Summer Travel vs. Amer Legion ball

Hard to compare because American Legion teams are mostly found downstate and in the North and Northwest suburbs.

I'm not aware of any in the West or Southwest suburbs.

Should be competitive with summer travel teams since most travel teams are "age restricted"; and, there is such a wide VARIETY and quality of TRAVEL teams. Way too many (travel teams) are started by disgruntled dads who want a place for junior to play and usually wind up to having 2-3 players and the rest are hamburgers.

Legion, on the other hand, can have 15-18 year olds (maybe 16-18 year olds) and many are very competitive.

My son played HS Summer, Legion and Travel last summer. During most of the summer, Legion is superior to HS Summer Ball, but some schools pull all their best players back from Travel once the playoffs start and then the HS Summer Teams get stronger and the best could compete with some Legion teams. Our school, for instance does not do this and our Summer HS Team will not be strong because of it. Day in and day out, Legion is better by a large degree. My opinion:

1.) 18 Top Level Travel

2.) Good Legion Teams (up to 18 year olds)

3.) 16 Top Level Travel ...but if you play in 16 Year Old Events, the competiton is not always strong.

4.) HS Summer league

There are some Legion Teams who are not as strong as the best 16 Travel Teams, but not all these Travel Teams are all that. Been there is right, there is a large degree of difference in the level of play in Travel.

BeenthereIL There are American Legion teams Popping up in the West and Southwest. New team last year out of Joliet, this year, New teams fro Aurora, and Morris. In the Western Suburbs, Carol Stream, St, Charles, and Elmhurst. It is starting to make a comeback. After playing Travel as a 15-16 we decided to go to American Legion last year and the competition was top notch. You can participate in the American legion program from 14-19 yrs of age, the cut off for your age is the calendar year, so how ever old you are on 12/31/06 that is the age you are considered. If you turn 19 on 1/1/06 or if you turn 19 on 12/31/06 you are considered a 19 yr old. A lot of 19 yr olds come back from college and play their final summer in the American Legion programs. Over all I was very impressed with the level of competition and saw that we can not get by with role players from their respective H.S. Teams. Looking forward to a very good season this year.

Agree 100% with FBDad.

I played with the Niles Braves last summer, and I'm going to play for the Lakeside Cardinals this summer. I think that the two teams are completely different. Teams like the Cardinals are there to compete against high talent and go to lots of showcases. I’ve noticed that the legion team near me (Northbrook Braves) is more focused on winning and not showcasing the players. Either way is a good one to go, but each has its own pros and cons.

i was looking into playing with the Niles Braves 16u team, but im playing with the Chicago Cardnals.

Thanks for replying and providing feedback. The AmerLeg team district we are in is Northbrook Braves. Did anyone play for them that would care to comment? If it needs to be confidential, please send to: for2n8john@yahoo.com.
Thanks.