Questions to ask before joining/trying out for a travel team?

1). Do you make recruiting videos for each player?  Is that included in the cost?

and, if it isn’t listed on the website:

2). How many players have you sent on to college programs, and which schools?

If there is a tryout, does making the team mean that you will have regular playing time, or will you have to compete for playing time?

I knew many people over the years who assumed that if they had tried out and been accepted on a team, they would get equal playing time.  And I have to say, it seems a fair assumption:  why else have a tryout?  Then when the team was run as a "best players play" team, people who paid for hotels for weekends so that their son could pitch one inning or get one at-bat were pretty mad.

I suppose another way to do it would be if you are offered a spot, ask "how would you plan to use me?" and see what they say.

How many teams do they have at the age group trying out for. And if you make it which team will you be on.

What tournaments or showcases will be on the schedule? Travel?

Do monthly fees include everything? Or will there be additional charges for uniforms or tournament fees etc.

Does the team bring in guest players?

If it is a multi location Org. Do they build teams from the best players from each location to build reginal or national teams? This is a plus if you are a high level player.

Just some of the questions I would ask.

Depends on the age.  For 14U my son played for a program that really focused on teaching fundamentals and emphasized practices over games during the Spring season...I think they had 3 practices per week during March before starting games in April.  Each practice had about 30 kids (2 teams at the age group) and about 6 experienced coaches.  No dads.

By 16U my son had been to the national tournaments a few times and we got a sense of the top regional programs.  He identified one program that always fielded quality teams, tried out and made it.  Before committing we had a long talk with the head coach about his current contacts and where recent players had committed.  Very easy to verify using the PG site.

Anotherparent is spot on. My son’s fall team had 3 catchers. Two split time. The 3rd got one at bat in a 5 day tournament in GA. Kid missed 3 days of school for one lousy AB. When asked about PT the coach sent a message to the kids about earning it.

How many position players and PO’s. How many will he bat in pool games and elim games.

The travel teams that don’t have every kid playing are completely insane.  Johnny Big Man the former Low A ball dude saying “kids gotta earn it.”  That’s not a Showcase team, that’s a robbery.

Earn playing time on a high school team, or a college team. A good travel program will have everyone playing, because they are trying to place everyone in a college program.

2025:

ask the coaches to explain the words “earned it”! Summer team should be for developmental purpose. If the Coach is experienced -he Can  win if he can teach the game with pro style practices

Bob

1) Is it the A team?

2) How is playing time earned? If it’s equally distributed they will tell you.

3) Where does the team play? If it’s 16u or 17u you want to make sure it’s in front of the right college programs for you.

What is you policy on visiting players? You don’t want to pay and get thrown under the bus.

What costs are there beyond the original team costs? Such as travel.

The ideal situation is being recruited to play for 16u and 17u travel teams rather than trying out. When teams pursue you it’s an indication of your level of talent. Where they place (level) players is where you are most likely to be a prospect.,

Don't overlook doing your own research.  Look at the players on the team - where do you fit talent wise?  Look at the tournaments they attend (PG, USA Baseball, PBR, etc) - do these fit your recruiting strategy?  Look at the committed players on the team - are they committed to schools that are a fit for you?

You can also look at rosters and stats from previous tournaments to see how this team managed playing time or used guest players.  You might have to pay an access fee for this info.

Also, do you know anyone who played or plays for this travel team?  What do they say about it?  Have they gotten better?  Do they have a clear idea of how the coaches will help them in recruiting?

The questions depend on the level of team trying out for.  If you are trying out for one of the top teams in the nation the questions are different than if you are trying out for a somewhat local showcase/travel team.  The age group also affects the questions.  Most of the older showcase teams that are regional or national do not practice and definitely do not have equal playing time.  They will treat it just like a college and the best will play the big games and big innings and the others will fill in during games in pool play or lopsided games.  My son played for several national teams and they were point blank that we are trying to get you to college but also get you ready for college.  The biggest question is cost and what do you get for costs.

Our experience:

Team makeup should be of single class year (I.e. 2025). D1s will be scouting 2025 events this summer, not 18U/2022.

