Travel Ball is Killing Rec Ball

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May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Rec ball so it don’t matter but hit her first HR tonight on a 4-4 day at the plate. I was proud of her.
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Congrats to your DD!!

Also...Whoever owns the white truck and silver car must not to go ball fields very often. ;)
 
Mar 21, 2019
137
28
It’s my white truck. I go to plenty of ball fields. I got there as the game was starting and wasn’t parking a long ways away lol. Besides wife’s uncle owns a body shop softball dent is no biggie.


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May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
It’s my white truck. I go to plenty of ball fields. I got there as the game was starting and wasn’t parking a long ways away lol. Besides wife’s uncle owns a body shop softball dent is no biggie.


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I guess not giving a damn would be the other reason to park there - LOL.
 
Apr 24, 2019
1
1
My kids play travel ball as well as rec ball. Our travel team is made up of kids all from our small town of 3500 people so basically it is a rec ball team. We've been fortunate enough to fundraise and parents have not been out of pocket at all.
They've always played rec ball and have been traveling for 3 years now. I was actually commissioner of our towns program because I do encourage them to play rec ball because not all kids have the opportunity to play travel. But I do agree travel ball tremendously hurts rec ball programs.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
I think it is better to say Daddy ball has killed rec ball.

Daddy ball being defined as "DD did not make any of the TB teams she tried out for, what are they nuts . . . I will start a team so DD is on a travel team" then they recruit 10 other (usually clueless through inexeprience) families from their rec league (usually the top 10% of what is left), make all sorts of statements about how their talent (which had to have been passed over due to jealousy/politics, etc.) is going to make big things happen. They become a D level travel team. cycle then repeats ad nauseum, until there is no one left in rec who can catch or throw. this is combined with in TB, the Daddy/Mommy or DD can then hand pick their teammates according to their clicque, rather than have to coach up what you are dealt with in rec.

In our area, there is an entire "travel league", and honestly, after seeing some of these teams, and DD trying out for them, you could take 80% and put back into rec, and lift the entire level of rec to where everyone could have fun and learn and progress. you would go from 2-3 girls on each being able to catch and throw, to 3-4 girls on each team struggling to catch and throw. the problem for the parents commented on above is that then DD is not necessarily the star, cannot play "her' position all the time, and may have to play on team not made up of the parents and daughters friends. gee, sounds like preparation for life to me.

DD moved to travel two years ago, did not lay rec last spring, but is back this year, in order to be able to play with classmates, etc. One of her issues I know is that her classmates last year talked big about winning districts or whatever for allstars, while DDs travel team took second in USSSA states. trouble was this meant nothing to any of them, because they had no idea there was anything other than rec AS and this travel league (do not think even one team from this travel league registered for USSSA states).

think some of these travel orgs/leagues/associations need to have some sort of relegation like EU pro soccer does, finish below a certain threshold two years running, move down a level or out of travel altogether. might help to stop the dliution of both travel and rec ball.
 
Feb 26, 2018
328
28
^^^^ This sounds exactly how it went my DD's first year of travel at 10U. HC recruited a bunch of girls from the rec league. Talking after the first practice about how this talent level could win the WS and all that. First tournament we looked absolutely silly and it was a downward spiral the rest of the season. However, that got my DD into TB and we've been enjoying the journey. I agree that the talent level is too diluted, but these orgs fielding the B/C level teams are just doing it for the $$. Yeah these girls are playing "travel", but getting blown out of the water against any decent competition. The problem is, USSSA and the other sanctioning bodies get their registration fees, so they benefit from more and more teams registering.
 
Mar 21, 2019
137
28
I think it is better to say Daddy ball has killed rec ball.

Daddy ball being defined as "DD did not make any of the TB teams she tried out for, what are they nuts . . . I will start a team so DD is on a travel team" then they recruit 10 other (usually clueless through inexeprience) families from their rec league (usually the top 10% of what is left), make all sorts of statements about how their talent (which had to have been passed over due to jealousy/politics, etc.) is going to make big things happen. They become a D level travel team. cycle then repeats ad nauseum, until there is no one left in rec who can catch or throw. this is combined with in TB, the Daddy/Mommy or DD can then hand pick their teammates according to their clicque, rather than have to coach up what you are dealt with in rec.

In our area, there is an entire "travel league", and honestly, after seeing some of these teams, and DD trying out for them, you could take 80% and put back into rec, and lift the entire level of rec to where everyone could have fun and learn and progress. you would go from 2-3 girls on each being able to catch and throw, to 3-4 girls on each team struggling to catch and throw. the problem for the parents commented on above is that then DD is not necessarily the star, cannot play "her' position all the time, and may have to play on team not made up of the parents and daughters friends. gee, sounds like preparation for life to me.

