Is travel ball really travel ball?

[Coach_Gonzalez]

The self destruction is going to be caused by too many "coaches" starting very average travel ball teams, which waters down the competition even more. Go back in time to when travel ball was for truly talented players only with real coaches, not parents that want to coach their DD's. That was competitive softball. Now it is not.

As for not wanting the players to have the chance to play,.....if there were more community and local leagues, then more players would be able to play, especially those that could never afford the costs of travel ball.

That is exactly all I was asking

[Coach_Gonzalez]

I think the huge difference is that in Chicago, we do not get a year round training weather. The midwest is finally beginning to step it up, and I want it to stay that way so we can compete with warm weather states. I want to see girls get the most out of softball they can. I was molded inside and out by playing the game, not just baseball wise, but learned life skills and communication. The game is enlightening. I do not think there is a "slim" chance to play college ball either. I think that 5 days a week of pure devotion sweat and tears will make any decent player into college athletes especially in softball which is a growing sport and one of the fastest growing in my eyes. I want every girl to have the opportunity to play year round too, some of the girls who are in in-house leagues learning the basics (proper throwing, hitting for contact/power, baserunning, sliding) while travel girls are learning the arts(hit and run, 1st and third, slapping). What if your daughter gets rejected by a D1 school to play as a walk on or on scholarship? Are you gonna "create" another D1 school team or pay her way on? NO! If she wants it bad enough, she will play JuCo ball, get better, and in two years, be a full competitor. ITS NOT A NEGATIVE CONCEPT?

[Demonboy]

Coach Gonzalez, thank you for your words, they hit the nail on the head. The watering down of teams has weakened travel ball so much, that I see it eventually self-destructing. Well, maybe I'd like to see it self destruct and go back to community, local teams.
My beef is that there is not one governing organization that all can play under. You have different organizations each weekend, different rules, and different "National" Champs. Put all teams under the same umbrella, and see who the actual National Champs are.
As for the purpose of playing "travel" ball, it is safe to say that most of the players on a team are there to have fun because they love the game, not because they are destined to play college. And if they knew that the chances of playing in college are soooo slim, they might enjoy the game more. And when I use the word "they", I'm talking about their parents.

Okay, I've vented enough, but again, thank you Coach Gonzalez for your words. You should post them on other website message boards too!!!!

Can't agree with that at all. It's pretty clear who the National Champs are each year. ASA is the governing body of softball in the US and the top teams still go to ASA Nationals without fail. Especially at the Gold level.

[2smoove]

First Thought: If you truly believe that travel ball is diluted, then send your best Rec. Team to a California ASA National Qualifier. (I am from Ca. so I cannot speak for the rest of the U.S.)

In all of California I have not seen a Rec. Team that could play with any competitive "A" travel team in the same age group. EVER!!!!! This statement holds for both So-Cal and Nor Cal.

Many "A" ball players, coaches, and parents are so accustomed to seeing a high level of ball being played, that they forget how much of a gap there is between "A" ball and Rec. ball.

Any Rec. Team that is dominant in Rec. ball, would not get past the first round of the national qualifiers in California ASA "A" ball. (That is unless they ran into another Rec. Team)

This is also what happens to those Rec teams that pose as "A" ball teams. They get pounded in the qualifiers. Many teams have tried this, but if they don't get better quick, they are HISTORY!

Second Thought: Travel ball costs travel money. If you are paying "travel money" and getting Rec. ball results, you may want to re-think what you are trying to accomplish with your daughter. There are a lot less expensive ways for her (and you) to "just have fun" than participating in travel ball and languishing in mediocrity.

I don't mean that if your team does not qualify nationals that they are mediocre (Qualifying is not an easy task in California). I mean that if you are going to play at this level, your team and you, should strive to be competitive with those teams that do qualify nationals.

