Gosh darn-it! I hate I let myself get involved in this debate again! But I can't stand it when people insult my intelligence. As for what these travel/showcase team owners are charging, lets take what I know for sure, which is the team (not the DB) that ripped me off. They charged $1300 for what they called summer ball. They charged $750 for Fall Ball. So basically, they were charging $2050 a year. That included 2 pants and 2 jerseys. We had to purchase the 2 caps, socks, and belts. The team my son was on had approx. 17 players. This particular travel ball organization started with 2 teams, a 15U & 16U. We started in the Fall so paid $750. We played mostly Impact tournaments which in 2013 were between $650 and $800 per team. We played maybe 6 tournaments between August & November. Parents paid all other expenses such as hotel fees. This organization did not host any tournaments. Do the math, 2 teams with approx. 17 players each, I'll use $800 for tournament fees for both teams (34 players @ $750 per player = $25,500 minus the cost of 6 tournaments x 2 teams @ $800 = $9600, so the team owner is left with $15,900 for 4 months.
The summer season rolls around. The organization now has 4 teams, two teams for 2 age groups (2 A teams & 2 B teams). If your son is asked to come back and play the summer season, you get to pay $1300 for roughly 10 to 12 tournaments between end of March to July. No uniform is included if you played the Fall season. Its my understanding new players had to pay more because of uniform costs, but I never confirmed that. The number of players per team increased as well. Didn't know it until the first game. I don't know what was charged the other teams. I can only assume 2 of the 4 teams were charged approx. $1300, at least that is what my son and several other on the team were charged. So, the 2 B teams brought in roughly $46,800. Tournament fees at $800 = $19,200. So, this put roughly $27,600 in the owner's pocket for 5 months. This does not include what the 2 A teams were charged, if charged anything.
The Fall season was OK acceptable. But the owner got greedy and had to lie to hide what he was doing. He deceived many parents. I talked to the owner in between the Fall and Summer seasons. It was about a 45 minute conversation in January before I wrote that $1300 check. I got all the reassurances I needed. About 4 practices were held and 2 work out sessions. Yeah I saw a new face or two during this time, but I let it go. Show up for first tournament and WTH?!?! There were 20 players there and dressed in uniform. The number of MIF doubled from the last practice to first tournament. And the owner was a no-show. Only his coaches were there. The number of players was not the only issue either.
As for the DBs, I know a considerable amount about them because I have a friend whose son played on the A team, the FOUNDER OF THE DBs team. I also have a friend with a son who was on one of the C teams of the DBs. My son's team played against the gold and black DBs, but never the A team. See, my friend whose son was the A player was flown to Florida to play in tournaments while my friend's C player was at some high school field in the middle of no where. The A player ended up at a D1 school. The A player had to pay a fee but I never got a definite amount, but I did get a definite grin when I asked. But the air fare was free. The C player was charged the $1875 fee.
Everything was fine before these B & C teams and younger age teams were started. Any yes, they are classifying these teams as "showcase". It needs to go back like it was. These high priced showcase organizations should only have recruitable-aged teams, a 16 & 17 age team. The younger ages should play "travel" ball (AAU or USSSA or whatever they may be called now). If a kid tries out for the DB 16 or 17 age group team and isn't D1 material (in their staff's opinion), then he doesn't make the team and therefore, does not get ripped off.
There is blame to be placed on these showcase team owners, its not all on us ignorant parents. Ask questions you tell us. If we were given truthful responses, then this thread would not exist because no parent would pay $2000 if they knew what they found out at the first game.
Parents need to know that their kid can be recruited without being on a "showcase" team. Find a cheap travel ball team that plays a lot of tournaments to get more playing time. And these college coaches need to know that the next big thing in college BB may never be found because his parents don't have the means for their son to play on a showcase team. What was that movie where a recruiter traveled to these one horse towns and found a great pitcher???? That's what BB is all about. Why are so many trying to ruin it?