Travel baseball teams - how expensive

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We spent 30K all in last year for kid's baseball travel team, 14U, counting all tournament travel, outside lessons, etc. It is not for the faint of heart!

As others have said, this isn't the flex that you think it is. Quite the opposite. I have to assume this is a troll, especially given this is 14u. That's not even the showcase circuit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 9U we spent about 3k plus some hotel rooms (although most tournaments were driveable within an hour or so, so we didn’t get a room).

At 9U you should be playing rec for $200/season. Kids can barely pitch at that age. Stop the madness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the cost typically all in? Per season?

How old is the kid? For 11U and under it's about $2k plus travel for the year. 12U is more since they usually go to cooperstow and I think that's around $2k plus travel extra

Just know that the non invite tournaments like Cooperstown, Ripken, Sports at the Beach, etc. are basically sports tourism. There are no college coaches there. They are fun and are good for your social media feed, but add nothing to your kids development. Your kid would be better offer staying home and playing in a local tournament and using the saved time/money for training.

No, no, no. It needs to be fun and those are the best experiences of all. Please don’t miss Cooperstown if you get the chance!

Cooperstown is like going to Epcot. It might feel like the real thing, but it’s all an illusion made possible by the swipe of a credit card. Do the hard work and win your state Little League Tournament and you’ll not only have the best experience of all at a LL Regional Tournament, but also your kid will learn how to set and achieve a goal.

[Anonymous]

It’s pretty hard to advance and win at Cooperstown, if you’ve been. It is a tournament after all. Agree that LLWS is also a wonderful tournament.

[Anonymous]

LL size field/rules are terrible for player development.

A bunch of monster 12 year olds playing on a T ball field.

No leads, no pickoffs.

And then they have to jump to MLB sized diamond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LL size field/rules are terrible for player development.

A bunch of monster 12 year olds playing on a T ball field.

No leads, no pickoffs.

And then they have to jump to MLB sized diamond.

This is an odd comment...I mean 11u and 12u are 50/70, but it's not dramatically different.

13u is a massive adjustment to 60/90 and the play usually stinks on average...but it sorts out quickly.

[Anonymous]

$3800 per year for us in 11u

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LL size field/rules are terrible for player development.

A bunch of monster 12 year olds playing on a T ball field.

No leads, no pickoffs.

And then they have to jump to MLB sized diamond.

Playing on 50/70 with juiced Hype Fires is worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LL size field/rules are terrible for player development.

A bunch of monster 12 year olds playing on a T ball field.

No leads, no pickoffs.

And then they have to jump to MLB sized diamond.

Playing on 50/70 with juiced Hype Fires is worse.

It’s fun for them to get homeruns. Just be careful where you park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LL size field/rules are terrible for player development.

A bunch of monster 12 year olds playing on a T ball field.

No leads, no pickoffs.

And then they have to jump to MLB sized diamond.

This is an odd comment...I mean 11u and 12u are 50/70, but it's not dramatically different.

13u is a massive adjustment to 60/90 and the play usually stinks on average...but it sorts out quickly.

Those huge hits that were a double or triple now barely make it out of the infield.

[Anonymous]

My 17 year old has been on travel baseball teams since he was 12. Now it is showcase ball for recruitment (and it’s a heck of a lot of fun).

$2,000/season max for fees, the lowest has been $800. Airfare is the most expensive thing, followed by hotels. For many years his “travel” team played locally with one big fun travel tournament a year. These kids weren’t going to the LLWS - there is plenty of local competition.

My son loves gear, so add to the above all the Christmas and birthday presents of new bats, gloves, arm sleeves, ridiculous gold chains, and pitching grip gizmos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 17 year old has been on travel baseball teams since he was 12. Now it is showcase ball for recruitment (and it’s a heck of a lot of fun).

$2,000/season max for fees, the lowest has been $800. Airfare is the most expensive thing, followed by hotels. For many years his “travel” team played locally with one big fun travel tournament a year. These kids weren’t going to the LLWS - there is plenty of local competition.

My son loves gear, so add to the above all the Christmas and birthday presents of new bats, gloves, arm sleeves, ridiculous gold chains, and pitching grip gizmos.

Forgot the private training - that is expensive. $80/week through most of the year.

[Anonymous]

Cooperstown it was either a home run or a single. Loathed the money grab and general scene but boys had a blast and although I’d do some things differently, I’d go again if we had a younger kid.

We paid $3200/year—winter workouts, spring and fall seasons. Includes a couple tournaments per season, uniforms, coach salary. We do additional private training so over the course of the year that tacks on an additional 3-4K. Travel is minimal but typically two tournaments/year where we need a hotel so maybe figure another 1k. Gear wise—that’s Christmas and birthday gifts so don’t factor that into bottom line expense. Not cheap, but reasonable given DS interest level and abilities—and I think that’s the key here. If you are spending $$$ and kid doesn’t love it or show growth in their skills, you need to reevaluate.

[Anonymous]

Pp here. Above expenses are 13u. 12u was a bit more on the team expense because of Ctown. Team did fundraising but it was a substantial chunk of change to go to Ctown and then stay for the week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 9U we spent about 3k plus some hotel rooms (although most tournaments were driveable within an hour or so, so we didn’t get a room).

At 9U you should be playing rec for $200/season. Kids can barely pitch at that age. Stop the madness.

They also play rec. travel starts at 8u and yeahs are formed. Do you think kids can just play rec a few times a year and then get on a travel team at 11u? No. At our high school, even done travel kids won’t make the team. It’s very competitive and baseball is about reps.