Travel ball team started

[Purr2]

Oh ya know... some guys started a local travel ball team- 12u. Just took the girls that were the allstars on the 10u team that made it to the state tournament 2 years ago. My daughter is on it. My husband is helping them, but it's a mess. Mostly the funding problem I guess. I'm guessing if they had a little more money- then some of the other issues could be solved pretty quickly.

The story-
Very local tournaments. Absolutely no big deal at all. So far- total reg fees for 3 local tournaments that they want is $850, with a chance to get $250 back from the one tournament if our parents work the concession stand. {We have to pay it though and their board has to vote & approve first... probably not until July}. And now it's time to order uniforms.

Apparently donations/sponsors are not as easy to scrounge together as we had once hoped. And I guess they did not see this coming ?{Last year dd was on a local team with the exact same story- but a different group of girls. My family's business gave $200 and I sent a letter to our local Elks and it took a few weeks- but they gave $50. A few other families of girls may have done the same- because we put a few business names on a banner and PRESTO... I'm guessing we covered all our expenses somehow last year- i was not involved. The players didn't pay to be on the team & no fundraising}.

Fast forward to this year- and only my family & one other family has brought in $400 total between us. Ok fine- the team needs some money... I'll do what I did last year... I create a 'sponsor' letter and give to the 'guys who formed the team' and then I proceed to send to pretty much every single business in our town. A few weeks later- nothing else $ has come in. I just keep sending. To my knowledge- I don't know of any similar travel ball teams in my town that charges the players to play. Plus it wasn't communicated from the start. Plus do they expect equal playing time if they contribute money?

I can't imagine trying to run a fundraiser, nor asking the parents to fund-raise. I have no experience with this. But is that the option we have left? I think we all thought the donation/sponsor money was going to come much easier than this. Anyone involved in the administration of this team (including myself)- has had zero past experience in the admin of a team. It was definitely just "we have really awesome players and we have really awesome coaches who really know how to coach a softball team. So let's go play some tournaments."

But none of the 'guys' had found info on tournaments to play, filled out and registered for the tournaments to play, nor apparently realized that it would cost $ to have a team. I know some are going to say 'why didn't you xyz....' We would definitely have to ask them. When they hadn't started practices yet in January- my husband bugged them until they did. When they hadn't discussed a list of possible tournaments yet by Feb- I collected and printed out all the info to give them. When they hadn't chosen tournaments or registered yet by 3/9 & the tournament directors were warning me that their tournaments were almost full- then I pulled the trigger on 2 of them and filled out registrations and sent them out that day- from my checking account throwing in $200 extra personal money. It's not my team. I don't want it to be my team. I am well aware that I do not have many of the qualities that it takes to run a successful softball team. But my daughter wants to play in some softball tournaments this summer- so what choice did I have?

Any advice is definitely appreciated.

 

[JJsqueeze]

The way it generally works for a travel team is all families pay a monthly dues to cover these expenses and there are fundraisers throughout the year to augment the kitty.

Out team is $150/mo dues and we have had 4 fundraisers (candy bars, garage sale, super bowl pool and pie sales) since Sept.

It sounds like your team's families need to be charged a monthly dies to keep this thing going and give some stability to the finances.

 

[RetiredCoach]

I think that if you showed up "in person" to these businesses your odds of receiving sponsorship money would greatly improve. Another good way is working through connections, meaning work through people who work at those businesses or knows people that do. It is very easy to say "no" to a letter especially when these people do not know you.

 

[canyonjoe]

Just out of curiosity, if no one wants to do fundraisers, how did the parents expect to have this paid for?

 

[InsidePitch]

I've never heard of a team that didn't charge. Heck even REC in NJ gets over 100 per season and 200+ for town travel. Who plays for free?

 

[reagansdaddy]

I echo what has been said above. This is an expensive undertaking and the families should be expected to make an investment in the team financially. Additonally, people have to go out and personally contact businesses to get sponsors. Form letters get thrown away.

I will say this, we talked to our local Wal-Mart which allowed our girls to stand in front of their store and solicit donations for a weekend. I was pessimistic about it. It turned out to be unreal. We raised a tremendous amount of money and it turned into a good team building experience as well. If you have a Wal-Mart near you, it would be worth asking.

 

[quincy]

A huge part of TB is the expense, it might not be your money but it is someone’s.

I would rather write a check then fundraise, unless my DD or DW do it then it is a great idea.

Sorry but If you start paying out of your pocket for other players on the Team you need to find a new Team.

 

[KCPRK]

The previous team where you say no one paid--I bet SOMEONE paid. Most likely the coach just to keep his team together. Its common on startups where coaches have difficulty asking parents for money and end up eating the costs just to play.

Then they realize just how expensive it is and start asking for money. Everyone thinks the last season was magically paid for and insulted they suddenly have to pay.

99% of the teams out there pay dues and fees for everything-a fair split of the costs.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

At the initial meeting of the organizers of a team and the parents, about 18 months ago - I stressed that someone has to "lay out the initial money." I also told them that with travels to Phoenix and gate expenses locally, they could expect to pay $3,000-$4,000 dollars a year. I gave them ideas on how to raise the money. I told them, "do not spend your child's college fund on softball."

I knew a lot of these parents and knew their job woes and that they were paying me bit by bit.

But, I might as well have been saying "This is all free." I don't think that the team lasted over 6 months.

A similar team, with 2 major sponsors and no fees, is still thriving.

My advice to you, would be to travel up to 2 hours and get on an established team. Good luck. It is fun, when run right.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Oh ya know... some guys started a local travel ball team- 12u.

You don't have a travel team. What you have is a few guys who are trying to start a REC program with 1 team. You need to do a hard reboot. If you've got 10 girls, then you should be able to get uniforms and 8 tournaments for roughly $500-600/player. We have a great program for future, would-be 12u TB coaches which allows them to operate with training wheels out of the local rec leagues in 8u and 10u, but our area is pretty unique and softball-heavy. It's not too late for your guys, but the learning curve will be steep and depending on everyone's goals, it's most likely not the best option for your truly advanced players who have hopes of playing after high school.