Tri State Arsenal

They have a very good program and get some very talented players on thier teams. This year they have 2 showcase teams at 17u and another 17u team.  They do a good job of getting the kids exposure.  I will say that there is some parental grumbling from parents whose kids are not on showcase 1but they play roughly the same schedule. The Barth family has a strong baseball background and they a e ties with .any collegiate programs.  Hope that helps.  They've always charged for tryouts.

They had teams entered in all four age groups of the PG World Series.  

 

Since each field is limited to 16 teams, that qualifies them as an elite national-level program.

My son came up through the Arsenal system, IMO you're not going to find a better program in the Northeast.  As mentioned before, Joe and Bob Barth are highly respected in the amauter baseball world and Bob is very well connected to colleges at all levels.

 

As for the cost for tryouts I understand this is pretty common practice these days so I wouldn't let that hold you back.  

 

Looking back, my son's Arsenal days provided some of our best baseball memories.  I'm sure you'll find some out there that didn't have as good of an experience as we did but I'd certainly do it all over again.  Good luck!

The try-out fee is somewhat unusual in South Jersey for travel teams, but they are seen as the premier showcase organization in the area, so for that age group, it probably shouldn't raise too many eyebrows given all of the other costs associated with getting exposure.

I don’t think that a modest tryout fee is unusual for programs of that caliber in the Northeast.

 

The Evoshield Canes charge $25 early / $40 late. 

 

I think Chandler charged $10 last year (may not have charged anything this year).

 

Baseball U charges $20 and notes “to avoid players just coming in for a workout with little interest in playing…”.