So I was told by someone that son should look at a national team. if he tries out and makes it, is it worth it to do all of these tournaments with a national team that is competitive? Hotel costs, food and cost of team would be the only costs. Do the pros outweigh the cons?or is it better to stay local and only do a couple of away tournaments?
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What is his position and what are his metrics?
Has he been assessed by a third party, such as a independent TB coach, scout, former high level player, regional PG/PBR coordinator?
The data + the outside perspective should give you an indication of where he might project - D3/D2/various levels of D1.
Others will disagree, but I think it's mostly unnecessary to travel around the country seeking competition unless your son is in the top 1% or so of college-bound players. And I'm not sure at 15U that even that matters.
What is it about the competition around the mid-Atlantic that you don't think you're getting?
I agree with @SpeedDemon. It’s absolutely not necessary. Something like 90% of players that play in college do so in their home state or one that borders it. Kids today are playing too many games and not practicing enough. Your money would be better used for training & instruction than on all the travel expenses.
I don't think it's worth it until 16/17u. Mine played varsity as freshmen, so playing 14u/15u would have been a waste after playing against 18 year olds all season. They played up in the summer until 17u where they joined national teams. They were able to play against high level competition regularly and being around kids who were drafted out of HS and high level D1 commits made them elevate their game as well.
I really think it helped prepare them for college ball compared to some of the other kids who stayed local, but that is just an opinion.
Now, these teams also approached us and were pretty much free so it was a win win. Definitely no tryouts involved. It was also a national team made up of kids from 4-5 states so it wasn't like anybody was flying in. A lot of the kids would regularly get together and hit/throw together.
Very good information. Thanks a bunch!
In my opinion, travel ball has become so watered down lately. To the point it is not good baseball, I have seen some teams that a local “c” level travel team woulD give them a run for their money.
Parents like to brag their kids play “select” ball. This is what I’ve know everyone with a mediocre player for a kid to call it. It sounds important. He was “selected”. The only thing “selected” was the option to write a check for $X,000. I remember playing (I coached) one of these select teams in 14u and beating them 27-2 in two innings. It took two hours to play two innings. The opponents scored two runs because we pitched a non pitcher after jumping up 17-0 in the top of the first.
No need at that age. Especially with the new recruiting rules. I would also say there probably isn’t a “need” at any age. My son played on a team that would go out of state because we enjoyed the trips. There was very low value from a recruiting perspective.
It may be worth it ... it depends on your son's current baseball situation, discretionary family income, and the amount of PTO you have accrued at work.
I will say, joining a 15U national team three years ago has been a very good journey for my son. For my son, the local situation at 13u/14u was such that he needed to change travel organizations sooner or later when he was to be playing with his h.s. grad class cohorts in a college recruiting context. I'll also say, with three years of hindsight, it may not have been necessary to achieve the final collegiate outcome for my son - still 4/5 years from now.
When my 2024 joined a 15u national team, we were not looking for it (not shopping for it); it came to us. Over the past two years, my son received offers from many national/scout team organizers - never needed to tryout for any team. I'm just speculating, but if your son needs to "tryout" and is not being invited directly on to this national team, then you should be critical of the "promise" for your son - it may not be the right fit at the right time for your son.
Thanks all good info
I applaud the question. I think it is less about the national travel team and more about what does your son want to get out of travel and college baseball. If he aspires for D1 P5 schools and professional baseball then the national team is probably a good fit for trying to reach those goals as you are paying for the travel coaches network of MLB scouts and college coaches. My son did play on a 15U National team (15 years ago). It was very good baseball back then, and he played against the best teams. But in the end it had very little to do with his recruitment and eventual college choice. It did a good job of preparing him for college baseball, and eventually led to some key serendipitous contacts in the recruitment process. Knowing what I know now, I'm not sure we'd go down that national team path again. I'd strongly consider a well run regional team that plays a couple national tournaments/showcases.
