Jesus is God not baseball. They stand out on the team from the girls that clearly go home and put in the extra work, the extra exercise, even the extra lessons to constantly improve. I needed a break, and I wanted to be a counselor at a Christian camp that summer (Kanakuk). Often, good organizations will reach out to a player that caught their eye and invite them to come to the open tryout. By living our life for Christ the other 6 days. We dont have Sunday games and Id venture that shes in the lower end of competitive teams. As a volunteer basketball coach for 18+ years, Ive seen girls spiritually suffer by the same well-intentioned convictions of their parents. Tendonitis describes inflammation of a tendon, typically caused by overuse. Im coming at this topic from a multi-dimensional approach. Travel Ball is Killing Rec Ball - Discuss Fastpitch Softball Community Talk through the process and help her see the pros and cons of each option. God bless. It always seems to happen with those families that God is really working with. Give your kid the chance to be a great person and cultivate that through sports. It's really helpful to talk with other parents a few years ahead of you on the paththose who have experience with the same club or league you're looking at. With the top-tier of competitive travelling softball teams, the coaches are generally not related to the players. Excellence: Pursuing excellence is important, but be sure you know and your child knows what you mean by that. When we read books about how it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on anything, it may wrongly motivate us to try to create little experts out of our kids by the time they graduate from high school. coming down the pike. Does she want to be on a team that beats everyone 10-0? Travel softball can become quite expensive. #momof3boys. Set the example for the kids. With our current circumstances, it would be extremely hard with our job schedule to juggle two girls practices and tournaments with everything else. She backs off every pitch because shes scared of the ball. There are half a million pieces of debris larger than 1 centimetre and 100 million pieces of. Its wonderful that your child wants to play at a higher level, but you need to be sure they understand what all youre signing up for if they make the team. Softball Leagues + Travel Softball Teams - Lakeland Mom We have the pressure of middle school tryouts being in 2 years, and we wanted to make sure that he did well at those tryouts. Even a child with exceptional innate talent still needs to be a good team player. She needs to spend more than 2 days working on drills. Its hard in the county. Open Access J Sports Med. If you live in a big city, chances are that a good program is nearby. Tendonitis. Go to practice twice a week, throw on her hundreds of dollars worth of catchers gear, catch for a few hours, then go home and not touch the gear until the next team practice day? Our time in sports opened up a world of opportunities, and more importantly taught us much about life, ourselves and God, so we are very pro-sports. Let them play the game. Now, teams just showcase players instead of playing team softball. What should she do? According to WinterGreen Research the U.S. youth-sports industry is now a $15.3 billion market. I coach my son (U10 Rec soccer) and was considering travel but was hesitant because of playing on sundays. Train your coaches and prepare them for every level they will be involved. I made the switch from Little League/rec ball to travel ball when I was ten years old, and from then on I consistently played at the highest levels possible. You need the church, and the church needs you. One of the most common problems is not having enough players to field a team. However, the main reason weve stuck with travel is the consistency that it offers. You have to trust that all decisions are made for the good of the entire team. Tell him he's great and anything is possible if you put your mind to it, but don't let him be an entitled little asshole out there on the field, because that's your fault! College Recruiting: This is for those a little older (freshmen and up). But the reality is that if your goal is to play at the college level and especially if your goal is to play for a Division 1 program its an important part of the process. Al Mohlers Culture Shift If your daughter is interested in playing college softball, youll want to be part of an organization that: When I was coaching at a Division II school, there were a handful of travel ball coaches I knew well and could really trust to give me honest feedback on a kid as an athlete and a person. Likewise, I appreciate the voices of parents who have been there on both sides. Yes, they are young and this is not college softball players we are talking about here. 3. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Developing skills in (or at least having exposure to) music, art, great books, drama, theology, politics, or science-and-math-related activities makes us better, more empathetic, engaged human beings and citizens, and better leaders. The low-end travel teams can be local teams going to a few tournaments outside the region. Youre all running on less sleep than usual and even though its only 5 am, theres no more rest for you. Since day one, weve been here for our players, with our players, and because of our players. Jesse played baseball for many years, served in the U.S. Army for 15 years, and began officiating 32 years ago. While you make some great points, let me provide an alternate perspective, even if I appear at present to be the lone dissenting voice. James Jesse, Vice President (Umpires) for Grand Slam Tournaments (GS), leads corporate oversight of all GS umpires and directly manages a team of 60 umpires in