What % Travel ball players don't play high school ball?

[bsbs]

She is very impressive. She threw next to us about this time of year when she was an 8th grader. She was unbelievable then, I didn't know much about softball but I knew she was a power 5 pitcher. Now Washington is just a monster of a team.

 

[DryHeat]

It's probably about 5-10% around here dont participate. 18u and 16u TB totally shut down and about half the 14 teams, since those are usually split between 8th and 9th graders.

The ones that don't play are often freshman that don't make Varsity (or will just rot at the end of the bench if they do), the occasional kid going to a very low-skilled school team, a few injuries or transfers sitting out, etc.

HS ball is a big deal for most. We have a bunch of fantastic players in the area, some going to the highest levels of college ball. Almost all of the top players play for HS, even if their school team isn't top-tier.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Travel ball players who don't play for their high schools
= An unknown number.

Any guesses on the percentage of * high school age travel ball players that don't play for their high schools?

This would include and not be limited to the amount of high schools that don't have softball programs.

In the Chicagoland area they do spring teams every year. These are kids who don't play HS ball for whatever reasons. They usually average 3 or 4 teams each year. Occasionally more. They play against each other and will play a tournament in a state that does not have spring softball.

The HS talent levels in the area run the gamut from schools who have a roster full of travel ball players who can compete with top-level travel teams to teams who have no travel players at all. There are many schools who fall in the middle of the pack. Theses schools are usually also-rans in the end of the year playoffs. Out after 1 or 2 games.

 

[Rolling Hard]

In So Cal we call them dark teams. They are generally made up of players that are not yet in HS but the majority of their team is. So Coaches with advertise dark team tryouts with the promise to not steal players and that all players will return to their original team after HS is over. We had so many players tryout that we had two dark teams and it was a great experience. Rosters are fluid and games are loose and fun with a lot of opportunities for players to play different positions. Easy to find competition. As far as upper classman dark teams, not so much. With all the complaining about HS ball you would think there would be a market but I think girls still don't want to miss out on the HS experience.
Baseball is a little different. They market it with "why get 3 ABs a week playing HS ball when you can get 7 to 10 ABs playing TB this weekend". They have a point.

 

[S Spiff]

I'm not sure of the exact percentage, but it is related to the number of travel ball players who do not get the playing time or position they believe that they are entitled to on the high school team.

Once that happens, it normally becomes clear to the player and her family that the high school coach knows nothing and that she will be better off playing travel ball for her dad's team in Missouri during the Spring.