Economy vs Travel ball

[anonlooker]

MG is probably the hardest working organization in So Cal... all that hosting is a boon to the softball community as a whole, and with the time and energy the kids and parents put into the betterment of softball for all of us, they earn every penny that goes to pay for those trips to Nats.

[NumeroUno]

In So Cal the number of 10U teams seem to be at a all time low. I am not sure if the economy has anything to do with that. Times are tough out there for almost everyone. Play rec it will only cost you a couple hundred a year. After watching those games your alcohol intake will increase.

[clayface74]

Tucson sez:
"The fire department doesn't keep those donations, they go to help kids, just like my donating to softball players does."

... I can tell you that none of the funds donated in our Department go towards softball equiptment ... .

My 8u team sponsor last year was our local fire dept....I know its not your dept so you can't comment on the proliferations of their funds...I just found it fun conversation...back to your regular programing

[Ace]

Mine stopped hitting to save money.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Mine stopped hitting to save money.

No doubt they had your best interests in mind ...

[weekend4trvl]

A good percentage of the parents are losing sleep over the cost of softball. Most have to much pride to admit that they can no longer afford it. It seem the big name teams don't watch the news and haven't heard that the economy suck. They want to charge more than ever and play several out of town tournements. I believe it will take a parent uprising before these organizations realize that the money tree is bare. Never in our lifetime have we seen a business envirorment like this. Excuse the grammar...

[anonlooker]

Mine stopped hitting to save money.

Well if they aren't hitting they better be saving money, cuz college ain't cheap!!

[Stubs]

When my oldest DD started playing travel ball, she and I sat down and created her own letter asking for donations and we sent it out to 40+ area businesses. The letter stated that she loved the game and was playing travel ball to enhance her chances of continuing that love into college. We detailed the costs she was faced with and simply asked for donations for her, not the team. Only about 12 businesses replied and only about eight or nine donated. But it amounted to a decent amount of money. Some was in the form of checks written to the travel organization with the explaination that the comapny could not donate to individuals. That money went to the organization to cover team fees. The rest went to cover her travel expenses.

She was with an organization one year that had teams in several age groups. Her team was by far and away the biggest fund raiser in the organization. The money her team raised was spread out to all the teams. Many parents (of our team) were not please with this due to the fact that the older girls simply didn't raise much, if any money, and we had been told at the original team meeting that any extra money that was in the kitty at the time we went to nationals would go to defray the cost of rooms, etc at nationals. After we were back from nationals we were told to make copies of our receipts and submit them to the organization and we all would receive some kind of refund. We each received about $33.00. And no, we never saw any document showing money in and money out.

That is why we devised our own, personal letter.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Tucson sez:
"The fire department doesn't keep those donations, they go to help kids, just like my donating to softball players does."

... I can tell you that none of the funds donated in our Department go towards softball equiptment ... .

My 8u team sponsor last year was our local fire dept....I know its not your dept so you can't comment on the proliferations of their funds...I just found it fun conversation...back to your regular programing

I wouldn't let that get around ... because if your local "Volunteer Fire Dept." took funds that were supposed to be used for equiptment, training or maintenance and used them to sponsor a Softball Team there is going to be an indictment ... much as there would be if they put fuel into their personal vehicles from the Fire Dept. pump or account for personal use ... same thing !Now, if they used the personal money of the Fire Fighters whether paid or volunteer, that is another story ...