—5-6 Shortstops

—5-6 Center Fielders

—3-4 Catchers

—Pitchers for each day. If 2 way they appear above. Pitchers knew their innings in advance.

Lots of evidence on this site to say those are the positions recruited. Not to say if you are a left handed first baseman you can’t have a spot—of course you can.

Usually we didn’t have every player make every event. In our son’s case we did Showball and some college camps and missed some weekends. You don’t want a roster so small you can’t do your own thing when you need to.

Scouting:

Our team was pretty consistent featuring the players in their “normal” position when they were being actively scouted, especially when coach had spoken to scout prior to game. For early D1 commits, we had a national team to increase draft exposure and that team travelled out of region to Florida, etc.

Coach should offer to speak to college coaches on your sons’ behalf. Team used fieldlevel which was inexpensive recruiting service where we could post videos and coach could market players.

Lineup was visibly posted at all games with positions and jersey numbers. Super simple, but amazed how many teams don’t do that. They also set up radar and video stream—takes almost no investment to do that with a phone and pocket radar. I was surprised how many people would stop by and just watch the velocities.

Practices/other:

We were regional team and had practices 2 times per week. Many teams don’t, and our son appreciated the opportunity to practice.

We only played in scouted events and showcases. We picked up games/scrimmages locally rather than traveling for a non-scouted tournament (except during Covid).

One thing I better appreciated after going through the process was that our coach gave equal opportunity to all levels—NAIA to D1 P5–we had all levels on the team. His emphasis was to get son on an appropriate roster—as one player committed, he worked his way down the roster to get the next in line a spot.

One thing we didn’t have that we would have liked was a facility with cages and tunnels to use outside of practices.

We had a tryout, and some players were recruited without tryout. Coaches also coached for high school and knew who could play.

I would say we had equal playing time—if you made the team you were going to play. Our team batted entire lineup. About the only “unequal” part of playing time was batting order, but again if player was being looked at he would be in top 4 batters. That being said we won a lot of games and finished as runner up in large tournament—players gave a lot of effort. No one should pay money to sit on the bench—this isn’t high school where only focus is on winning.

Hope this helps and good luck this summer!

Lots of great advice here.  Consider it all.  From a purely recruiting standpoint, there are 2 big gates that my son would have to get through for a travel team to be worth the time and investment: (relatively) equal playing time and playing in tourneys where the RIGHT coaches for your son will be in attendance.  You've got to be on the field with the RIGHT people watching.  Without those 2 things, I'd argue the value drops exponentially.

I would add this.  I assume 2025prospect is not yet in high school.  So the reason for joining a travel team is probably not college exposure (if it were, at his age, he wouldn't have to ask).  We're talking 14U?

At this age, what you want is coaches who can teach you something, good fellow-players to motivate you, and experience at the highest level that you can get plenty of playing time.  It's preparation for high school baseball right now.  In high school, you potentially compete with seniors, thus summer travel at a high level is helpful, but only if you are actually playing in games.

D1’s are absolutely going to be scouting 2024’s and 2025’s this summer.

Does your kid play the same position as the coaches' kid?

@3and2Fastball posted:

D1’s are absolutely going to be scouting 2024’s and 2025’s this summer.

Only the top shelf studs recognized at the national level to be college/pro prospects. When my son was in 8th grade he was 5’4”.

@anotherparent posted:

I would add this.  I assume 2025prospect is not yet in high school.  So the reason for joining a travel team is probably not college exposure (if it were, at his age, he wouldn't have to ask).  We're talking 14U?

At this age, what you want is coaches who can teach you something, good fellow-players to motivate you, and experience at the highest level that you can get plenty of playing time.  It's preparation for high school baseball right now.  In high school, you potentially compete with seniors, thus summer travel at a high level is helpful, but only if you are actually playing in games.

Yes, we are talking 14u. I feel that Some of these replies are more directed toward older age groups. Thank you.

Things could be different with Covid. But, usually travel teams for this summer are formed last fall. Of course, they will take a stud whenever they stumble across him.

