travel ball

[baseballOC]

a few nights ago i practiced with my friends aau baseball team, the coach said he liked me and would love me to play for them but it costs around 1,000 dollars. I went home and asked my parents and they said "it costs to much, and they don't want to travel around all of the time." What am i supposed to do?

any help very much appreciated.:(

By the way i play for my school team, and a babe ruth team (32 games in total), but i want to play more.:(

[Garnerbaseball]

A recent Wall Street Journal article on the lack of diversity in college baseball lamented the fact that baseball, at the upper levels, has become a 'country club sport'. Ie, only rich folks are invited. Travel costs, private lessons, etc, etc, etc.

Look around, there may be teams that cost less, or maybe you could work out a deal as a part-time player that may reduce the costs. But nothing is free. Be careful - it can consume your life if you let it.

[dsore1218]

I have seen both sides. We are religious and do not play on Sunday so my sons have not had a lot of opportunities to play AAU, USSSA or any kind of upper echelon travel ball until recently and that is on teams that will let them play when they can, which is a bit unusual. We have teams that we put together and play in area tournaments. We go T-shirt uniforms and keep the costs to just entrance fees. It is all just at-bats, baby, as my sons say.

One son will go the JC route and the other should get a chance to go D1 or be drafted on potential and DNA (6'3", 190 as a sophomore, throws mid-80's now). Our team had kids drafted that played travel ball but their scholarships and the drafting came from private workouts with scouts not travel ball. They also played multiple sports.

I would suggest playing other sports, taking lessons, working out, etc. in an effort to be ready next year. My sons played 3 sports in high school and each sport benefited the other sport. Lessons are cheaper, I see more value in them and it is an easier sell to parents. Find a sport specific workout place. Get into plyometrics. Lots of other stuff to do with your time.

[baseballOC]

yea, i do get private hitting, feilding, and a little pitching, lessons. from a private coach who played for the diamondbacks. i get them 1 time a week, so my parents are alrite with those, but not AAU and i wanted to play AAU, school, and babe ruth. i don't know what to do.

I used to play soccer but now i have switched to just baseball, but i'm only 14.

i also got invited to play on a 14U baseball america team, but i don't know if my parents will let me play for them either:(

[dsore1218]

Now I agree with garnerbaseball. You would probably benefit greatly from doing something away from baseball.

We have had chalk talks with scouts from the Indians, Marlins and Rockies. The Marlins scout is the head of their scouting. We have also heard from at least 5 Division I coaches and a dozen JC coaches. Every one of these guys made a point of saying that athletes benefit from doing something other than just their one sport. They look for it when they evaluate talent. They see the benefits from multiple sports. In the end the difference between two athletes can be grades and multiple sports, guess which one they go with.

On a personal note, my second son is slated to be the starting QB on Varsity this next fall. He pitches and plays RF/1B. He played post and forward in basketball. In football he needed a quicker first step at the start of last year, he got that from basketball. Baseball wanted more mental toughness which he got from football. Basketball wanted physical toughness (football) and hand/eye coordination (baseball). Right now it is Football 1A and Baseball 1B. They are feeding off each other and pushing him farther along than he would be if he specialized.

Do multiple things, train multiple sports, don't get too wound up in just one thing.