Questions to ask and/or things to know when joining a large "national" team
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Since you are not local, I would look at the roster and see where the majority of the players are from. If their roster is local or relatively local, the coach will schedule practices as such. He may tell you it's ok to "make whatever practices you can make and we understand if you can't", but unless your DD is the #1 pitcher, it's hard to compete for a position and playing time when you aren't at every practice.
Look at their committed players , where are the going? Are those schools or conferences your dd is interested in? As a junior There is still money out there for 25s at the D1 level but it’s going quickly especially at the power 5 level so I would say if she’s not got a lot of interest going from schools she’s interested in switching to a higher level team would be a good idea.
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This is it exactly.
Here are the questions I would ask:
1) How much are the fees, and what does that include?
2) Who is the actual coach of this team?
3) Who is the recruiting coordinator for the team/org? What kind of recruits have they had?
4) What is their recruiting philosophy? Do they believe the mountain should come to Mohammed, or do they pursue the colleges to recruit your daughter?
5) Do they play events where your daughter's schools will likely see her?
6) What kind of playing time can she expect?
7) Are there any other obligations to the team not included in the dues, i.e., fundraising?
If you jump from a local team to a national one, your expenses will explode. We spent nearly $30K for my younger daughter's 16U national schedule. That included team fees and travel expenses.
1) How much are the fees, and what does that include?
2) Who is the actual coach of this team?
3) Who is the recruiting coordinator for the team/org? What kind of recruits have they had?
4) What is their recruiting philosophy? Do they believe the mountain should come to Mohammed, or do they pursue the colleges to recruit your daughter?
5) Do they play events where your daughter's schools will likely see her?
6) What kind of playing time can she expect?
7) Are there any other obligations to the team not included in the dues, i.e., fundraising?
If you jump from a local team to a national one, your expenses will explode. We spent nearly $30K for my younger daughter's 16U national schedule. That included team fees and travel expenses.
I would look at the roster and look at the girls playing at your daughter's position and ask yourself if you think she can beat them out for playing time. Realistically, making a jump to a national team as a Junior should have happened in the Fall when teams were showcasing. The travel coaches had more flexibility to move girls in and out of the lineup when the outcome of the game means nothing and substitution rules are non-existent. In the Summer, pressure to win a tournament might weigh more on a coach, than getting all his girls the playing time they need. Seen it plenty of times when a roster's committed players are all in the field and the non-committed ones are riding the bench
DD's team practiced T, W, Th-4:30-7:30 in the heat of the summer. And weekends when they weren't playing. DD still has PTSD! She said college practices were a walk in the park.
These top team coaches know how to manage a roster. If you are one of these, players will be plug and play. Otherwise, there would be lots of turnover and that would hurt their reputation. Also, having a large roster is a must when making deep runs in hot summer tourneys.
