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[quote=Anonymous]Our DS (almost 10) has done several seasons of little league but is now interested in playing with a more competitive team. We're contemplating whether we want to take the plunge into travel baseball but I have some questions I'm hoping experienced parents might weigh in on, since I'm not immediately finding the answers in my own research and don't have a large network of baseball parent friends to ask.

First, is it basically a given that travel baseball games will be on Sundays? The answer seems to be yes, based on what I'm hearing about the local travel team where most kids in our LL play. But wondering, with the numerous other teams out there, if there is any variation. Are there any teams that play more on Saturdays? This is in all honesty probably the biggest obstacle for our family, since we attend church weekly and don't have much flexibility with our service times. Understand it's not an issue for everyone, but it is for us. We could probably work with a team that did mostly afternoon games, but it seems like you don't find out that kind of information in advance.

Second, how common is it for kids to try out for a number of different travel teams until they find the right fit? The kids in our LL who do travel baseball seem to all play with the local travel team. But apparently (based on what we've heard from multiple parents with kids on that team), the travel team is pretty terrible. I know my son's not going to make it onto the most elite team out there, but it sounds a little demoralizing to put in the extra time for travel ball only to always lose. I'm wondering how hard it would be to find a team that's maybe a little bit better and would give him an overall more enjoyable experience. We don't want to go too far outside our area, but based on my initial foray down into this rabbit hole, information on teams' stats doesn't seem to be easily accessible if you're not already connected to a team. Is it just a matter of trial and error? Is it common to move between travel teams if you're not happy with one? I would consider having our son do one year with the local travel team to get his feet wet, then maybe trying out for a better team next spring--but wondering if that would be a major social faux pas, when our LL has all these families where the kids have been playing LL/travel ball together for years.

Lastly, while I'm sure this varies among leagues, if we ultimately opt not to pursue travel ball, does moving from AAA to Majors generally mean that the whole team is usually playing at a higher level and might that be a reasonable alternative to help my son get a more competitive experience without doing travel ball? He will be 10 this summer and while I'm not 100% sure he could move up this fall, I think he could likely move up in the spring, assuming he kept his skills sharp over the winter.

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