Cost to Play on Traveling/Tournament Team

That seems like a ton. My son is playing on one of the most expensive teams around here and it will be around $2800-$3200 for the summer. And that is for all summer. We will probably play every weekend starting sometime in May and go through at least the end of July. A lot more than a few times a year. We pay $1500 for coaches (all coaches are paid), plus expenses which includes tournament fees, uniforms, etc... I have never heard of a team charging that much.

BTW, no coach can guarantee you get to the next level. What they can do is get you in front of the coaches, but your son will have to perform when he gets there. I would look around to see what else is available. That's just a lot.

novicemom

Bet I can name the team you speak of.

Novicemom, that is a fortune for any travel team. I think I paid $2500 for a combined winter and summer program that included the important tournaments. Look around and do your homework before writing a check like that.

Run Forest Run...

Thanks for the feedback. TRhit, any additional information on the team in question would be most helpful. Perhaps I can negotiate a better price?

Drp

quote:

Originally posted by novice mom:
Thanks for the feedback. TRhit, any additional information on the team in question would be most helpful. Perhaps I can negotiate a better price?

Drop me a PM if you wish

TR- I have heard of your organization, as I understand it you usally run a fall team but expanded to summer this past one. How did it go and how many of the players have committed? There are so many organizations it is hard to tell which ones are good and which ones aren't, any advice in this area, I am a few years out with my boy, starting to do my research now.

True Fan

Drop me a Pm if you wish and I can give you all the details, etc---no need to waste space here

Thanx

The absence of knowing what is covered by the fees it is nearly imposible to if it is reasonable or not. Travel including food is expensive. Field use can be expensive. It really depends on what is covered and what is not covered. If the $6,500 covers 100% and includes some significant travel it might be reasonable.

At that age; my son did a couple of trips to AZ and NV one summer. While it wasn't that expensive, it did ad up.

My 2012 is looking at an high quality travel team headed to East Cobb and Jupiter, and with a winter work out program with unlimited cage time, for about a fifth of that price. It does NOT include travel and lodging so add that back in. I've seen similar teams charging from $2500 to $3600 here in the NorthEast.

Keep in mind when gauging economics that the bulk of scholarships out there are definitely not full rides. Assuming $3,000 in scholarships for a good player may be one standard you might apply when figuring out if the price is worth it.

Good luck!

I think you pay tournament fees and travel in addition to the recruiting fee. I knew there weren't many full rides given out, but $3000 is lower than I thought. Thanks for the info.

novice mom,
Like TRhit, by the amount they are charging I could probably guess which team you are talking about. If we are correct be VERY careful with this organization. I can name numerous of families that are livid over their experience with them.

My son played on a team for 5 years that went to all the tournaments and charged around $2000.00 for summer and fall teams. As always travel, lodging and meals are additional.

quote:

Bet I can name the team you speak of.

You beat me to saying this.

SFB's?

novice mom,
My son played with a team that played at EC and Jupiter as well as several other tournaments last summer. We paid $2400 for the summer. The only additional cost for my son was for food on the road. They travelled by charter bus and generally stayed in Holiday Inn Select or the equivalent. For the exposure he received we felt it was reasonable.

I know a few that were appraoched by this team and they did their research...IMO best advice..change your phone number..

Why wouldn't you pursue one of the many great programs in Arizona or CA? They go to PG Georgia and Jupiter anyway.

Novicemom, that is a RIPOFF! Run the other way, and fast.

There are a great many quality teams in Arizona and California that your son might play for, and which do a great job for a fraction of that cost.

Novicemom:

We all have a good idea of the team you are talking about. Buyer beware - if it smells like a fish, it is probably a fish.

Thank you all so much for the info. I am new to this and guess I was dazzled by the scholarship claims and east coast contacts.

Novice Mom,

Let me know what part of Arizona you are in and I can try to give you some ideas.

As a start, here is the list of participating teams in the Senior Fall Classic with their contact emails/numbers. NO Tucson team is included except for the White Sox Scout Team due to long waiting list to get in to the Senior Fall Classic.

Scout Teams in general do not charge a whole lot especially in the Fall. You have to make the team though after tryouts.

AZ Senior Classic 2010 Team/Contacts

RR23

Novice Mom,

You are in the right place for asking this advice. Players get the scholarhsips....Programs can help with the visibility of a player but it all comes down to the players playing at a level a college likes. Being in the right program can help with the promotion of a kid but it is still up to the player to get it done.

