Home > Forums

[Baseballnut]

High school coaches must open up the lines of communication for their players. Going to camps is a great idea, because camps are money makers for the college and also a source to recruiting.

I will say this, if you take your daughter/son starting in middle school to camps, they will get seen. Get some schools that you are interested in and go to them. If your child has potential the coaching staff will make contact with you. Use travel ball for competition...High school is geared towards more team concept, travel is geared towards "showcasing" the players ability.

[hogan]

Having coached travel ball and high school ball, I can tell you that recruiting occurs at both areas. However when it comes to "showcases", they differ greatly. A "showcase" in Fredericksburg may draw a few D3 coaches, but usually no more. The "showcases" that tend to draw more are in Pennsylvania, South Carolina(Florence), and Florida(Ft. Lauderdale). That's where you find D1 coaches.

[TabbMom]

For those of you who keep saying that "travel ball is a money maker," I'd sure like to know who's making the money.

Our family has been involved with travel ball for 7 years. My husband coaches, I do score keeping and stats. We volunteer countless hours, put thousands of miles on our cars, and spends hundreds of "out-of-pocket" dollars on our teams every year. Travel teams are non-profit. If anyone's making money, then laws are being broken.

My daughter plays travel ball because she absolutely loves the sport and can't get enough of it during the school season. No-one is taking advantage of her. The experience has made a better player....and better person.

As far as recruiting....it doesn't matter where you play (travel, HS, or both), no coach is going to come looking for you. If your daughter wants to play in college.....you and your daughter need to contact the schools you're interested in and make sure they know who you are.......and where/when you play. Start in 9th/10th grade and don't give up.

[Baseballnut]

Originally Posted by TabbMom

For those of you who keep saying that "travel ball is a money maker," I'd sure like to know who's making the money.

Our family has been involved with travel ball for 7 years. My husband coaches, I do score keeping and stats. We volunteer countless hours, put thousands of miles on our cars, and spends hundreds of "out-of-pocket" dollars on our teams every year. Travel teams are non-profit. If anyone's making money, then laws are being broken.

My daughter plays travel ball because she absolutely loves the sport and can't get enough of it during the school season. No-one is taking advantage of her. The experience has made a better player....and better person.

As far as recruiting....it doesn't matter where you play (travel, HS, or both), no coach is going to come looking for you. If your daughter wants to play in college.....you and your daughter need to contact the schools you're interested in and make sure they know who you are.......and where/when you play. Start in 9th/10th grade and don't give up.

USSSA, AAU, and all the organizations who put together "showcases"

[jb1edlover]

The hosting sites make 1,000's of dollars per tournament! Gate fees, parking (sometimes) entry fees, concessions trust me. I was a tournament director for several pony tournaments and they made tons of money... call it a showcase, get Cat Osterman to show up and sign autographs do a little speech and then you can say it's a "Showcase" and charge tons of money and guess what, the teams will show.

[softballmom]

As the mother of the college freshman that was previously mentioned, I think its important to note that her high school coach and her travel ball coach worked together to help her get where she wanted to be. She first determined where she wanted to go to school, then her high school coach made the initial contact with the college coach, she herself followed up with her own contact, and eventually her travel ball coach also was involved in the mix. It became an ongoing dialogue involving all three. I also want to note that her high school coach was very supportive of her travel ball schedule and vice versa. During the summer and fall, it was not unusual to find her high school coach at her travel ball tournaments, if not, he always called to see how she did. She would continue conditioning with her travel ball team over the winter, in preparation for the regular spring high school schedule. Her travel ball coach always supported and respected her high school schedule. He would often keep up with the team by visiting around to their different high schools to watch and support the girls. There was no conflict because of their mutual respect and neither of them made demands that placed the girls in the middle, which is so unfair and just plain unnecessary. Both coaches had her best interests in mind. Both team experiences played key role in her success. Our daughter had an extremely rewarding experience with both teams and I have no doubt she will continue to have good relationships with both coaches.

[Lynn Burke]

Originally Posted by swoosh

I'm just sitting back waiting for a little more time for responses. It makes perfect sense there would be more support for a school sport. After all, all that's really covered here is school sports...

If folks showed interest in having a travel softball message board, I could easily set one up. There is one for summer baseball that gets a bit of use.