Worth the Drive?

"My son is leaning towards #3"...He is 14/15, let him own it.  If your kid(s) played on the #name your sport# travel circuit, then you are probably used to the 50 min driving...and the drive is a great time to bond when the kid has a second or two to get off the damn screen.

For options 2 or 3, Don't forget to ask the person that will be doing all the driving ... and waiting around, to then drive home.  IMO, the kid can only fully own it, if his ten speed bicycle can get him to practice :-).

That drive is an extra hour per week of alone time with your son. You might not think of that time as precious right now, but I bet you will in a few years. If it were me I'd tell him that it's 100% his decision, and that I could not possibly care less about the drive.

It really depends on what you'll want to get out of it....  A lot of the times options A and B would have provided the exact same outcomes for half the cost  (jm2c but of course I don't have all the details either)

My Johnny was a hockey player. When he decided that he wanted to punch the baseball ticket, I was shocked at how one word could have two meanings:

Hockey Travel Team: “ As long as it takes to get to the rink.”

Baseball Travel Team: “ Can’t be more than 15 mins.”

There is a big difference between playing two games and getting eliminated and going deep into brackets.  The quality of the reps go way up.  But will he actually play on the better team?

My son played on a top travel team that was about an hour away.  They had great practices and did an excellent job developing the kids.  Well worth the drive.

There is another major travel team that has a great name but zero development.  I would never have taken him there.

At 14/15, you need to get bigger, stronger, faster and much better at baseball.  I would go with the best team he can actually play on that will make him better.

Typically, the advice is to play on the best team where your son will get significant playing time and develop skills and experience.   Without knowing what your son's goals and aspirations are as well as each of the summer teams in question, it is difficult to say which is best for everybody.   Travel teams can vary quite a bit in their approach and schedules.   Also, travel baseball is not inexpensive hit to the family budget so that may be an overriding factor vs driving time.   In our family (3 boys) driving time was never a consideration.   It was always about fit with the appropriate summer travel team.

Good luck!

The answer depends on which of the options will help your son develop the most. My knee jerk answer would be #3 but that would be a counterproductive choice if he couldn’t get on the field enough. Another issue to consider is the amount if practice time. Kids get better by practicing - not by playing more games. IMO this is the achilles heel of most travel ball orgs. Total emphasis on games does not develop players. I would go with the option that gives him a combination of the best coaching and the most practice time.

How much travelling will the different teams actually be doing, how far away - i.e. how expensive?  Can you get a sense of whether they will be playing the same tournaments, or different ones?  If he wants to be challenged, but will be playing in the lowest level tournaments, that will not be as good as if his team is in tournaments playing against better teams.  Then you have to figure out whether the cost of travelling is worth the challenge and development differences.

I agree about the driving - I have great memories of that.

As stated above, your son's goals are an important part of the puzzle. Last summer as a rising junior my son played on a very good team. They played 3 of the biggest events of the summer and a total of 8 tournaments. The schools he's interested in were only at one of his tournaments the entire summer. If I could do it over again I wish he would have been on a team that would have given him the ability to be in the gym more and less tournaments.

However, there were 5 kids on the team who were able to commit to P5 schools. IMO, at 14/15 the focus should be about getting some good reps against the best competition, lots of practice, and focusing on getting bigger and faster.

@MidAtlanticDad posted:

That drive is an extra hour per week of alone time with your son. You might not think of that time as precious right now, but I bet you will in a few years. If it were me I'd tell him that it's 100% his decision, and that I could not possibly care less about the drive.

THIS!!!!  My son played an hour away when he started as a 9 year old.  Only one practice a week during the winter (on Sunday), but it was great.  His mom and I would actually fight over who got to take him because we both just enjoyed the quiet 2 hours on the road with him. 

What are your son's goals for playing after HS?   As a 2025 he needs to be playing for a team that is well coached and can develop him as a player and person....but also that either 1) will play tourneys where he can be seen or 2) a team that has good connections to colleges...and at least plays in competitive tourneys.  It seems early for a 2025 but at this point, it's never too early to start being seen....especially if his skill level is above average compared to other kids his age.   Playing travel ball tourneys in some small town with one local D3 coach watching won't help him get to the next level....unless of course he wants to play for the local D3 school

@anotherparent posted:

How much travelling will the different teams actually be doing, how far away - i.e. how expensive?  Can you get a sense of whether they will be playing the same tournaments, or different ones?  If he wants to be challenged, but will be playing in the lowest level tournaments, that will not be as good as if his team is in tournaments playing against better teams.  Then you have to figure out whether the cost of travelling is worth the challenge and development differences.

I agree about the driving - I have great memories of that.

They will be playing in similar tournaments (Perfect Game, Five Tool), one will play in the USA Baseball Teams Championship, the other plans to go to the Future Stars National Tournament.  The one affiliated with the university is not allowed to travel out of state per NCAA rules.  The dues are very similar, so the one time travel is the primary cost differentiator. 

His current focus is becoming a better baseball player and continuing to get bigger/faster/stronger (5'10/170).  He is not looking to "showcase" nor expects to be recruited at this point.  I think all the teams have quality coaching, however the one team will only practice once a week, which he does not like.  The furthest team will practice 2-3 times per week. 

