Travel Ball vs. Tourney Ball

[00fpdaddy]

Here in our town we have a rec. level program. From there girls are selected for travel ball. They play in the last 2 weeks of June and all of July. No playoffs, no advancing to districts or sectionals just competing vs. other tb programs from neighboring towns. Our dd wanted more out of softball, we went to a tryout for a tournament team. No league affiliation, they play in Asa, utrip, pony sanction tournaments year round. Season is split into fall and spring/ summer. Whole lot of softball with a break in between.

So in our region( NY ) we have 3 levels of competion, I guess I was just wondering about other areas and what fellow board members experience. I see threads and posts of the words tb ( travel ball ) but not tourney ball. What we have experienced, there is a difference between all 3.

 

[rdbass]

All I can say is about how it is around my area east pa.Others my help more.We have Rec which is made of girls from our township and only our township.They play other teams in our rec league.Travel team is made up of all stars/best players from the rec team from our township.The travel team will then travel to other townships and play their travel team made up of players from their township only.Tourament players can be from anywhere and play for that team.Thats maybe only how it is near me?

 

[starsnuffer]

You crazy new yorkers are always making up words for what the rest of us consider normal just to confuse things!

If you have to stay in a hotel, it's travel ball, because you're traveling, it's really as simple as that.

There are multiple levels of travel play. Rec league travel or "select" teams are what are generally known as "B" teams by ASA rules. These teams usually compete against other B teams but there are no rules that keep them from competing at the "A" level. An "A" team is a private club. Generally the level of play in A clubs is higher due to the fact that A ball organizations can recruit whomever, whereas B organizations have to recruit players from their own organization, township, or from a group consisting of no more then 5 high schools. However, there are a LOT of "daddyball" A teams that are usually a lot worse then B teams.

B teams can only have try outs and compete from the end of May to the end of July, however there are plenty of non-sactioned B tournaments to make up a good fall season around here (California). A ball teams can play year round, however depending on region and age there are limitations on HS players.

-W

 

[YOCOACH]

NE Ohio....Rec ball is when you you play other teams within your own league. A select team is when you have something similiar to an all-stars team and you travel to tournaments put on by other area leagues to compete. Sometimes Select teams will also play what are considered Travel Ball tournaments if they are local. These teams usually will not travel out of town or if they do, any real distance that would require an overnight stay. A Travel Ball Team is a team put together from all over. This team can be composed of players from anywhere (even other States) and is built to travel to various tournaments, many times staying overnight. The goal of these teams, other than to improve their kids skills and get them as much game experience as possible, is to play tournaments and to qualify to be able to compete in a national tournament.

 

[redhotcoach]

What you call travel ball, we call "all stars". The best rec girls playing some tourneys at the end of the year. Usually just the small towns around here do it. One made the mistake of signing up for an A tourney last year, and played against my tb team. We walked off bases in inning 2 and 3, I felt really bad for them.

 

[00fpdaddy]

You crazy new yorkers are always making up words for what the rest of us consider normal just to confuse things!

If you have to stay in a hotel, it's travel ball, because you're traveling, it's really as simple as that.

There are multiple levels of travel play. Rec league travel or "select" teams are what are generally known as "B" teams by ASA rules. These teams usually compete against other B teams but there are no rules that keep them from competing at the "A" level. An "A" team is a private club. Generally the level of play in A clubs is higher due to the fact that A ball organizations can recruit whomever, whereas B organizations have to recruit players from their own organization, township, or from a group consisting of no more then 5 high schools. However, there are a LOT of "daddyball" A teams that are usually a lot worse then B teams.

B teams can only have try outs and compete from the end of May to the end of July, however there are plenty of non-sactioned B tournaments to make up a good fall season around here (California). A ball teams can play year round, however depending on region and age there are limitations on HS players.

-W

Thanks for the clarification, now I can tell the other "new yorkers"

 

[maksoftball]

LOL...we play year round...and we call it "select" ball. We play teams in Houston and surrounding cities; seems like other teams from rest of Texas come to our big tournaments. The only ones we travel to are ASA qualifiers, HOF qualifiers and USFA qualifiers...if we make qualifiers, we head to Nationals. DD's team is just doing the Colorado Sparklers Jr tournament in June; and we *might* go for HOF in Oklahoma, but not sure.

 

[starsnuffer]

Thanks for the clarification, now I can tell the other "new yorkers"

I'm allowed to joke, my family is all in NY, mostly Brooklyn and the city, they give me a hard time for being a granola eating hippy, so I have to give something back

-W

 

[02Crush]

We see three levels of play: Rec Ball, All Stars (aka Select) or Travel Ball. If you play outside the county it is considered travel ball (because you could play tournaments within 50 miles or travel out more and seek many other options. We live in a major market for Fastpitch in the south so Travel Ball is more like tournament ball as we are blessed to play often and yet not have all the hotel bills. I think when you are within 50 miles of a major market you gain this benefit. If you are in a more out market/rural market you must travel to where the action is thus adding more "Travel" to Travel Ball.
I like the term Tournament Ball. I may coin it for us as this is what we are. We play a circuit with one or two TD's and see many of the same teams over and over. It great for creating grudge matches, healthy rivalries, respect among teams and other neat things. It is horrible for recruitment and keeping players as they can move over to so many option around them when they feel unfulfilled in someway whether justified or not.
We have access to over 10 events most weekends within 50 miles if us. We have access to ASA, NSA, ISA, USSSA, USFA, GSA, Camsports, Sports Nation, etc..Lots of ball to be had.
We also see mostly all Saturday only events 3-4 GG's. This is nice because it allows us to have a life. We practice, we play hard ALL day on Saturday and then Rest most all Sundays. There are a few all weekend events here and there and we play them from time to time but mostly we are one day tournaments.

 

[00fpdaddy]

Thanks for all the replys. We do see the same programs over and over again, get to know the other players and parents. Parents have no idea what girls can do, they think rec and select teams is the best display of fast pitch softball in our area.

Up here tourney ball ( travel ball A ) girls making running catches, turning double plays, laying down bunts, slap hitting, stealing, sliding, catching routine fly balls/pop ups. Paying attention, getting in ready position when the pitchers wind up, just awesome to watch teams when they understand the game. I did not say master the game, they are always learning and improving, we as parents trying to teach good sportsmanship and respect for others including the umpires.