Starting a Club Team......?

[InsidePitch]

Unfortunately the money you are spending won't get you what you expect. Going to a Regional or National team like Intensity, Chaos or Pride won't meet your expectation. That is on you and your DD. Those teams are to showcase your DD to colleges which they will do.

 

[marriard]

I only want what is best for the kids that I coach and was thinking I could try to raise the bar.

Nothing wrong with that; it is what most of us are in it for. And no reason you can't figure out a way to do so.

There is a level of play and teams above where you are now that it sounds like you haven't experienced or investigated yet. There is nothing stopping you from trying out new ideas and coaching ideas with your team and spending the team's fund where you think it might best benefit the team. You sound disappointed with your 'return for the money you laid out'; but it also sounds like you are coaching a team; it is your job and responsibility to get the best return for the money the parents have put into the team.

The reality is there is no personal financial return-on-investment for the majority; even if your DD ends up in college for softball with some level of scholarship, investing your money for tuition is a far better return financially. That said - investing doesn't come with expereinces and memories. It is all rewarding; I have spent thousands and thousands of hours over the years helping players and teams and there is great satisfaction in being part of what they become as they grow both as people and in the game.

I was coaching and officiating before my kids came along - the softball ride has been because my DD found it and loves it. I have been lucky that she has loved it because I do enjoy the part I get to play. I will also caution you - I learned several years ago (from others and seeing it) that my commitment couldn't be more than hers or it becomes an issue. This can be become consuming and a massive time suck - you can't ignore what is best for her (including not playing) because you are neck-deep in teams and organizations.

My DD's competitive travel journey is close to the end; her college journey starts in less than 6 weeks; what happens beyond that for me I am not sure.

 

[Westwind]

There are not enough hours in the day for org heads.

Running (just) a single team is like having a second full time job.

Org heads are usually Type A people. They need help and need to bring other Type A’s into the fold. This usually ends badly. Think a cage match of zombies armed with hatchets and axes. Nobody comes out alive. (OK that was kind of a bad analogy. Still it’s what happens.)

I honestly don’t know how anyone does it. One coach I know just went from head coach to assistant on the same team this year. He and his family went on a summer vacation- it was the first tournament he missed IN 30 YEARS. Dude is in his 70’s.

Coaching and administration of these teams can ruin your life if you let it. I absolutely love coaching but the level of commitment is beyond what most understand.

I’m retired with a part time job. I coach an 18u team and I have a lot of help from a group of four (4!) non-parent coaches. We have a blast. I have players and parents that go along with anything we want to do. It’s pretty much an ideal situation- I have never been around such a cohesive group. And it’s still a metric ton of work just to get to the good stuff- which is practicing and competing.

 

[SoftballFanatic123]

I am not coaching the team that she is on that I am somewhat disappointed with. As a coach of other teams (recreation & local travel) I se better opportunity in kids that are more dedicated than what I am coaching. I just think there should be more for the money with the "club travel" softball. I will do some looking into other opportunities and see what is out there.
I would not take starting something up lightly based on my business background so I know it is a heavy lift and not one to be taken lightly.

 

[Capone]

My 2 cents:
- $3K in annual dues is high, more for a national team
- Building a 6-8 team org is difficult and will take time
- Building one team without having coached or having a core group of girls will also be challenging
- the $3K annual dues, as mentioned before, covers things like fields for practice, tournaments, friendlies, sometimes coaches pay, etc.
- Not much $ to be made off one team from dues

Where I see or think people make money
- Giving lessons. Many coaches also give fielding or hitting lessons to players.
- As mentioned before also, the Tony Rico model. Money on merchandise and I think they probably get some part of the start up or monthly dues
- hosting friendlies or tournaments. This can be both fundraiser or to make $ for yourself.

It's a lot of work and headache to run your own team/org.

 

[softball dad 6]

Your thoughts are not any different than many of us have had while watching our DDs over the years. We all see things we would do differently or think we would do better. When DD started down the travel ball path I thought they should be teaching her everything after all I was paying a lot of money. I would now consider that an opinion of ignorance. DD passed all those girls from her first team up over time. In my opinion 20% of that improvement was from independent paid instruction, 30% the coaching and opportunities from her travel teams, and 50% the extra time she has chosen to put in outside of team activities. When I look at the top talent in our area they almost all have a parent that puts in a lot of time with their DD.
I think DD's current coach is a really good coach and I have learned a lot from being around him. I still only agree with him about 75% of the time. Granted the 25% I would do differently is mostly small stuff and I am sure I am wrong about much of that.
I am going to share a short story that is not about softball but related. My dad was a farmer and I am a veterinarian. He was riding around with me on calls and we kept talking about what this farmer was doing wrong and what that farmer could do better. After about an hour he turned to me and said "we sure are better at farming other peoples farms than we are our own". This simple statement has become one of my core guiding principles.
I think the opportunity is in trying to get small and mid sized organizations more organized. Most of the time in my experience they are just a loose collection of teams with little in common other than uniforms. There are lots of things I think could be done to help tie teams in these organizations together, help them run more efficiently and in the end help the girls reach their goals.
For example in the winter I would like for an organization to invite in an expert every week for different positions, catching, middle infield, corner infield, outfield etc and have girls of the different age groups there learning together. I would also find the coach in my organization that ran the best practices and try and use him as an example for the other coaches to learn from. I would do my best to try and make sure all the coaches were on the same page regarding player and skill development.
I do realize that egos would make all of this very difficult to achieve but if you could get the entire organization functioning as a team I think you could accomplish much of what you want. In my mind this is the low hanging fruit for improvement.