Watered down travel ball in midwest

Nah.  It's the same everywhere.  What you're seeing is the proliferation of "weekend teams."  Marginally, if any, better than rec ball.  They just play on the weekends rather during the week.  This lets them say, and think, that they are hardcore travel teams, but they really aren't.  

What age group are you talking about?

We are 15u playing alot of 16u tourneys.

Where are you in IL?

Mchenry county

40 miles northwest Chicago

I would say the I80 corridor has the best. McHenry county is a close second.  

My guess is that since you're coming from a pretty strong area some teams from other areas look "weak.".  

But yes, with travel ball expansion there is some "watering down." I think the primary difference between teams in the area is the quality of the off season work.  

Do you think the 'watering down' of summer ball is bad or good? Why?  Just curious.  More guys are getting to play, right?  Or do we need less teams that have more talent?

I think what is happening is all levels of baseball are getting away from the game an more about business, all these summer teams, or I should say the majority of summer teams, make a lot of money off of travel baseball.  An that's why there are a lot more teams and organizations than in the past.

It's not about the talent is about the all mighty buck.

What we often call watered down summer ball is generally kind of an All-Star Rec and that is fine.  I really care about as many kids as possible playing ball.  Don't care if it is Rec or some level above that. More kids playing baseball is good though I am not sure that is the result of all these not-so-competitive teams.  

I hope old-fashioned Rec is around for a long time.  A parent did once remind me that the best thing about "travel ball" is that you get to pick the parents. 

I think the massive proliferation of all levels of travel baseball--the good, the bad, and the ugly--is primarily to fulfill a desire for parents/players to play "travel baseball," even if it is, essentially, a more expensive version of rec ball with some travel. I think there should be baseball for all levels of ability and interest, but watered down travel baseball seems to be very widespread.

I'm not sure it is financial.  Nobody's getting rich around here managing travel teams.  Some places do it to help support their indoor facilities.  Most coaches do it because they love the game. 

And sure, the more opportunities for kids to play quality baseball the better.  But I think there has to be some real evaluation regarding what level you can compete at.  A mercy rule game doesn't do anyone any good.  So finding the right competitive balance is essential. 

Where I have seen the difference is the teams that put in the off season work are the teams that are more competitive and successful.  There are too many teams that just go thru the motions in the offseason and don't focus on improvement. 

My youngest son plays on a team, that when my other boys were younger, would have been considered a very good rec team. Several of the boys including my son do not play in the spring for their HS. These are multi-sport athletes who have baseball as a second sport. Some of these may have the opportunity to play at the next level but just not Baseball, but still love the sport.

He has played some level of travel since 11U, they play in a local league and travel to two or three tournaments a year.He decided to focus on wrestling, but did not want to stop playing baseball. He considered playing Rec ball so we made a point to get to several different rec leagues for his age. After watching the games, he committed to his travel team for one more year. He did not know the kids playing rec and he felt he would be frustrated with the level of play.

The important thing is that the person scheduling tournaments for these type of teams to truly evaluate the talent you have and find appropriate tournaments for them to play in. The Manager for team schedules smaller tournaments that is mostly local talent. He does not schedule them for big tournaments that pull teams from two or three states or nationally. He sticks to tournaments that have under 15 to twenty teams. We want the boys to go out and compete and have fun. It is no fun to go out and compete in the bigger regional tournaments and get your brains beat in for three of the four guaranteed games and end up playing a consolation game that means nothing and getting your brains beat in again.

I think the problem comes in when the managers of teams like ours decide they want to play the best competition and go to the big tournaments, and get run ruled every game. It comes down to Accurately judging the talent on your team and scheduling accordingly.

I am from the midwest and there are a ton of select teams as well.  The cost for these teams is wide ranging.  Some as much as $6k-$7+ yr (guesstimate) not including travel to $500 - $1k not including travel.  Its seems all these average select teams are popping up because; 1) parents dont want to pay the big money, 2) kids dont want to be playing ball out of town every weekend 3) families dont like this or that coach and form their own select team  4) money making effort for a few people/coaches.  In addition, many weekend events are now called 'showcases' instead of 'tournaments'.  I really feel this is creating an individualistic attitude toward a team game.  There is no 'trophy' to play for. Show up on the weekends, play your 4-5 games, try and show off your talent, and go home.  Kinda seems like the wrong approach.  IMO.

Everyday Dad,

Are you mostly playing tourneys up on the north side of Chicagoland?  Most of the stronger travel teams are centered down along the i-80 corridor.  Have you run into teams like Upper Deck Cougars, Top Tier, Elite, Renegades, Sparks, White Sox ACE?  All of these are traditionally strong programs but the talent will vary from year to year.  Some of them have more then one team in the program at any age level so you need to see if your playing the A team.  Also some of these programs play a lot of out of state tourneys so you may not see them often.  

Also at the 15u level things start to change.  Around here kids will start dropping out to concentrate on other sports or only play with their HS summer league team.  Some of the better players have stopped playing club ball.  Especially if they are involved in more then one sport.