My TB Ignorance......please cure

[dadofadirtlover]

Looking to make the leap to TB next year (gotta start saving for it now) and there are a few things I have no clue about that I'm hoping can be cleared up:

1) What is this entry fee and gate fee stuff I keep seeing for tournaments? Is that something that is covered by the registration fee when you join an org or is that something that the parents have to split at each tournament?

2) Are the # of tourneys set each year or is it something that constantly changes throughout the season from month to month?

3) Are most of the "travel" to parks within a 1 - 2 hour drive or is this something that is generally an overnight kinda thing?


This is for 10U btw.

 

[Comocoach]

1. Entry fees are covered by your player fees and there are generally no further costs out of pocket for those. Sometimes end of season championship tournament fees are not budgeted and may require additional out of pocket.

2. Number of tourneys varies from team to team and org. to org. DDs team played in 13 this spring/ summer. Some other girls her age played in 8. I would expect 10u to play in 5 or 6 plus a league.

3. Travel time and distance depends on your location. Half of our tourneys were in our home town, most of the others were within 2 hours drive. We sometimes shuttled back and forth, sometimes stayed overnight in hotel with team.

All of your questions should be able to be answered BEFORE you agree to join a team. Poorly organized teams can make your summer much more hectic than it should be.

 

[quincy]

All those are good questions, none of them can be answered.

Your best bet is to talk to parents on the Team to figure out what is going on before you sign up. It might change a little bit but you will have a good idea what is going on.

 

[JAD]

1) TB tournaments have an "entry fee", which is the fee the team pays to play in the tournament and some tournaments also have a "gate fee" which is when they charge admission for non-players and coaches on a daily or weekend basis.

2) The number of tournaments vary from team to team, and a good head coach will set the expectations up front. Schedules are always subject to change, but most coaches are sensitive to the costs of TB and try not to exceed the budget or number of tournaments they set at the beginning of the season.

3) The distance traveled will also vary from team to team and by location, so check with the coaches to see which events they plan to play. Some areas of the country have a concentration of local teams, so they are very successful at setting up local tournaments, while other teams may travel multiple hours every weekend. The distance traveled will also vary based on the level of play as the high level teams usually have to travel further to find good competition.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

[quincy]

A couple years ago Nieces TB Team let them know that they added 3 out of state tournament at the end of the year that were free. She quit the Team, there is nothing free about it.

 

[InsidePitch]

At 10U I would not want a lot of hotel stays. 1 or 2 tops. Ask how many tourneys are on the schedule and their locations. Expect you will have 8am games every day and then decide how many hotel nights you will need. DD played the 13-15 tourney schedules in 12-14U. Took as much toll on me as it did her since she could sleep while I drove. Since you said you were going to start saving it sounds like you won't be racking up the rewards nights so keep it close.

I have only paid a gate fee at the ABC nationals and CO.

 

[grcsftbll]

Definitely varies based on the team. We usually have to pay gate fees ourselves. On our 8u team last year we didn't have any that were further than 90 minutes away, though we played in Panama City, picking up with another team. We're 10u now, registered for 5 fall tournaments, all within a 90 minute drive. The goal is the ASA world series in CA in the spring. That'll probably be our only real travel.

 

[marriard]

Looking to make the leap to TB next year (gotta start saving for it now) and there are a few things I have no clue about that I'm hoping can be cleared up:

1) What is this entry fee and gate fee stuff I keep seeing for tournaments? Is that something that is covered by the registration fee when you join an org or is that something that the parents have to split at each tournament?

2) Are the # of tourneys set each year or is it something that constantly changes throughout the season from month to month?

3) Are most of the "travel" to parks within a 1 - 2 hour drive or is this something that is generally an overnight kinda thing?


This is for 10U btw.

One of the joys of TB... everything differs for every team and is dependent on lots and lots of different factors including location, age group, type of team, organization, # of available local tourneys, training resources, weather, coaching staff, etc, etc. The answer to similar teams in California or Florida will be way different to similar teams in say Iowa or Michigan. Yours are valid questions, but can only be answered by the team you are trying out for.

For 10U try to avoid going WAY over the top. National championships, state championships, hell even local tournament championships are meaningless in the long run at this age. All about getting better and enjoying themselves so they want to come back and play next season.

 

[Rocketech1]

For 10U try to avoid going WAY over the top. National championships, state championships, hell even local tournament championships are meaningless in the long run at this age. All about getting better and enjoying themselves so they want to come back and play next season.

I tend to have a different perspective on this. When DD was 10U, her team qualified for ASA nationals and finished in 2nd place. It was an incredible experience for the players and families involved. The players worked hard all summer to get there and their efforts paid off. These experiences may or may not happen again (e.g. girls drop out, or their team never gets back to the national championship game, etc). To say these tournaments are meaningless really does a disservice to the players. I'm sure these type of experiences have made my DD a better player and will stay with her throughout her softball "career".

 

[sbmom19]

3) Are most of the "travel" to parks within a 1 - 2 hour drive or is this something that is generally an overnight kinda thing?


This is for 10U btw.

Hopefully you live in an area where there are quality tournaments within an hour's drive or so. Unfortunately some of us are not that lucky. DD played U14-U18 this summer with 80% of the tournaments 3.5 hours away. Now she is on an 18U travel team based in a city 4 hours away (that's an 8 hour round trip drive every Sunday for practice). Next weekend the tournament/showcase is 8 hours away and in November it is 13 hours away - and those are just the two that we know about! So start saving your pennies now...