Not sure if you mean for the kids or for the parents, but this sort of applies to both. I remember seeing a dad I know pretty well as he was leaving his kid's practice during freshman year of HS and I asked how he and his son were enjoying HS ball. The kid had been a stud LL player and after that, a starter on the best travel team in town. He said that the kid was doing great but that for himself it was an adjustment going from seeing his kid playing full time in 4 or more games per week to seeing him play about half the time as JV player two games per week. Fast forward a couple years and now the kid just finished his JR year as a late-inning defensive sub. I don't know about the kid, but I don't think his dad had very much fun, and he's not alone. A lot of kids who were stars in rec and travel become role players in HS, and of course a lot of them quit playing, whether for that reason, or for a host of others.
I know I have been down the road of this debate before but oh well here goes... I still don't believe there are very many at all who were travel ball 'stars' who wind up reserves in high school. But again I guess this comes down to defining 'travel ball' and 'star'. For example I have mentioned before a kid my son plays against on another area team. He is a 13u 7th grader who has topped out at 82mph. That is a star. And no way he is ever going to be an end of the roster high school player. Just about a zero percent chance he won't play college ball. And there are many others including my son that I can tell you there is no chance they will be end of the roster guys. You can tell at this age, absolutely. I think what happens is some untrained eyes see some bigger kid hitting 205 ft. High fly home runs at 12u and consider him a star. While I suppose technically if he does that often enough he is a star at 12 anybody who knows the game can see it won't last. Also as discussed before there are always a few kids on every travel team (before that magic 15u threshold) who are not all that great. Cause they are the ones who will accept playing left field and hitting 9th. So just to say some one was a 'starter' on a travel team means about nothing. Bottom line the same kids who are dominant players at 12 are usually dominant at 18. Some others may develop and join them but seldom do they ever fade away. Sorry that myth of the fading stars always pushes my big red button!!