As one who endured the travel ball hardships, realistically, it’s value is for that small percentage of kids who have outstanding talent and size. My son was born a big strong left handed/ first baseman/ pitcher who was “ drafted” by an elite travel team, played in the elite invitation only tournaments and played smaller Div-1 college ball. He was a 6’5 90mph left handed, fast first baseman with power. At least 75% of his teammates played college ball, minority made D-1. Travel ball , as I described above, was a grind, very expensive but necessary if your kid has ability and desire to make it, there is no other really good showcase. In the most rare of circumstances if your kid is a pitcher and big and throws in the 90’s ( less if lefty) , with 2 good secondary pitches, you could go to a specific schools showcase and get noticed, but coaches still want to see your kid compete against good hitters. Sorry for the long post.