We play the 2 weeks in East Cobb as well as the 2 PG Qualifiers at Baseball Heaven. Add that to
Tournaments in Sc, Maryland and Mass. We charge one fee and that covers all expenses. Hotels
Meals, airfare, fees etc etc. There is not out of pocket expense for parents once we roll.
Our fee was approximate $3500. We spent 24 nights in hotels with meals and flew to Ga round trip and transported players in vans (huge expense)

Www.clippers baseball.org

Novice mom,

to give you an idea of how much it costs to run a program, I run a program out of Middle Georgia. We play eight tournaments in the summer. My 16u and 18u teams boh play in the 18u perfect game tournaments and my 16u plays in the 16u perfect game tournament. During the fall we play six tournaments and go to a different college every weekend through december for private workouts. I have six coaches on staff who are all paid and I only charge my guys $1600 for the whole year not including travel expenses. $6500 has to be one of the more expensive programs in the country. East Cobb costs less than half that.

Novice Mom...I must say that the cost of $6,500 is pretty high for a summer program. I can tell you that we charge $1,500 and that includes 7 tournaments, coach staff, two pants, three jerseys, three hats, practice shorts, practice shirt and and practice hat and that is all Under-Armour Gear. We even give them two wood bats personalized with batting gloves by Crown Bats. We attend all major events including all Perfect Game events inclduing East-Cobb. We also have speed & agility coaches, strength & conditioning coaches, full time pitching coaches and we have a home field that we practice on.

As some others stated NO ONE can GUARANTEE you a scholarship its impossible. I would suggest you do your homework and investigate...where this cost is going to.

There are a lot of quality organizations out there that provide quality exposure and have good relationships with collegiate coaches. Do your homework.

if you have any questions please feel free to contact me info@floridadiamondpros.com

quote:

Originally posted by novice mom:
Thank you all so much for the info. I am new to this and guess I was dazzled by the scholarship claims and east coast contacts.

Novice Mom, I think you have recieved about $4000 of very good advice from your fellow HSBBW members.

The South FL team that I am sure you are refering to is crazy. Nobody can guarantee anyone a college opportunity. I run a team that plays in the same PG Under Armour tournaments that they play in Jupiter and East Cobb. I am not in it for profit only to provide a good venue for my son and other players his age to play and develop. Baseball has been very good to me, I live a great life and am married to a woman that is too good for me, baseball put me in a position to live this life look for someone with the same view

quote:

Originally posted by djgboy:
The South FL team that I am sure you are refering to is crazy. Nobody can guarantee anyone a college opportunity. I run a team that plays in the same PG Under Armour tournaments that they play in Jupiter and East Cobb. I am not in it for profit only to provide a good venue for my son and other players his age to play and develop. Baseball has been very good to me, I live a great life and am married to a woman that is too good for me, baseball put me in a position to live this life look for someone with the same view

Great Post. He is spot on, novice mom. Look for a program that is in it for the kids. Anybody that charges $6500 is doing it for the money.

All of the travel coaches have contacts simply because we all see and talk with the college and pro guys everyday while attending east cobb and jupiter. Our group charges the same as a showcase price for east cobb and jupiter, but our coaches are all ex pro's and we spend a good 6 hours a day on individual and group work. We also video evrything and go over film on a daily basis. We put in the time, number one as a way to help give back to the game by helping to develope the players and secondly for the families to see the event as a week long training tool with exposure... not just showing up and playing.

Scholarships aren't guaranteed but kids are in a position to be in front of a lot of different people. As soon as you said 6500.00 I think the entire board knew who you were contacted by. Good luck!

I am new here but I have seen worse in that some teams after giving them $2,500.00 or more still want you to buy 4 different uniforms and things of that nature which I have been told by a sports shop cost over a $1,000.00. What we do in the fall is play college teams and out of the 22 players’ who were local seniors 18 (and no not the best around but good) were offered scholarships by college teams. Now mind you we don’t charge what these teams do as we charge insurance and shirt and they have to pay their own way to the games and food but some times we get donations to cover drinks and snacks. We do some traveling as our games are away to the colleges but not over two hundred miles one way. All of our players’ play and we can send them in and out when ever and the college coaches like it as well as the scouts who come.
I have seen and I know others have seen as well families spending loads on a kid who just want make the grade playing baseball. They spend loads taking them to all of these tryouts and camps when the kid is just not good enough and some do not want to hear that or the kid needs work and they think he is golden right now and ready for the draft. Note: (98% of scouts will not follow anyone under the 11th grade because they do not have the time and the kid is not eligibly to be drafted and they may make a note about them).
Speaking of full rides, there are none as the NCAA tells colleges what they can give by what class they are in. When a coach can they will split the scholarship up to cover more players’. Some colleges can give books and school but cannot give room and board. As someone has said before; beware, check everything more than once. May have said more than I should but I think everyone should know there are different ways about helping their kids and there are different options for their kids to play in college.

Pony, you have a PM.