My wife has listened to two of our friends that have put their kids in it this fall. We vowed to never do the travel ball thing but she has it in her head we need to do it to give him a better chance at playing school ball. I am still a firm no because it interferes with everything else plus the cost and travel included. She has it in her head it is usually just one day tournaments every few weeks and not that expensive. Those of you who have had kids play tell me the good bad and ugly of it.

This will go 12 pages

Anything beyond a neighborhood level is competitive & expensive.
I played club soccer growing up and it was very competitive, took up a lot of time & money.

Don’t do it Bradley! First travel ball in the fall then club soccer in the spring!

We've played the last three falls along with rec ball and spring travel ball. It will make them better no doubt. This fall were taking off. JV is next. He wants to play now, hes hungry.

My advice is it all depends on the kid. Your going to have sacrifice but it's about the kid. If they really love something we should give the the opportunity to do it. Every boy needs something, a skill he can develop and work on. That's what life is about. That being said it sure is nice to be off this fall

I have said the same thing. I am all for my kids playing sports but I would never do the traveling thing. My BIL and SIL have their oldest one in traveling softball and it seems like a money trap to me, every weekend they are going all over the place and the expenses have to add up. Normally their financial situation is not my business but when you expect the WHOLE FAMILY to help pay you should expect SOME disappointments. We have got along great after that blew over.

The only reason this has come up is there was a big blow up at our normal park and a lot of kids have left. I know it will make him better but if it interferes with hunting season which for me is September-April it is a major issue.

I played travel ball growing up and it BROKE my parents financially and now that I’m a parent of 3, I realize it broke them mentally too. Did not benefit me one bit cuz I didn’t play college ball. Cuz I sucked

It will also depend on which sport your looking at as to the traveling time etc. My son plays and they play an average of 8 games a season, it will also depend on league that you child plays in. Really look into organizations and see what’s the best fit.

Don’t take this the wrong way but who is this about? You or him?

I played just the Little league schedule (30 games in the spring) until we moved to the "big field" 90' bases 60'6" mound at 13 years old. Then I played a very basic version of what travel ball is today in that it was pretty much just each towns all star team coached by a dad, and we played double headers every Sunday during the summer. I didn't play anything like what travel ball is today until I was 16, and was invited to play on a "scout team" who is now the Orlando Scorpions. Which if y'all play big time travel ball in the south you know the scorpions. Either way paying huge bucks and playing in thousands of perfect game tourneys at an early age is not necessary to become a big time college or pro player. Once you make it to HS IMO it's important to play on a big time travel team because that's how recruiting is done, BUT if your good enough they'll find you anywhere

If he is going to be a pitcher, then HELLLL NOOOOO. Colleges are avoiding travel ball kids because they have worn their arms out.

I know im a self centered jack ass when it comes to hunting. But it is what keeps my sanity. If it doesn't mess with hunting that bad I can deal with it. If it is going to be a major pain in my ass then it's a no. To be completely honest my son is a average baseball player. It would really have to help him to be worth it in my opinion. Otherwise we will stick with league ball and he will have to make his way to the school team like they use to.

We did play but waited til the fall of 9th 10th 11th grades. we played at colleges where the coaches were there and the college ball payer were the umpires. Great exposer and we got to see some really nice facilities it was good for the kids to see what could happen at next level.
An older man told me when I was complaining about the price of a bat. Spend money on them now (bats,gloves,cleats,food,lodging) or spend it to get them out of jail later.

Well neither son got the call to go pay college we met some really great people we still hang out with today .02


great friends and still hang with them today 10 years later .02

Yep...They tried to get my son to play and i told not no but "Hell No!" Watched these same coaches telling ll & 12 year olds to throw curve balls

My son played a lot of travel ball at a high level. He didn't play fall ball. Kids need to shut down in fall , play another sport or hunt or just be a kid. Developing arms need to rest.

The really good 12U team my son was on played 2-3 weekends a month from March till July. The coach played at Ol' Miss and was drafted by the Cubs. We raised $ by having a 10 family yard sale, the coaches father/2nd basemans grandfather, paid for the uniforms. I think we paid $200 out of pocket for the whole summer . The team had $ left over at the end of summer. Those 10 families were just that , a big family. You can play and learn a lot without traveling all over the US and spending big $ .

If you want him to play High School ball, it's very doubtful he'll get what he needs at the park/rec ball level. As far as fall ball the season is short and tourneys are short , however, as stated above not a must do.

If the kid is good enough, they will find him. My son let it be known quick he wasn't good enough to play on Sunday and the recruiting stopped. He had a great time and enjoyed every minute he played. Set several records and never looked back. He is now involved professionally in rodeo and loves every minute of it. Travel ball will get old very quickly!

Time and expenses will also depend on your kid’s team. My youngest son plays on a fairly competitive team. However, they don’t play every weekend, they don’t play 2-day tourneys, and they rarely travel much more than an hours drive. They don’t have fancy uniforms or anything like that either. My point is, you can find him a team that will be much better for him that park ball and still not break the bank. His team only played in 3 tournaments this fall, mainly just to do something together, so there’s still plenty of time for hunting. Good luck. CD.

We have two friends that did/do it. I preached to my wife about the negatives of it, throwing their arms out, burnout, etc.

I guess I was wrong because one is a Jr. in high school and received a full ride offer from AU last year as a 10th grader and is a predicted 1st round draft pick when he graduates.

The other one is also a Jr. and they are cousins. He spent last weekend in Ft. Meyers, Florida playing on a KC Royals Scout team learning to hit with wooden bats. Obviously he has a big future in it.

Sadly for me, they were both very good starters on my son's HS football team (QB and RB/DB) and gave it up to just play baseball. I can't blame them though as the people that really know say that is their future.

For the record, their parents have spent a ton of money getting them around the SE and country really. The fact that the moms are sisters helped them some, but I wouldn't have been able to do it on my finances.

my daughter benefitted hugely from volleyball club/travel ball; she played in college. but she WANTED to play club ball, badly; fiercely competitive. neither son played travel sports; they were happy with seasonal sports through high school ...