When I played back in the 80s and early 90s we traveled in a 4-5 hour radius. But, not all the parents would go at once. Each parent going would fill a van or station wagon and once a few of us turned 16 we would take a van or big vehicle and drive ourselves hours away to games and tourneys. Now, nobody believes little johhny is old eniugh to take care (or play) of/by himself. up

Today, it seems the parents are more into it than the kids. We did travel last year for the summer. There wasnt any time to do anything else and we were always close because there are teams everywhere in atlanta. Only a couple dads on the team had even played HS ball and most spent a large part if their time sniffing jocks.

my 14yo has done it since he was 9 and enjoys it as much/more than school ball. he plays every to every other weekend and will through july. headed to newnan this wknd. like everything else in life, if you can't afford it, don't do it and if you suck at planning and scheduling, then especially don't do it.

I’m so glad I have all girls that mostly do inside sports (cheer, dance, gymnastics). Being in the air conditioner is much better than being at a ballpark all weekend

This. Sounds like the OP’s kids love it but there’s a lot that don’t

Nothing sucks worse than swimming. Expensive, practice everyday (2x once they hit 12), hot and muggy, so crouded you cant get away, and boring to watch. Sit there all day at a meet and get to watch your kid swim a few times for 1-3 minutes.

I had a rule my kids had to do swim team until 12 yrs old because we "live" on the water. 2nd one had ear issues that didnt allow it. Bad for him, but I think we caught a break. Kidding of course, but now I know why my dad never came to my track or swim meets.

My son does lacrosse. It seems to be a sport where the better players are ones who travel and are coached throughout the year. My son has aspirations of being a contributor on the high school team etc. I am currently allowing a very limited travel involvement so he can maintain progress. I figure 2 travel tournaments in Spring and 2 in fall is not too bad. But I’m close enough to it to see the slippery slope. I do see many parents in lacrosse who are consumed by it and send their kids to every camp imaginable plus sign them up for the year round teams.

My daughter just wrapped up her last high school softball season. It went from mid feb to late may. This last regular season ( with tournaments included ) consisted of 55 games. Every tournament but 1 was not in our county and once was at Gulf Shores. It was insane. Then, there are the parents who considered that the tune up for their travel season which doesn't have quite that many games, but they do travel farther and it costs a lot more.

For my family, that's too much. But if that's your thing, go for it.

Years ago, my son asked about playing baseball.

I explained the details to him, about missing fishing time, visits to his Grandmother's house (we lived in a different state), bible school, camping, etc. All the things we normally did spring/summer that we would not be able to do with him playing baseball.

Once he learned what he would have to give up in order to play baseball, he decided the other stuff was more fun and important to him. Said he could still play during PE at school.

I never regretted that talk.

This is why I never steered my kids towards baseball. We played soccer and done a little travel but never too extreme.

Here’s my thought on it. Baseball and softball scholarships are rarely full rides. Investing the money you would spend playing travel ball on your kids education fund. Most would come out ahead and have the kids college paid for by graduation.

We play a regional Rec ball league March-May. Played double headers either Friday night or Saturday and we played 1 game every Tuesday night as well. It’s fun, good competition and the kids loved it (12u). My son has a hell of a bat but as of right now he doesn’t have the speed to play at the college level and may not ever. I’m ok with that and he is too! 2 teams tried to pick him up strictly for his batting and he said nope. I realize I’m in the minority here but there’s way more to life than kids sports and the amount of money it costs to play travel ball is just stupid.

This ^^^

You'd be better off spending that money on ACT test prep chasing academic scholarships if college is in their future.

Well one point he has no plans on playing after high school so I’m not worried about him being one of those players. Wife loves it I like it but not to this extent.

I did and it did pay off.

The coach / coaches can make the biggest difference with reference to a schedule. Some coaches want to play every weekend and that just can't be the case for kids, kids meaning 14U and younger. We normally play twice a month; if there is a really competitive tournament within a 2hr drive we MAY make the exception to play a 3rd tourney that month but then it's a mandatory 2 weeks off and that means not practice activities for a week to week and a half. Also, we shut it down mid June and IF we do anything for fall ball we play, 2 touneys MAX, one in Sept and one in Oct because most of our kids play football.

Alabama has some excellent venues to competitive baseball; Albertville's Sand Mountain Park has been a huge blessing for us because it's a close drive but it host some of the top teams in the SE, regularly. Hoover Met Sports Plex is a reasonable drive and host some of the top teams in the SE. East Cobb / surrounding ATL areas is relatively close drive for Alabama teams (especially the B'ham area teams); it may require a hotel for a night, maybe 2 but you won't find better competition at those events in the country. We have also been to Southaven, MS to play which is a excellent venue. Usually as a TEAM we plan a big trip, we have been to Orange Beach to play and this year with are going to Louisville, KY to play as our Big Event. Those trips are usually the best trips, kids and families spend a lot of time together and it's always a blast.

Each to his own and decision for their families. We love it, it keeps my kids active, out of trouble, and they are building relationships, and memories. We have plenty of time to cut grass, fishing, going to our hunting lease to goof off, work 40hrs a week, go to the gym or whatever. I THINK if you want your to kids to do it, you HAVE to find a team that meets your standards of expectations, if not you will be miserable.

Travel ball is not what it was 15 years ago when my son played. He started playing at 13 and it was legit the best players on one team across multiple counties. I talked to a college friend of mine the other day and his wife is one of those big travel ball Facebook posters with the rings and all that... he said he doubts his son will be able to make the high school team. What!!!

And this is what it is today... watered down because all these dads think they know how to coach. Basically they killed travel ball and rec ball at the same time. When someone told me they have 9-10year olds in different classes... I know it was garabage.

I would check into the American Legion baseball program. Lots of teams around and a lot less of the BS you deal with in the other leagues.

I love watching my son play ball and he enjoys it. However, we aren't ok with missing church on Sundays on a regular basis so we don't play travel ball. It really saddens me to see families making ball more important than God. That's an idol, and that is covered in the 10 commandments.

I’m going to be harsh on this because I lived that life. If you think travel ball is going to get your kid more exposure you are wrong. There’s two types of players schools look for. There are those with potential and those that produce. Unless your kid is 6’3” to 6”4”, the big schools don’t see the potential. If your kid isn’t throwing 93 to 94 mph and launching 450 ft bombs he’s not performance. Some of the best ball players I ever played with were neither of those and didn’t get the first look from the big schools. The mediocre kids that were big built got the offers even though they weren’t that good. Your kid is just playing to play. That all changes in college when it becomes a full time job with little playing time. The “fun” is sucked out of it. If your kid can play, people will come to watch him play for his high school. I see so many parents devote hours and money like it’s all or nothing only for their kid to drop it all because it’s not what they thought it would be. It’s your time and money, so do as you please, but your kid only has so many throws and so much physical activity he or she can take before they wear down. If you want to waste that where it doesn’t matter be my guest.

There 10th 11th 12 th grade years go to as many college camps as you can.
They will meet players and coaches will see them. Some are multiple days. Can be pricey but so is travel ball. As is so many hobbies.