In a non academy environment make sure they’re not just looking for one more body to help pay the bills.

Up through 14u there are dad run teams perpetually looking for two players. These are teams with twelve player rosters who only play ten. When the last two figure it out and quit they need two more players.

@RJM posted:

Only the top shelf studs recognized at the national level to be college/pro prospects. When my son was in 8th grade he was 5’4”.

Nowadays a ton of travel teams with kids full of future D3 guys ends up at the same events.  But, point taken

At 14u, play on the best team that you can actually play on.  If you aren't playing on the field, you aren't getting any better. It's all about development right now.  Getting bigger, stronger, faster and better.

In the Atlanta metro, there are several well know nationally ranked teams.  Two or more are known for great training and development. Great teams, great coaches.

One team is a really big name that does no development.  The A team only plays the best players. If the A team gets bounced from a tournament, all the A players go to the B team and play in the B team's tournament.  Guest players whenever they show up.  You will be able to brag about being on the team, odds are you won't play. Big internal conflicts on assigning fields for practice. Good luck getting any development.

You probably have some contacts through school, church, your parent's work that can get you some input on the reputation of travel teams in your area.  Maybe talk to some local pitching or hitting instructors.  They should know the teams in your area.  High school coach should know where his best players play at.

Last resort, google the team. Believe only part of what you read.  if one person is mad, ignore it. If twenty people are mad, there is probably a problem.

I would believe the reputation of the team more than the coach.

- do any of the other kids have to pay or are they free like my son?

- do you require giveback of any portion of signing bonus if I get drafted out of HS instead of college?

- will any of the existing coaches mind me being the new HC?

- When will you add my sons pick to the cover page of web site?

let us know how it goes

@old_school posted:

- do any of the other kids have to pay or are they free like my son?

- do you require giveback of any portion of signing bonus if I get drafted out of HS instead of college?

- will any of the existing coaches mind me being the new HC?

- When will you add my sons pick to the cover page of web site?

let us know how it goes

OMG. Genius!!

@old_school posted:

- do any of the other kids have to pay or are they free like my son?

- do you require giveback of any portion of signing bonus if I get drafted out of HS instead of college?

- will any of the existing coaches mind me being the new HC?

- When will you add my sons pick to the cover page of web site?

let us know how it goes

😂

@Smitty28 posted:

Don't overlook doing your own research.  Look at the players on the team - where do you fit talent wise?  Look at the tournaments they attend (PG, USA Baseball, PBR, etc) - do these fit your recruiting strategy?  Look at the committed players on the team - are they committed to schools that are a fit for you?

You can also look at rosters and stats from previous tournaments to see how this team managed playing time or used guest players.  You might have to pay an access fee for this info.

Also, do you know anyone who played or plays for this travel team?  What do they say about it?  Have they gotten better?  Do they have a clear idea of how the coaches will help them in recruiting?

Spot on Smitty!   

You have to have an idea of what you want to get out of travel ball before asking questions.  A lot of time and money can be wasted if the research isn't done up front.   Yes, I know as a 2025 you probably don't have all the answers yet, but eventually that time is going to come when the rubber hits the road.   Take it from me, we made our share of mistakes but they didn't hurt us in the long run.   For my son's situation this how we looked at it:

1) What is more important showcasing or winning national tournaments?  - In my son's case, we found out it was equal based on how the organization operated.  We were fine with it.

2) What is the Travel coaches network of college coaches?  What doors can he open up? - This was huge for us in terms of a starting point, and later learning the ropes of leveraging my son's athletic and academic skills.   The travel coach taught us to fish and we took it in a new direction because he lacked the network, experience and understanding for D1 HA schools (Ivy and Patriot).  We had to learn that on our own.

3) Playing time expectations - It was very clear what my son's role was and what was expected of him.   But I think this question needs to be asked 100% of the time.

4) Cost expectations - What is included and what is not included.  As I've learned over the years, this varies considerably.   The best travel organizations are transparent where the money goes and doesn't go.

As always, JMO and experience.