I agree on the car rides.  Those are special times.  Since he will have his learner's permit by then, he will likely be sharing in the driving, no matter where he ends up. 

Thanks for the replies.

Some key things with travel programs I found to have the greatest impact on my son when he was that age.

1. A good coach means all the difference.  This coach played D1 and coached at D1 prior to doing the travel ball thing.  He ran practice like a D1 program and set true expectations.  Playing for this coach who told him he was player 13 on a 13 man team (was added late), then played him exactly the amount of time (1/2 of the games in field 1/2 at EH) in the beginning until he proved himself, and then followed through with additional time come playoffs, was key to his confidence.

2. Playing Up, not because they played top competition, but because he played with kids who pushed him.  Once he found he could hang, and they accepted him as just another player, the development skyrocketed.  I truly believe for baseball, unless you are a PO, that it is far more important to play with better players on your own team, than it is to play better competition, even if that means less playing time (just not zero playing time).  You interact and learn far more from your own team as you work with them, 100 times more than the comparatively few plays you make against competition.

3. After winter practice when they could get out on fields.  The practice was just with his team,  Not 3 or 4 teams of same age combined practice.  I hate that.  this allowed the coach to run the practice and run situation over and over till they got it right, vs everyone running it once to get through the 4 guys behind the plate and 3 at short who needed to get at least 1 rep, etc.  The team learned to play defense as a team and learned how to be disciplined as a team, and praised as a team.

I can only tell you what I know meant the most to my son's development at a crucial time.

Two points:  Where does he fall on each roster?  At the top of all three, in the middle of all three, or on the bottom of #3?

Since it is his choice to go to #3 make him agree to no screen time on one of the two directions each practice.  As you have heard here, all of us who have come out the other side know how important that time was for us.  Luckily for most of mine, sons didn't have the screens to look at, as much.

HS travel ball is a great topic, and doesn't get discussed much here.  There are different ways to run a HS-age travel ball team, and it's important to set your expectations before you sign on.

- coach can have the policy that everyone plays equally, either in the name of development for all, or because they had tryouts so they must all be good, or because everyone is paying equally.

- coach can have the policy that some players play all the time, and everyone else rotates the other spots - this is in the name of development or recruitment for those particular players (or because it's the coach's son)

- coach can run it like a HS team, where the best 9 play, and everyone else gets spot time.  This can also be in the name of recruitment of the better players, or because he wants to win

Regardless of where your son fits in the pecking order, he's going to be affected by the team philosophy.  If he's not one of the top players, he may rarely play.  Or, if he is one of the top players, he may get frustrated at losing because of errors by other players if they rotate evenly.  Or, his arm might be over-used.  Or, (fill in the blank)...  We saw many kids drop out of travel teams for one of these reasons, and when that happens, the rest of the team is also affected.

If you’re considering all these teams they’re all within acceptable driving distance. A player should want to be on a competitive team with a reputation in a competitive environment. He should want quality instruction. He should be looking at a team that will give him exposure to the next level** on the way up to his ultimate goal. He should pick the team.

** 17u coaches or other coaches from academies checked out our team looking for next level (17u) prospects. The team had a reputation for being well coached and competitive.

@anotherparent posted:

I agree about the driving - I have great memories of that.

THIS is spot on!

I don't know enough about the teams to offer an opinion but I drove 50 minutes each way twice a week for 3 years for a quality organization with great reps. They built players who wanted to work. I treasure those hours spent in the car talking now more then you could imagine. Plus I got to take a nap twice a week during practice!

My 2 cents:

1. Find out who runs the best practices (if possible) .That's also often a sign of the best coach (regardless of W & L's) I'd lean that way first.

2.  IF I understood you correctly options #1 & #3 both practice 2x per week.  (IF you son's only playing baseball vs. multi sport then I'd lean towards the extra practice vs option 2)

3.  I'll go against the grain with letting your son pick... Your his taxi service and we don't know if you've got other kids to haul around.  Once he's old enough to drive himself then I'm all for letting him make his own decisions.  Don't be afraid to put yourself, siblings, etc first.  IF he's truly driven to succeed this choice won't make or break him. 

4.  The best players on teams often get the most coaching attention.  Don't be afraid to pick a lower level team if the coaches are great.  Your son might find he get's more detailed coaching on that team vs. the superstar team.  However, I wouldn't want my son to be the very best player on his travel ball team because and I think it would help push him to continue to improve.

@old_school posted:

THIS is spot on!

I don't know enough about the teams to offer an opinion but I drove 50 minutes each way twice a week for 3 years for a quality organization with great reps. They built players who wanted to work. I treasure those hours spent in the car talking now more then you could imagine. Plus I got to take a nap twice a week during practice!

My son and I spend a lot of time in the car together as it is (and has been that way since he was younger and racing BMX).    One of the things I enjoy doing with him is putting together a curated playlist for the ride so that he can be exposed to a lot of different kinds of music.  We listen to blues, punk, hip-hop, classical, rock, jazz, heavy metal, country...everything.  It makes for good conversations.  We now take turns playing DJ.