Economy vs Travel ball

[luckyone]

We know next year might get worse than it already is. So the question is how many of you are going to keep your DD in travel ball or are you considering taking a break for a year?

Travel ball or Mortgage payment.
Travel ball or Car payment.
Travel ball or Credit cards Paymet.

[Ace]

Maybe we could cut back on umpires.

[softballdad]

I have a friend that got a part time job to pay for travel ball expenses so now he doesn't have time to go see his DD play. This will be a coaches and umpires dream. No Dads at the fields to yell at them.

[Comets16]

Come on Income Tax..Helps bills get caught up, pay for team fees, by new catching gear gear..and then live pay check-to-pay-check the next 12 months. Isn't that the American way?

[All 4 One]

There are plenty of methods to keep team fees under control. You just have to find the right team that doesn't charge outrageous fees for "coach's expenses".

Here are just a few ideas:
1. Creative fundraising.
-College and Superbowl pools
-Raffles with "real" grand prizes
-Believe it or not, girls dressed in their uniforms can raise money sitting in front of a grocery store for a day.

2. Monthly batting lessons.
-This doesn't mean monthly hitting, it means you hit 2-3 times/week on your own and one time per month you go get a tune up with your hitting instructor.
-Afterall, there is no replacement for repetition.

3. Monthly fielding lesson.
-same as hitting lessons, do your own thing, tune up 1 time per month.

4. Stop participating in meaningless tournaments that end up costing $100/game for a 4GG.
-you can get your 4 games at half the cost if you play freindlies, WBTW is the exact same thing as 4 lousy games in a meaningless tournament.

5. Work harder for sponsorship money.
- many businesses are willing to donate money, you just have to ask and you have to ask many.
- you need a well written sponsorship letter with a nice color photo of the team plastered on the top corner of the letter (DO NOT LET "ACE" write this letter for you).
- get use to rejection, the key here is ask many.
- start with your Business to Business yellow pages in your home town.
- work your way into nearby cities.

If you want it bad enough, you will work for it. I would also ask the players to get a little blood in the game. Make them work a little for this also. Who knows, they may come to appreciate the price of a new bat a little more.

[Ace]

There are plenty of methods to keep team fees under control. You just have to find the right team that doesn't charge outrageous fees for "coach's expenses".

Here are just a few ideas:


5. Work harder for sponsorship money.
- many businesses are willing to donate money, you just have to ask and you have to ask many.
- you need a well written sponsorship letter with a nice color photo of the team plastered on the top corner of the letter (DO NOT LET "ACE" write this letter for you).
- get use to rejection, the key here is ask many.
- start with your Business to Business yellow pages in your home town.
- work your way into nearby cities.

Aw, and I thought we had a nice thing going!

If you want it bad enough, you will work for it. I would also ask the players to get a little blood in the game. Make them work a little for this also. Who knows, they may come to appreciate the price of a new bat a little more.

What does that mean?

[lilizdad]

Like comets16 says;

Income Tax..Helps bills get caught up, pay's for gas, equipment and overnight expense. Then live pay check-to-pay-check the next 12 months. That's what keep's us in the travel ball scene.

[Empire United]

Here are a couple of options.
1. Go to a store & get permission to set up a booth & wrap presents for donations. A nice store. Not a swapmeet. Follow those $$$$$ try malls.
2. Try selling lollipops. They are cheap and can genetate a nice profit. Not big money but it is easier than a car wash.
3. When asking for sponsorships. Take your daughter in uniform. I took my youngest & cutest daughter and got $400.00 for my oldest daughters team.
True story... After a friendly one day a elder woman was walking around picking up cans & bottles. I stopped to give her a couple of powerade bottles that the girls had left in the dug out. I asked her about how much she makes. She said about $100.00 on a good sunday between her and the husband. Thats about $400.00 a month. If your paying more than $300.00 a month you had better be on your way to the OLYMPICS.
Where there's a will there's a way.....

[Tucson]

Maybe now that gasoline is more reasonable, that will help some families with their expenses.

But, I am not seeing motel rooms and restaurant costs go down. More people are trying to eat out of the cooler, but locally there is a park where you can't bring in over 1 bottle of water. I truly don't want to pay $2.00 for gatorade.

I guess TB could be affordable, if you are not traveling out of town, every weekend. But, when DD played out of Flagstaff, we had to drive 1.5 hours every Sunday to Prescott (pitching lessons) and then to the games in Phoenix. So, a weekend was easily $250.00.

I know people in this area that expect TB to cost $7500.00 per child.

Team fees can be sponsored and earned but it is the family costs that are the killer.

DD is 20 and we are still driving the "softball car" with 147,000 miles on it. It is the first time ever that I have had a vehicle so old that I had to get it emissions tested before I could get the license plates, last week.

[All 4 One]

There are plenty of methods to keep team fees under control. You just have to find the right team that doesn't charge outrageous fees for "coach's expenses".

Here are just a few ideas:


5. Work harder for sponsorship money.
- many businesses are willing to donate money, you just have to ask and you have to ask many.
- you need a well written sponsorship letter with a nice color photo of the team plastered on the top corner of the letter (DO NOT LET "ACE" write this letter for you).
- get use to rejection, the key here is ask many.
- start with your Business to Business yellow pages in your home town.
- work your way into nearby cities.

Aw, and I thought we had a nice thing going!

If you want it bad enough, you will work for it. I would also ask the players to get a little blood in the game. Make them work a little for this also. Who knows, they may come to appreciate the price of a new bat a little more.

What does that mean?

It means, let the players do some of the work.
Let them earn it.

Sorry for the confusion.