[Sam]

I think the huge difference is that in Chicago, we do not get a year round training weather. The midwest is finally beginning to step it up, and I want it to stay that way so we can compete with warm weather states. I want to see girls get the most out of softball they can. I was molded inside and out by playing the game, not just baseball wise, but learned life skills and communication. The game is enlightening. I do not think there is a "slim" chance to play college ball either. I think that 5 days a week of pure devotion sweat and tears will make any decent player into college athletes especially in softball which is a growing sport and one of the fastest growing in my eyes. I want every girl to have the opportunity to play year round too, some of the girls who are in in-house leagues learning the basics (proper throwing, hitting for contact/power, baserunning, sliding) while travel girls are learning the arts(hit and run, 1st and third, slapping). What if your daughter gets rejected by a D1 school to play as a walk on or on scholarship? Are you gonna "create" another D1 school team or pay her way on? NO! If she wants it bad enough, she will play JuCo ball, get better, and in two years, be a full competitor. ITS NOT A NEGATIVE CONCEPT?

Thanks for helping me destroy your original argument. Welcome to the dark side.

[Sam]

The self destruction is going to be caused by too many "coaches" starting very average travel ball teams, which waters down the competition even more. Go back in time to when travel ball was for truly talented players only with real coaches, not parents that want to coach their DD's. That was competitive softball. Now it is not.

As for not wanting the players to have the chance to play,.....if there were more community and local leagues, then more players would be able to play, especially those that could never afford the costs of travel ball.

Good Morning Mr. GaB,

Girls softball is declining, pushed towards the brink of total annhililation by the watering down of the talent pool. The evil group behind this plot is called Daddyballers Intent on Coaching & Killing Softball or.....D.I.C.K.S. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to force all of the players D.I.C.K.S has affected and force them back into recreational leagues...for their own good. This message, along with the game of girls fastpitch softball, will self destruct in 5 seconds. Good luck GaB.........(light fuse)

[xxxYerOut]

Once again Sam, you are right on it. My dd not only played for one of those D.I.C.K.S. last season, but I have seen them on numerous fields in the area. Before most of the D.I.C.K.S. were found in the local area rec leagues, but now many of the D.I.C.K.S. have started their own teams.

There have been a few D.I.C.K.S. posting their team ads on the other board, and at the rate things are declining, it won't be long before more and more D.I.C.K.S. will be posting here. IMHO

[anonlooker]

Coach G, you are too new to TB, in time you will learn it is no more weakened than the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc etc... In fact, TB has as much, or more, parity than any of the professional sports leagues, (see below) and while that may sound crazy at first, how many NBA teams have a shot at the title? How many did we know didn't have a chance after less than a month into the season. Listen...
I liken TB to the wild wild west... pretty much anything and everything goes with respect to teams, when, where, and who they play... at first i thought it was insanity, but i've come to learn a few things... primarily that the game seems to police itself, thanks to the common sense of most coaches, and it works like this:
MY dd started in rec, then all stars, then league ball and fall ball, and is now on a travel team... she worked her way up every step of the way, as most girls playing TB do - with hard work and passion for the game. She is not an on 'elite' team, but she works toward that goal every day, and is determined to go to college on a softball scholarship. Needless to say, I encourage this particular goal. In part, by taking her to tournaments that feature the elite teams (when her team has no games scheduled for that weekend).

There is no question that there are elite travel teams, bad travel teams, and a whole lot in the middle (just as in all major and minor sports). My DD's team has played in numerous tournaments, and not once have we been up against the elite teams in SoCal. We've played a lot of rec all star teams trying to move up, and even more teams that are good, solid, but not at the elite level.

And this is how TB polices itself - there seems to exist an unspoken agreement about who plays where, and it works kind of like this -

Good coaches do not enter a team of Podunk All Stars in tournaments where the elite teams are playing, or if they do, they only do it once. Or they shouldn't be coaching. All competition is good, no doubt, but getting slaughtered every weekend by playing too far over your heads is just plain stupid (bad coaching).