Atlanta, Georgia. Travel softball is not for everyone. Dont sacrifice your sons childhood on the altar of the hope that hes the next Derek Jeter. Enjoyment: Help your children enjoy a sport for the simple joy of the sport. I played college baseball and never once played Travel Ball in the summer until I was 17. I know you were saying that theres no one answer for everyone. It's almost the only way your player can get exposure to college scouts for scholarship opportunities. Still, I wouldnt trade those times for anything and I wouldnt be where I am today without those experiences. It is other worldly, it is unlike anything the Non Christian can imagine, to deny ourselves something the world says is a must and do something the world sees as foolish. Required fields are marked *. The best coaches and the best players stop playing rec ball in favor of travel ball, leading to fewer teams and a lower level of competition in the rec league. Its not easy to admit that you or someone you love is not good enough for something. Q+A What is space debris and how dangerous is it? | Reuters If you can not recover or a fix an error as quickly as another player then you will be replaced. On the contrary, travel baseball is pure commitment! Our son never felt like he missed out on anything; he was too busy playing other sports and doing other activities. Small towns breed professional athletes, and the reason seems to be that kids in small towns aren't over-coached, over-organized, and over-specialized by the travel ball opportunities found in larger cities. Fourth, travel ball is expensive, but so are the other activities in which many parents place their children like show choir and band. . They had to draft 8th graders to play for the high school JV team so the others could step up and play the Varsity. Dont get me wrong there are alot of rec leagues that are great but if you live in the middle of no where lile wr do that was out only option to make her the best that she could be and to teach her to challenge herself and not settle for just good enough. On a competitive travel team, players gain great experience in team play and sportsmanship. Either way, you shouldnt be sideline coaching. However, families can spend more depending on things like additional training fees and costs associated with longer out-of-state tournaments. Really great article Dr. Hamilton! Chemistry: Consider the overall chemistry of the program, not just the chemistry among the players. Keeping Youth Softball Travel Teams in Perspective So much time was freed up by not having to go to practice. A travel team is a youth sports team that plays at an elite level. There are many problems that can occur when playing travel softball. All your doing is increasing the strain and the chance of injury for no appreciable gain. While many recreational leagues let anybody play (depending on their roster size) travel teams typically recruit players and conduct tryouts. I have coached in a recreation league for almost five years, and now my eleven-year-old daughter is in soccer travel ball. First, not all travel ball destroys a childs love for the game. Nevertheless, Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6:1-4 still stand in Scripture as commands, not suggestions. While some languages are much harder to grasp than others, a lack of words is a travel problem with an easy solution. 15 to 20 tournaments per year (with tournament fees), Knows the rules surrounding college recruiting, Will help educate players and parents about those rules, Will be advocates for them during the recruiting process. Its important to be committed to making games, meets, tournaments, and practices a priority, but not at the expense of church, or important family gatherings. Between 2013 and 2018, the number of U.S. kids playing baseball and softball combined increased by nearly 3 million, according to annual surveys by the Sports Fitness & Industry Association. Thanks, Roy. The journey the Lord had me on led to me being cut from the team after I did not play summer ball following my sophomore year. Travel teams are also sometimes calledelite teams, select teams, club teams, or tournament teams. . Its only my observation of course but many areas in life are dog eat dog competitive, as it were. Having coached both my sons in travel an rec ball, and being on the board of our local rec league, serving as president for several years. Does your child have the discipline, maturity, and attention span required to succeed? " (Travel softball) has taken high school softball out of the equation," Hutchinson says. Kevin Soles. I could rest. There are multiple organizations that host tournaments around the United States. And keep in mind, the level of competitiveness usually coincides with how much work is expected outside of practice. Small towns breed professional athletes, and the reason seems to be that kids in small towns arent over-coached, over-organized, and over-specialized by the travel ball opportunities found in larger cities. Travel Softball Rankings | Youth Select & Showcase Travel Sports Teams I recognize that although it isnt common for kids to be offered college scholarships for sports, it obviously isnt impossible. I have friends I respect whose kids have played (and some who do play) travel ball, and I mean no offense to them by this post. We have truly enjoyed getting to know our travel team family! Its better to honor God than to win, and its better for your kid to enjoy the game than for him to play at the highest possible level. On the other hand, dont force her to join a competitive travel ball team if she just wants to have fun. He was so upset. This can be a big problem if you are trying to compete in tournaments or leagues. Wow this article really spoke to me.
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