That's how we did it too

Nope not all stars. You still have to come in 1st or 2nd to advance. Usually only 1st place advances past regionals. Travel ball is a little different. Very few tournaments do you have to qualify for, and the ones you do have to qualify for usually go by a point system.

It’s not for everyone. My son played all stars, travel ball, showcases or summer ball from 6 years old to 20 years old. He loved every minute of it and so did we. He learned how to compete, mental toughness and how to be a great teammate. He also taught kids in Honduras baseball last summer and used it to further the kingdom of God. Last Saturday me and my wife and daughter drove to Baton Rouge to watch a 14U tournament that my son and future SIL were coaching in. It was a blast. Some people love it. Some people think it’s a waste of time. But it was great for me and my family.

Side note… it was a little weird last Saturday when a guy asked me “Which one is yours?” I was like “ummm the one coaching 3rd.” 😂

You’ve made a few comments similar in other threads. I feel the same way you do about it but I’ve never seen a kid have a drive for something like my kid has for ball so I’m supporting him.

As long as he’s all in I’m all in.

That's where I am right now. I didn't really know what I was signing up for when he made all stars but our summer is going to be pretty much baseball. If I had known that I'm not sure I would have done it, but he absolutely loves it. I'd rather him be playing ball than screwing around on an iPad

My son loves it. We’ve never pushed it. He’s always asking “do we have practice today? Tmrw”
If it’s a yes it’s an automatic fist pump with a “yesss!” As long as he wants to keep playing I’ll do everything I can to keep making it happen. We won’t be doing any travel ball other than the traveling involved with all stars. The most games we’ve ever played doing that is 2 in a day.

He made it again this season so we’ll be busy over the next month and half.

Rings are for when you win the state championship game. Rings are becoming the new participation trophy

There’s a reason kids get their driver’s license at 16yo. Nothing to do with baseball matters until they get to about 16. The longer you can keep them from pitching the better

Anyone on here have kids playing travel lacrosse ?

I heard alot of men will pay big money, drive hours and spend days out of every week to hunt deer during deer season. Thats crazy, huh? If those men wouldnt spend one day a week for a month at their kids ballgames, its almost like theyre saying "what i want to do is much more important than what my child wants to do". I figure every member of a family has the right to get some of what they want and every other member should give up a little to see that the other member gets theirs.

What a lot of folks don’t understand is that if your kid is good at sports you have to either embrace it or quit. It’s sad but true. The days of weeknight games at the local park and rec fields till 7th grade are long gone. This is true for soccer, baseball, and I’m sure other sports. It’s expensive and time consuming, and not for everyone. But if your kid is going to play in high school, you just can’t stay at the sandlot anymore.

I don’t know why kids get to decide what’s best for them when it comes to sports

I absolutely believe it should be the kids decisions and not the parents pushing them. Why would you not want them to be a competitive person? As crenshawco said above, I’d much rather be watching my kids play sports than have their face buried in electronics. Luckily I have all girls, and besides soccer, we do indoor (heated/cooled) sports (cheerleading, dance, gymnastics).

I've never gave two chits about sports or watching sports. I support my kids and my daughter plays but if I said I enjoyed it I'd be lying. Heck anything that involves being around crowds of people just isn't for me

I wish mine would quit or just play a little travel ball instead of both spring and fall. We started school ball for both in February. Ended it a few weeks ago and my daughter went straight into travel ball. Stephen will start his in the next few weeks and they will both play into October and Austin will probably play a few games in November. They both love playing and I like watching them but there’s a point when you have had enough. I haven’t been to a softball tournament yet this summer because they have all been a hr plus away. I made it clear years ago I wasn’t doing that crap and am sticking to it. I have honestly burned out on the ballpark and can only take small doses now.

What bugs me is the value that is placed on kid’s sports nowadays. We have several parents of kids that have been on coaching lessons since they were 4 years old. The families live for softball. Between the two families there are 6 kids, all travel across the southeast. What’s really sad is the parents grew up in church and now their kids only come to Easter and Christmas. I just can’t understand why a leather ball has more value than their on kids eternity. Who’s to say they arent worshipping their own way, but churches are closing right and left; where are these kids gonna turn when the world consumes them. Are they going to hope that softball is going to give them the life lessons on turning to God. I understand they will be taught strength/not quitting/team work, but where is this in relation to God.

Yeah…gotta bring religion into it.

My boys are playing. My wife and I were 100% against playing but the coach our boys had was really really good and they did well and wanted to continue playing. We have the same coach for all stars. While I’m not thrilled about it on a personal level they could be doing a lot worse things than playing baseball. I enjoy watching the actual games the rest of it sucks. We don’t and won’t play travel ball mostly due to the financial implications and neither of my boys will likely play much past little league.

Churches are closing right and left because they are being swallowed up by Mega Churches and people are leaving religion because of the games that a lot of churches are playing.

Patience........ Games will NOT be on time.

My son and his four friends just played their last high school game. They won a state chapmionship last year but they came up just short of winning the state championship after moving up to 2A
They finished runner up this year.
He played travel ball a few years. He got tired of travel ball when he started JV. For him what he loved the most was the group of guys he played with. From coach pitch to highschool these guys competed with and against each other and left it all on the field. I would have preferred he loved hunting and fishing like I did, but he was a ball player.
I believe its a godly desire to strive and compete I'm certainly going to miss watching him play.

Whether you believe it or not life is a competition. Men compete for women, jobs and positions. I can't think of a better way to learn about this than through youth sports. I always tried to take the time and address the life lessons he could learn after all the little league games.

I also think God enjoys watching us compete and persevere in life, He allows us to fail, but gives us strength to get back up. He allows pain in the world. He seems to enjoy watching us all compete at life just like I enjoyed watching my son compete on the diamond.

My son plays travel lacrosse and he loves every minute of it. That being said it will take as much time and money as you’d care to throw at it and I’m struggling with where the line is. I’d like to give him a shot to get to the next level if his talent level allows, but the folks that circulate in lacrosse circles tend to have a lot more $$$ than me. We will see where it goes, but I’m trying hard to be self aware and monitor him for burn out as well.