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“This may be a good time to step back and ask yourself if you (and your family) are spending their time and money wisely.”

This is just one event in travel baseball.

What Is Travel Ball?
Youth travel baseball falls under moneymaking organizations like USSSA baseball and others to provide weekend tournaments for teams.

Anyone can start a travel team and meet the requirements, pay the entry fees and sign up for the travel baseball tournaments usually play at least two travel tournaments per month.

Teams often travel up to a few hours for travel ball tournaments and some even travel across the country from state to state and play. Others will play in local metropolitan areas and not have to stay overnight.

Travel teams play at least four games over the weekend and even more on three-day weekends.

Baseball teams are formed by like-minded dads who end up coaching the teams so they can make sure their kid gets to play on the traveling teams. They get other baseball moms and baseball dads to buy into their team group, pay the fees, buy the baseball uniforms, and make up a name and presto-we have a travel baseball team.

Some groups are multi-layered and often have a series of up to 5 or 6 teams at all different age groups.

Our team is essentially a community rec league all-star team, not AAU and not a "travel team" in the typical sense. Kids from the rec league try out and the team is picked from that. The total cost works out to be about $400/year per kid, and that includes winter workouts, league fees, tournament fees and uniforms. The coaches are all volunteer and we give up our free time to help the kids. It is true about the AAU teams, though. They are definitely for-profit enterprises. We have one in our area that fields multiple teams at all age levels and they win lots of tournaments, but they burn their kids out, especially the good pitchers. For us, it is about teaching the kids how to play ball and to share our love of the game.

We play in about 6-8 tournaments a season, plus spring and fall travel leagues. We play primarily in local tournaments sponsored by community leagues and end up with a trophy more times than not, but also play in open tournaments with AAU teams. We hold our own and have even taken second in open tournaments. We give the kids a chance to play baseball all summer long. It keeps them active and they have fun. Will any of these kids have a future in baseball? Who knows. Some will play in high school and college. A couple may go on to do more... or maybe not. These boys just enjoy the game and the core of the team has been together since they were 7. Hopefully, they will continue to play and have fun.