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Reply to "Is travel baseball as we "used" to know it dead in Maryland?"

From a tournament hosts perspective, we see mostly "showcase" or "travel" teams attending our events during the summer and fall but that has not put out all legion ball programs from attending events that are hosted around the country. My personal opinion is that the travel ball and showcase event atmosphere has drastically improved the opportunity for student athletes to get recognized and seen by scouts and coaches looking for the right players. For the most part, the competition level is better at these events than in a league atmosphere as well. Don't forget that there are still quite a few of these select teams that are in leagues that play mid-week games on Tuesday's/Wednesday's through out the summer. Because of that and the tournaments/events over the weekends (which are typically Thursday/Friday-Sunday) I can't believe that today's players are not getting enough game or practice time in on the fields.

Indoor instructional facilities, too, are popping up all over the place for players and coaches to use in order to host practices or hitting/pitching sessions through out the year. With high school baseball taking place, in most states, from March through the end of May (and in to June here in the frigid Midwest) and no more than a few days break before your travel teams first tournament in late May or early June which in return extends in to August at which point showcase/camp events begin taking place before Fall ball starts up and lasts through the end of October when the best event of the year (Perfect Game WWBA) final concludes the travel ball scene ::insert breath here:: again, I see there being more than enough time on the field and at events where players are in deed getting coached and honing skills.

Finally, to stop the rambling, I simply think that the travel ball scene continues to open the opportunity of playing the greatest game in the world to everyone. The difference now is that teams travel to be seen by more coaches within the region that may not have been coming to league games before, players and teams are getting experience competing on college and minor league facilities across the country at these events, and in return they are replacing OUR "building commoraderie with a group of guys over the course of a summer trying to win a league championship" with building camaraderie with a team while trying to win tournament events that bring in 30-200 teams from across the country while playing on college and/or spring training complexes while spending time with family and friends during the greatest traveling/vacation experiences of there childhood.

I enjoyed the sandlot ball I played when I started, loved the league championships my teams won, but nothing compared to the tournament championships we won while competing against teams and players from all over the country during events like this knowing that when the game was over we were in a different state this weekend and we got to experience a trip that we likely wouldn't have been able to if we were at home at the park. There are pros and cons both ways but I wouldn't change anything from the way I experienced the game.

::two cents::
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