DD moved to travel two years ago, did not lay rec last spring, but is back this year, in order to be able to play with classmates, etc. One of her issues I know is that her classmates last year talked big about winning districts or whatever for allstars, while DDs travel team took second in USSSA states. trouble was this meant nothing to any of them, because they had no idea there was anything other than rec AS and this travel league (do not think even one team from this travel league registered for USSSA states).

think some of these travel orgs/leagues/associations need to have some sort of relegation like EU pro soccer does, finish below a certain threshold two years running, move down a level or out of travel altogether. might help to stop the dliution of both travel and rec ball.

This is the same thing I’be been saying. Blame who you want daddy’s or travel teams fact is they ain’t in rec ball bc of it where most of them belong.


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Feb 27, 2019
137
28
I think it is better to say Daddy ball has killed rec ball.

Daddy ball being defined as "DD did not make any of the TB teams she tried out for, what are they nuts . . . I will start a team so DD is on a travel team" then they recruit 10 other (usually clueless through inexeprience) families from their rec league (usually the top 10% of what is left), make all sorts of statements about how their talent (which had to have been passed over due to jealousy/politics, etc.) is going to make big things happen. They become a D level travel team. cycle then repeats ad nauseum, until there is no one left in rec who can catch or throw. this is combined with in TB, the Daddy/Mommy or DD can then hand pick their teammates according to their clicque, rather than have to coach up what you are dealt with in rec.

In our area, there is an entire "travel league", and honestly, after seeing some of these teams, and DD trying out for them, you could take 80% and put back into rec, and lift the entire level of rec to where everyone could have fun and learn and progress. you would go from 2-3 girls on each being able to catch and throw, to 3-4 girls on each team struggling to catch and throw. the problem for the parents commented on above is that then DD is not necessarily the star, cannot play "her' position all the time, and may have to play on team not made up of the parents and daughters friends. gee, sounds like preparation for life to me.

DD moved to travel two years ago, did not lay rec last spring, but is back this year, in order to be able to play with classmates, etc. One of her issues I know is that her classmates last year talked big about winning districts or whatever for allstars, while DDs travel team took second in USSSA states. trouble was this meant nothing to any of them, because they had no idea there was anything other than rec AS and this travel league (do not think even one team from this travel league registered for USSSA states).

think some of these travel orgs/leagues/associations need to have some sort of relegation like EU pro soccer does, finish below a certain threshold two years running, move down a level or out of travel altogether. might help to stop the dliution of both travel and rec ball.


This is near how my experience has been. Last spring DD was mid talent level on our rec team. Our spring Head coach was a travel dad and advised me that I had to make the transition to travel if we wanted to get real improvement in her game. We found a travel team last fall with the infield comprised of another county's rec league all stars. We were promised a chance to compete at 3rd but can't get through the clique. DD has developed a lot over 9 months and now she is the standout player on her spring rec team. Our county fields three 12U teams and she's top 5 out of the 30 or so kids. The travel team however is very much low performing. She has been stuck in right or left field (no a lot of long hits and very dull in this region) I'm looking to move on from the team but being new to the travel world and the coaches knowing each other in the area I'm not sure what to do.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
A frequent story in So Cal travel ball...

The South City Samurai All-Star team is getting to the end of their tournament season, and want to continue playing together. Maybe they've had a good run, everyone is happy, the parents think their kids are amazing, so the coaches propose keeping that happiness going by making the move to TB. Not only that, but they are going to stay independent from the big travel orgs, so they can make their own rules, and keep costs down. Sounds great!

Next, the Samurai team signs up for a local tournament, and proceeds to get curb-stomped repeatedly by teams deep with experienced and talented top-level TB players. This happens a couple of times, and parents start to lose their buzz. Susie's mom gets fed up with it, and wants her "super-star" kid to play on one of those better teams, so they pull the plug on the Samurai. A few others follow them out the door. Now, the coach is desperate to keep his team together, and just have enough bodies to keep playing games. Predictably, he has trouble attracting good players to a team with a bad track record and an unfamiliar name, so he takes whoever he can find (often more not-really -ready-for-TB rec players) to add to his leftover core of girls that probably weren't really ready to leave rec ball. Maybe he's a pretty good coach, and is able to develop some skills with his players, but it just continues the cycle of better players heading out the door.

Teams like this rarely last long. They tend to have a slightly better chance of surviving if they join with a larger org.
 
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