High Gate Fees
- Thread starter Jdaddy
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Travel softball is a money-grap. I repeat the same message over and over.
If your DD has enough talent she will get offered, period. Focus on what will give your DD the most talent. Embrace the folks who take the time to elevate your DD's game without their hand out.
Listen to me folks. Find the balance. You may be able to buy yourself into a scholarship, but it is few and far between. Even then if you buy a scholarship by paying exhorbitant amounts to high dollar travel orgs who hype your player, she will wash out of college after one year for too little talent.
IT IS ABOUT THE TALENT. Find people who embrace your DD for who she is, without an extended hand.
Mine is offered numerous times over ... and had little to do with paying money, but finding folks who help her (for almost free) because they see the potential, want her on their team, and are giving people. I am forever grateful.
If your DD has enough talent she will get offered, period. Focus on what will give your DD the most talent. Embrace the folks who take the time to elevate your DD's game without their hand out.
Listen to me folks. Find the balance. You may be able to buy yourself into a scholarship, but it is few and far between. Even then if you buy a scholarship by paying exhorbitant amounts to high dollar travel orgs who hype your player, she will wash out of college after one year for too little talent.
IT IS ABOUT THE TALENT. Find people who embrace your DD for who she is, without an extended hand.
Mine is offered numerous times over ... and had little to do with paying money, but finding folks who help her (for almost free) because they see the potential, want her on their team, and are giving people. I am forever grateful.
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Yes. We will be there this weekend and the Play for the Cure the first weekend in May.
So are you advocating to forego travel ball, develop your daughters talent, and the coaches will come calling? Or are you saying find a team where coaches are not paid?
- Feb 7, 2014
- 556
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I agree but like Riseball said... what's the alternative? Softball is organized differently than other sports. As far as I can see if you want your DD to get experience that is the only route?
Organizations such as Little League and Babe Ruth don't seem to offer the same volume of games (experience).
- Oct 19, 2009
- 1,821
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I forgot about high prices at concession stands and some tournaments only allow 1 average size cooler per team with water only, you have to buy other drinks from the concession. I’ve seen tournament directors confiscate coolers when they do not meet the requirements, I’ve seen some good arguments over coolers.
Most on this board know this already but for those of you who don't this situation SCDad's dd is in is very rare and not for the majority of players. This advice might be ok for a top player who wants to play for a specific college that is relatively local to the players HS. Top players will definitely get offers to somewhere. If you are a top player and just want any offer then sure, that might be good enough. If the athlete wants more school choices or to play anywhere outside the geographic location and/or for a competitive D1 this is definitely not the advice to listen to.
Even in my limited experience I have seen some very talented girls, go to schools they really didn't want to, not get anything or much less money than they could have by sticking with the... "I am talented so I will get discovered route". It's not really the athlete's fault but more the lack of experience of the parents/adults assisting them in the process.
Resting on your laurels as a talented ball player and waiting for offers is like going to Hollywood, sitting on a stool and hoping to get discovered by a movie mogul. Yes, it happens. But it is not the most productive means to an end.
There are some very good TB programs out there that do a great job of finding players suitable rides which are very reasonable in terms of cost.
There are some very good TB programs out there that do a great job of finding players suitable rides which are very reasonable in terms of cost.
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I've paid far more to attend HS games in support of my kids and their friends than I ever have to attend travel softball games.
I was very surprised the first time I arrived at one of DD's away games and admission was charged. I didn't have any cash on me, but the fellow collecting the money was really nice and let me watch the game anyway. He explained that their school doesn't charge activity fees (at our school, it is $85 per sport to participate) so they use their home games as fundraisers. Later that week, I sent a check to the AD of that school - I was happy to support their program under those circumstances. The AD called me personally to say thank you, which was very nice.
Gate fees are also collected for high school playoff games in every sport. The money from those fees does not go to the hosting school; rather, our state activities and athletics commissioning board keeps all of that money, which seems odd.
As far as TB, there is one complex in Boulder that always charges a fee, no matter which tournament is there. That's a municipal issue, not a TB issue. The more popular complexes in town are always more expensive than the fields in the more outlying areas. Spring is a tricky time here because TB is going on (HS ball is in the fall), along with Little League. The town leagues get priority field use, so just finding fields can be tricky until the Little League season ends in early June.
I was very surprised the first time I arrived at one of DD's away games and admission was charged. I didn't have any cash on me, but the fellow collecting the money was really nice and let me watch the game anyway. He explained that their school doesn't charge activity fees (at our school, it is $85 per sport to participate) so they use their home games as fundraisers. Later that week, I sent a check to the AD of that school - I was happy to support their program under those circumstances. The AD called me personally to say thank you, which was very nice.
Gate fees are also collected for high school playoff games in every sport. The money from those fees does not go to the hosting school; rather, our state activities and athletics commissioning board keeps all of that money, which seems odd.
As far as TB, there is one complex in Boulder that always charges a fee, no matter which tournament is there. That's a municipal issue, not a TB issue. The more popular complexes in town are always more expensive than the fields in the more outlying areas. Spring is a tricky time here because TB is going on (HS ball is in the fall), along with Little League. The town leagues get priority field use, so just finding fields can be tricky until the Little League season ends in early June.
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- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
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How do you become the best if you don't play with and compete against the best talent? The talented player should want to compete against the best and challenge themselves. When Jennie Finch was a teenager and had only pitched against inferior batters instead of playing against the top travel ball programs in the nation, there is no way she would have been a gold medal Olympian. Think how much better your daughter could be had she played for one of the best fastpitch programs in the nation?