At the same time, the coaches of the elite teams don't (often, or purposely) enter tournaments hosted by the Podunk All Stars. What would be the point of waltzing in and destroying a bunch of glorified rec ball girls? I'm sure those of you who have been around have seen this happen, but the better coaches / teams won't be doing it, not if they want to improve.

A tournament with an ASA nationals berth at stake, and or new RT bats, will draw the top teams, and rightfully so. These tournaments are really designed for the elite teams to battle it out, and are usually rounded out by very good, solid teams that are pushing up toward elite status. This being the wild wild west, there is nothing preventing the Podunks from playing, but there is not much to be gained either.

There are plenty of tournaments and friendlies for the middle ground teams to play each other and work their way up into the stronger tournaments. A good coach will know when his team is ready. And even a bad coach, or someone completely new to travel ball, won't subject his team to a pounding in a major tournament more than once.

So this seems to be the system, and it somehow seems to police itself, and what is wrong with it?? Nothing!! How else can girls develop their skills than by moving up to better teams, with better coaches, against better competition, to earn that coveted free ride? To say my daughter can only play rec ball, coached by Suzy Q.'s daddy, and never play travel unless she overnight magically turns into the second coming of Cat Osterman is incredibly ignorant.

The girls playing elite travel ball have earned it, the hard way, and right behind them are hundreds (thousands?) of others working hard every day to make that move up. Sometimes entire teams make the move up (the ideal, IMHO), other times the better players have to switch teams to face better competition, and that is exactly the way it should be.

So Coach G, if your concern is that you are coaching a bunch of rec all-stars who aren't ready to play with the elite teams, then play in the middle until they are ready. Until they, and you, EARN IT. And if you're not ready to put in the time and energy, then simply play rec ball. The beautiful thing about travel ball is nobody is forcing you to stroll into the OK corral... you go at your own risk. And if, when you show up, everybody is ready with their 357's locked and loaded and all you've got is a peashooter, that's your own damn fault. Rest assured your 'travel team' won't be traveling to ASA nationals.

And for you parents who aren't sure if your DD is ready for TB, go to tryouts... as many as you possibly can. And make sure you go to at least one try out with an elite team in your area. In looking for a team for my DD, we tried out with one of the elites. My DD was in over her head - she realized it, I realized it - and when the coach came over to talk to us afterward, my daughter reached out and shook his hand and smiled (much to his relief) and asked him "Is it okay if I come and try out again next year?" He grinned and answered "Please do. I can see you have some potential, you just need to keep working to develop it." The whole thing could have spelled the end of her softball days, but because most (not all, but most) top coaches know what they're doing and how to handle young players, it had the complete opposite effect - not a day goes by that my DD doesn't work on some aspect of her game. As a result she's a '95 playing up in 14U and has every intention of going back and making that team next year.

How can anyone decry a system that inspires kids to work hard toward their goals? If your DD isn't ready to take over SS on the last years ASA champs, be thankful Coach G isn't running things - you still have plenty of options to play at a level above rec ball.

If you're new to TB, don't get freaked out by how ungoverned it appears at first. In the end, everybody (players, teams, coaches, and yes even parents) ends up where they belong. And if it seems harsh at times, well, the world we're bringing these girls in to ain't no stroll in the park either. Better they learn it on a ball field with parents and friends surrounding them. TB isn't perfect but if you take the time and accept the parental responsibility to do it right, the negatives are far outweighed by it's positives.

Conversely, rec ball is far more dangerous - the fields are not well maintained and ground balls take crazy hops all the time; the Parks and Rec (at least in LA) doesn't require - because they can't afford - masks on batters helmets; and the coaches are usually (well-meaning) dads who really have no experience or training, and shouldn't be entrusted with your DD's physical and mental development.

In the end, more girls playing TB ultimately makes the sport stronger, and is a very good thing.

[TNSoftballDad]

Early post of the year nominee right there.

[Demonboy]

anonlooker hit one out