give me some insight on starting a travel ball team. this will be a 6U team . the park and rec league we are at now is a joke, coaches do not coach they just stand arounf and let the team get their teeth kicked in then at the end of the ball game tell them great game and lets so better next time. this is an all star team my son is playing on may i add tonight they got beat 28-4 and the coaches sat there the entire game and basically said nothing to the kids. when i signed up my child to play i expect him to be taught the fundamentals and such and be able to be on a competitive team

Say goodbye to:

Your week day afternoons.

Your weekends.

Your peace in general.

Your general enjoyment of baseball and/or coaching due to dealing with over-bearing parents.

Other than that...Hammer Down!

You forgot the say goodbye to a bunch of money. Other than that, nailed it.

Don't take this the wrong way but i think you are missing the big picture here....they are 6 years old. I still don't understand why they even have all stars for kids that young. Most at that age still can't wipe their own ass. You said that the coaches don't coach, that they just set there the entire game and basically said nothing to the kids.....why don't you tell us what exactly they should have been saying to them. You said that the park and rec league you are at now is a joke.....it sounds to me that a certain parent may actually be the joke. Good luck .

if im paying for my kid to be taught then thats what i expect. they should have at least told them what to do if the ball is hit to them, hell tell them good try or something . during practice they tell them to get in front of the ball, next time they dont get in front of the ball same thing they tell them to instead of showing them how to do something. there was a coach for the all star team that actually got out there and showed them. he got out there and moved them, well some momma and the head coach didnt like the hands on approach and complained and he is no longer allowed to help with all stars... my son wants to be the best so i will do what i have to to help him accomplish that, and my friend i am not a joke

Teach your child how to play instead of counting on others to do it for you. You say you are paying for your child to be taught, that makes me wonder how much the coaches are getting paid to teach him?

I’m sorry. I can’t get passed travel ball for 6 year old kids.

there is a fee to play park and rec ball.. i teach him everyday i am off work and he ask me everyday can we hit or work on catching ground balls. if he wants to and is willing to learn and be the best that he says he wants to be then i will provide every avenue possible for him to achieve his goal

this would be a every other weekend deal not the travel ball that travels to different states to play sometimes 6-8 games a weekend

One of my best friends is in new York right now with some kind of travel ball crap..took all 4 family members. Said he is $5000 deep in the trip so far.. No thanks.

That is plenty for a 6 year old. Travel ball for a 6 year old is unnecessary. Trust me, there is only so much you can do with an athlete that young. If it were up to Dr. Andrews and I, travel ball would be illegal until they are at least in their teens.

Worry about teaching you son to hit, throw, and fied correctly. Use the money from travel ball for quality lessons. Don't worry about everyone else.

6 years old---travel ball---learning much about
fundamentals===have no connection.

Jawbone and Coldtrail are leading you in the
right direction. Most kids that age just want to
wear a uniform and catch lightning bugs.

As per a conversation I personally had with Dr. Andrews a month or so ago, you are 100% correct...but it isn't just travel ball.

Why don’t you just sign up to be a coach at the park next season? I don’t care what you pay, the coaches are volunteers and if you don’t volunteer yourself, then you have no right to complain. I’ve already been through all this with three sons and I can tell you, at six years old, your son doesn’t know what he wants. His mind will change with the wind. I agree with what was stated above too, all stars for six year olds is ridiculous. No offense intended with my statements.

I’m gonna go one step forward and say you have no reason to be upset with the “coaching”. If you want it done how you want it done the March right on down there and sign up to be the coach. It isn’t easy lol.

I “cut my teeth” coaching in soccer with a guy that’s as good a man as they come. At age 6 he told me he could care less if we won or lost, all h3 wanted to see was improvements and correct technique. Well guess what happened 2 years later, those kids are dominating the field. We went from losing just about every game to not losing a single game in @ span of 2 years.

Be careful that you’re not teaching him the fundamentals of a sport he’s going to learn to hate by the time he’s in middle school.

Don’t do it. Ride down to the camp and let that kid play in the creek and check trail cameras with you.

The problem you'll have at 6u is there won't be hardly any 6u teams so you'll have to move up and play 7u squads and unless you just have some insanely talented 6u kids you won't be able to compete with even the lower level 7u teams. Most all star teams I've seen that try travel ball end up getting hammered every game.
Travel ball is what you make it, you can do it on the cheap and play 5 or so local tourneys that are typically Saturday only and it'll cost you about $25 per kid per tourney. Or you can go to Cooperstown and drop 5k, if that's your thing go do it and enjoy a family vacation at the park, people spend money on stupid crap everyday it's all in what you make of it. My kid plays travel ball, we love being at the ball fields, my kid loves it and it's time well spent together. It ain't cheap, especially as they get older. There are a lot of myths out there to travel ball and unless you're under some big organization you can probably stay within an hour of your house and play as many travel ball tourneys as you want and most of the time probably won't play more than 4 games, travel ball has gotten really watered down compared to what it use to be.

All that said, I'd recommend you move your kid up an age division and let him compete at the rec level for at least another year. Travel ball isn't a cure for bad fundamentals nor solution to playing better competition especially at a young age.

I didn’t go into it in my post but it happened with my boys. They all “wanted it”, so I pushed too hard. Especially with my oldest. Now, you couldn't pay them to play. Let them have fun. Worry more about the type man they grow up to be rather than the type ball player.