Check out Birmingham Thunderbolts from a softball side if you wanna see full bore can’t go anymore crazy travel ball world.

It is...everybody should just do what they think is best in life...whether it be travel ball or spelling contests...just do your best to raise your kids the best way u know how regarding beliefs and developing talents and helping them along the way

My son played catcher for the Vipers 07-08. 14-15-16 year old. He was not on the team. Team needed a catcher for weekend/ days with multi games. Hot days behind the plate. We would show up catch a game hang around or sometimes leave. May stay and catch one or half a game on Sunday. Filled in at first base 1 game. Got a look or 2 from juco calhoun sneed bethel and somewhere Tn. It was fun he play at Troy UAH Alabama Bethel Auburn.got to see some nice fields and on a turf field or 2. He had a decent bat and no speed on the bases. Pop time wasn’t consistent for what was needed for a catcher to move on. Threw a few out stealing and lovetocatch one sleeping leading off first. Do what you can to get your kids exposed to what ever it may be sports fishing engineering space race cars mechanic. He loved the game.

My youngest played and if a bat and gloved was needed to start a fire he would donate his.

Just hunt, you are right on, we played against Chet Lemon( juice), Dolin Dodgers, and saw them and teams like them at the elite travel ball tournaments( invitation only)and, big name coaches/ scouts were there.

Ball on Sunday mornings made it an easy choice at my house.

my preacher told me that i could find God and witness to anyone anytime and that i had the potential to reach folks/kids on Sun morns at a ballpark that would not have otherwise been reached. he wasn’t advocating for ball over church but I completely bought into what he was saying

How’s that working out? Reaching and witnessing to those kids and parents at the park on Sunday? Jw seriously

other’s salvation isn’t for me to figure out…just commanded to witness and on sun morns like this when I’m at the park, it’s on my mind and I try and wear it on my sleeve and am intentional about with the young men and parents I’m around

How are they taking your witnessing? Do they listen and agree, do they turn with their nose up and leave you? When I was in my teens on showcase team there was a Sunday morning meeting in hotel room that all team members were expected to attend. Church based meeting, was nice. I’m not judging or throwing stones. Just curious on how these other believing people feel about Sunday ball games. I’m sure there are non believers that aren’t concerned..

I played in the 90’s and early 2000’s. My grandpa took me to most of the games. However we rarely did out of town tournaments. Typically played within a few hours of home. These days it looks much more intense. With two sons and a daughter that will likely be ball players I see this issue coming up sooner than later. I’m torn on the best route to take.

Never understood travel ball and the “it’s what my kid loves to do”. I just think it’s the wrong message to send a kid that the entire family is going to sacrifice their weekend/free time s that little Johnny can play baseball.

I don’t think the message of sacrificing your time for others is ever the wrong message. Little Johnny also would be taught to sacrifice his time for his sister’s swim meets or soccer tournaments. Or helping around the house.

Also if the whole family enjoys traveling to a different city with 12 other families and hanging out by the hotel pool and grilling out and building relationships it’s not a sacrifice. It’s really a fun time.

Travel ball was originally set up so that the best from certain areas could play the best from other areas/surrounding states. Basically, to get the best players seeing better pitching, and the best pitchers seeing better hitters, in order to get them ready for higher level baseball and make them better players. The old, "iron sharpens iron" deal. It, like everything else in our current society, has been watered down now to include just average or in some cases below average players in an effort to be all inclusive, and as such, is nothing more, in a lot of cases, than glorified little league.

Little Johnny isn't good enough the make the A travel team, so his dad and some other dads who have kids that didn't make the team, none of which have any business coaching or playing baseball, get together and start their own travel team. So many have done this that smart business men recognized the opportunity to make big $$ and became involved and now they have 3 or 4 different classifications of travel ball pretty much everywhere. If your team isnt made up of only top level players and is not coached by a paid coach, (someone who played in college or the pros, or a retired, qualified HS or college coach), and is managed and coached by a dad or group of dads that never even started on their HS teams, it sort of defeats the purpose, if improving the kid's baseball skills (which is what travel ball was started to do) is the purpose.

If your team cannot play competitively at the "Major", "Elite" or "AAA" level, (highest classifications in the major tournament groups USSSA, Perfect Game, GrandSlam) where every kid, on the every team, is in the top 3 or 4 best best players in his league, county or school, then it's not real travel ball. You're basically just paying to travel, watch your kid enjoy the game and play little league or a little better quality ball, away from home.

There's a place for everything. If your kid isnt a top player but loves to play baseball and your family likes to watch baseball and travel to other cities and states, by all means, go play in the lower classifications and enjoy yourselves. Just dont fall into the parent trap and think he's going to be the next John Smoltz or Mike Trout because he's killing it in the lowest classification. I wish I had a dollar for every parent, moms and dads, that just cannot believe that Little Johnny didnt make his HS team, or that no colleges looked at him, because he played travel ball or made the LL All-Star team every year and did so well. If your kid has the athletic ability to play beyond HS, travel ball can be a great development tool to get him ready for college but be realistic about your expectations and your evaluation of your kid's talent level.