic money.

They only brought in 4 this past fall during the signing period. They lost 1 to transfer, so I suspect they will still be at 20 next year. It will be interesting to see how this big freshman class pans out over the next 3 years. My DD is a 2019 and they have shown some interest. We shall see.

 

[JAD]

They only brought in 4 this past fall during the signing period. They lost 1 to transfer, so I suspect they will still be at 20 next year. It will be interesting to see how this big freshman class pans out over the next 3 years. My DD is a 2019 and they have shown some interest. We shall see.

Tennessee had some really good teams in the past and I bet their AD would like to get back to the top of the conference, so they may be willing to get more "creative" with scholarships than most schools.

 

[PA SB Dad]

There is clearly a myth going around about sponsors and travel ball teams. Sure there might be one or two that have a cash cow that covers most of the costs, but let's get real here. When people talk about sponsors, the big names like Mizuno or Louisville don't write a check. They provide discounts on equipment, uniforms, etc. The typical cost for a year on a team that travels NATIONALLY is in excess of $10K up to $20K per player. Do you really think there are big donors giving in excess of $300K to travel softball teams??!! Again, there might be one or two, but for the most part, individual families are paying these fees, and using fundraising (individual, team, or organization) to help defray some costs, but there are no big money donors supporting large numbers of these elite teams.

 

[Rambler34]

Here is an example straight from a teams web site. All equip and uniforms is provided for the player by a sponsoring equipment manufacturer other than their bat. Our org had a similar set up with all of us wearing and using Mizuno eaquipment and they provided everything to the top 18U team including uni's, gloves, and shoes.

Team Dues: $300 per player for the full year, checks should be made out to.......

Travel: Air and hotel travel are arranged and paid by the organization. Ground transportation is available to players traveling without parents, which most commonly the case. Players are responsible for cost of meals.

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