Thirteen Things to Consider When Choosing a Travel Team

It is that time of year when families consider travel teams for the upcoming year, so we thought it may help to give you guidelines to make the choice easier. There are exceptions to all of these rules, so do not read too much into any specific item. Although much of this article applies to those with college dreams, some will be important to those who just want to play for fun or to improve their skills for high school competition

Things to consider when looking at travel teams:
1-The player turnover is high. There is an exception for kids who “aged out”. Disregard those, but if the team goes through more than 3 kids per year, ask why. It may mean that they run a poor program or they are not particularly smart about choosing great kids. If either is true, it may not be a good environment for you.
2-Don’t dive into the deep end of the pool too soon. Sometimes we think that the only way to get better is to play against older kids. If everyone on the team is older, faster, and stronger, playing time may be in short supply. Many kids need experience on the field to develop their skills and confidence, and then take a bigger step as they are ready. Succeed at your own age group first, then use the knowledge gained from those experiences to better prepare you for bigger things.
3-What if this is the first year for your travel coach at this age level? That is not always bad, but I want to be very confident this person is up to the task. Has the coach performed well at other levels? You don’t want to be part of someone’s “on the job” training. Even if they are not experienced, sometimes they have the backing of an amazing organization that helps develop the relatively inexperienced coach. That can be a difference maker.
4-Daddy coaches the team and always moves up as daughter ages. Once in awhile this may be okay, but often this can be another case of Rule 3.
5-Daddy’s daughter starts all of the big games. There are times when parents are involved in coaching just to make sure their kid gets to play. Often this results in two sets of rules, which creates a lot of tension. Dad may also unintentionally keep the level of play down to where it will be comfortable for his daughter.
6-The team has no real, measurable, goals and no real track record. If you have high goals, be sure the team can support your ideals based on past performance. If their stated objective is to win a national tournament, look for evidence they have regularly finished in the top 5 in previous years. If the team goal is to have fun and develop kids, that’s fine too. You need clarity. A team without clearly stated goals can have a lot of drama as different people begin pulling in different directions.
7-The team past achievements do not match your individual goals. If you want to play D1, for example, you need to be on a team that has produced, and can document, dozens of D1 players. Ask for a specific list by year.
8-The team’s tournament schedule does not match your goals. A lot of teams claim to play “showcase tournaments”, but when you go to those events you rarely see a college coach. Kids send me their schedules and I have never heard of most of these showcases. Neither have the major colleges. Do your homework, go to websites, and see what colleges were at the specific “showcases” last year that are supposed to get you exposure.
In addition, make sure your team plays in locations convenient to the schools you want to attract. If you live in Florida and you want to go to a mid-major D1 school just an hour away, I am sure there are events where the school can see you play without having to go to a west coast tournament.
9-The travel team does not play the appropriate level of competition. If you are flirting with a college in one of the top conferences, you need to play teams filled with top prospects. In other words, you need to be playing teams who finished in the PGF top 20 or ASA Top 10. Big colleges are not likely to come and see you play against lower level competition. It really tells them nothing about your ability to perform at the level they need.
10-Some teams play too much. A lot of coaches think they have to play every single weekend in the summer and fall. Sorry, but pitchers need development time. I suggest taking off at least 6 weeks, twice a year, to work on things that need addressed. You must have time to develop a new pitch, work on strength and conditioning, get more speed, or find better ways to make pitches break sooner or later. After a long season of tournaments we see too many pitchers who are burned out, beaten up, and their form has fallen completely apart because they had no time to clean up issues along the way.
11-Make sure practices are fun and challenging. Are they working toward very specific skills? Are ten kids watching while one works, or do they get a lot done?
12-Watch for evidence of cliques. Parents should get to know other parents quickly and get a sense of the culture of the team. Is everyone pulling in the same direction?
13-How often do they plan to practice? Get specifics. Know what lies ahead and measure your interest according to your daughter’s goals and your family needs.
There are exceptions to all of these rules. There are also other considerations, so add to this list. Be sure to check our Weekly Blog on our website for the week of July 12. It has some excellent suggestions that go right along with this. Armed with a list of things most important to you, there is less chance of making a poor choice of travel teams because you were caught up in the moment.
***We are coming to Orlando for an exciting weekend, August 29-30, and would love to see you. Contact us for more information about this event.