HS summer team vs travel team

This is a very common problem that happens to many, many players throughout the country. The bottom line is there is no 1 soultion to solve it. Each situation is different and has it's own set of circumstances.

The 1st step is to be open with the HS coach and try to work together on this. I think that there are a lot of good HS coaches out there and there are some bad ones as well. Regardless, your HS coach should be "in the know" to what is going on. NEVER lie!

Once you start the communication, you will see where he stands and then can act accordingly. I do agree that travel ball has many benefits to the players. However, a HS coach who truly cares about his program has things that he may want to accomplish during the summer as well. In that case, a combination of both HS summer ball and travel ball can still be a very good thing. Again, communication is vital.

Once you start this process and have some potential roadblocks then I (and others) may be able to help you out with some additional info. However, as I mentioned there are so many factors and each situation has so many things involved that it's just too hard to say "do this."

GOOD LUCK!

Here's another consideration. How many players has the high school coach helped place in college ball versus the travel coach? These days players are more likely to be discovered at high levels of travel than high school ball.

Our high school doesn't have a summer team. The better kids play Legion. This fall, my son was provided the option (no pressure) to play travel or fall ball for the high school coach. As a sophomore who was a last varsity cut as a freshman, I advised my son to play fall ball for the high school coach and nail down a starting position while he's in midseason form rather than relying on a couple of weeks in the spring. Another soph who was also a last cut chose the travel route. He's lost ground to another player who has had a very good fall for the high school coach.

Next year my son probably go back to travel fall ball. However, while also playing a fall sport for the high school, he said it's been nice to only play Saturday doubleheaders rather than tournaments all weekend and not get any rest.

Steve thats a great post and its obvious from that post you speak from experience. As a High School coach myself I take a different approach than some of my fellow coaches. I want my guys to play the most competitive baseball they can play during the off season from high school. This makes them better players and it offers them much better exposure especially if they are talented enough to play on a very good showcase team. It also gives other players in my high school program the opportunity to take on a bigger role than the one they have been used to during the hs season. I think its also a good thing to have your guys coached by someone else during part of the year. They pick up some very good things from other coaches and a new set of eyes is always a good thing imo.

Now there are coaches that want to use the summer and fall as an extension of the hs season. They want to keep their players together and build from there. There are some problems with this imo. If you have some guys that need to play better competition and get more exposure I dont think for one minute you should get in the way of that. I think you should encourage it. This gives other players in your program a chance to increase their roles on the summer team as well. There will always be coaches that feel slighted by you breaking away in the off season to better yourself or taking advantage of a better opportunity.

Steve has given you a great answer imo. Talk to the coach and see where he stands. It might be possible to do both. If he says no then you have to make some decisions. But the coach should want what is best for the player first. Isnt the off season a time he can try and develop some other guys and give them some more playing time? If your just going to continue in the summer what you were doing in the spring where do the guys that need to play get more playing time? Maybe they do indeed get that playing time if the other guys do some other things? JMHO

I would just like to add a couple of things. If you have a player that is very talented and you hold him back to play on the hs summer team is that fair? Shouldn't you want him to play the best competition possible and with the best players he can play with? HS summer baseball is not high level baseball for a Jr or Sr that has established himself as a college prospect. In some cases it is not competitive baseball for a talented soph. Let them go and let them play at the level that will not only challenge them but give them some opportunities to be seen. Holding them back for the sake of stacking "Building" your hs program in the summer is selfish on the hs coaches part. Do what is best for the player. Do what is best for your son. JMHO