What I’ve Learned…
I keep seeing all these posts on social media from travel ball parents about what they’ve learned or wish they knew before starting on their travel ball journey. We are playing year-round baseball on a “scout team.” It’s not technically travel ball. So take that into account when considering these lessons.
My top three, as of now, 18 months in, are:
I’m so happy we waited until my son was at the 12U level. He had the opportunity to learn team baseball over individual development. He experienced the growth from t-baller to AAA to Minors to Majors in a progression that made sense. Very few were All Stars until it was time, so it just didn’t make sense for us to be all-in on baseball before we finished Majors. That’s when you saw the rosters divided between the kids who were going to be good, those who had potential, and those who were there because their parents wanted them to be. He got to experience coach pitch, pitching machine, kid pitch, and decide if he wanted to be a pitcher. He got to feel the pressure of being up in a tight situation - bases loaded, down by 2 with 2 outs, among friendly-ish crowds instead of in intense travel ball situations.He learned to rely on teammates. To earn extra playing time. To help kids get better for the betterment of the team.
Travel ball, or at least the organization we played with, is about personal development, not the team mentality that I always thought baseball thrived on. We had several tournaments where at the last minute we couldn’t play because a player on our roster was given a chance to play with the next level up. I don’t begrudge them the opportunity to get meaningful reps. But it struck me as particularly un-baseball-like, or at least un-Little League-like, to do that at the expense of your current team being able to play on a given weekend. Kids only got truly better when they hired personal coaches - position coaches, pitching coaches, strength & conditioning coaches. It wasn’t about getting better as a team. It was about doing the individual work so that you could earn the stats in that PG tournament to add to your line. It was never about a pitcher working with a catcher and an infield together to perfect turning a double play or picking off a runner. That was my misconception. I thought it would be Little League All Stars practices all the time - 12 kids who really wanted to play, all with 2-3 regular positions, who committed to each other, showed up at each possible practice opportunity, whether cages, field, or conditioning, and put in the work as a team. A group that held each other accountable as teammates for showing up. And who called each other out for not showing up or not giving their best. That wasn’t the organization we played with, so it wasn’t our travel ball experience.
Parents were only out for their kid to be the best. I guess this kind of plays off lesson number 2. We came from a Little League where parents were very vocal, almost to a fault. But any cheering for your team was positive. Even when you got to the bottom of the lineup or a kid kicked a routine ball, it stayed positive from the parents (the essence of Little League). I was shocked to hear parents openly criticizing other kids on their team, questioning why they are on the team, even when their parents were within earshot. I thought we were all in this together. Our kids were all going to play at different high schools, but 3 nights a week and 2-3 weekends a month, we all came together for a common purpose. To watch our kids play the game they love and get better, maybe even win a tournament or two. We are in the trenches together. 6AM warm ups at a field 90 minutes away. Packing 3 meals in a cooler because you don’t know how long you’re going to play. Huddling in front of heaters in winter games or under easy ups in 100+ degree games where shade was impossible to come by. Sharing snacks and drinks, passing around cold compresses. But at the end of it, everyone is out for their kid first and probably second. The team is a distant third.
I’m grateful we started this journey after Little League and before high school. It taught my son how to play in different environments and on teams with different talent, coaching perspectives, and skill levels. He fought through adversity. He never quite cracked the top third of the lineup consistently. But, he is where he always is - the heart of the lineup. Cheering on his teammates, playing whatever role the coaches ask of him, making the most of his opportunities, and being coachable. Yes, he’s my kid and I’m biased. But he’s the kid I’d draft on my team any chance I got. And this experience has served to strengthen his character and commitment.
