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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Honestly just stay in Rec. Say no to travel. I don’t think there is any way to avoid the craziness of it otherwise. There is no way to avoid pressure for private lessons, indoor facilities memberships, $500 bats, etc. The easiest way is to just not do down that road to begin with. I’m in the process of unwinding it all and regret ever doing it.[/quote]

I find the LL parents (the subset that gossips, overly cares, etc.) way more crazy than anything in travel. It's more insular and the same kids year after year. You could not pay me to do LL All-Stars.[/quote]

+100

I found LL to have WAY crazier parents than travel. Especially anything to do with all stars. So much drama. There are some crazy parents in travel as well- but at least you have the option to switch teams if it gets to be too much.

Also not all “travel” ball (especially at the younger ages) is super expensive or terribly more consuming than LL. Many younger teams just play in local doubleheader leagues and do a few local tournaments (maybe traveling a few hours away a few times per year).

[/quote]

So our town had their all-star team go to the LLWS two years ago. You would not believe the next-level drama this stoked during their run up to the World Series and then the two years after. Parents of 5 year olds have realized the power that coaches eventually have to get kids into all-stars, so they’re all but fighting to be assistant coach #2 in tee ball so they can get their kid on the inside from day 1. Parents of 10-11 year olds have turned gossipy and generally psycho, and the entire baseball cohort of boys ages 8-11 at school are known as instigators of fights and arguments, overly competitive, and trash talkers and bullies.

The kids and parents outside of LL are not like this at all.[/quote]

Ditto. Our league went to the LLWS a few years ago and it was absolutely NUTS and continues to be. It has attracted all of the most hyper competitive parents in our area (now that the LL boundary rules have changed for younger players) and parents start jockeying for coaching positions as early as coach pitch level to gain influence. It isn’t a matter of finding enough parents to volunteer (as in many little leagues)- it is whether you will be lucky or connected enough to be “selected” as a coach! It is truly crazy. And has spawned tons of early-aged “travel teams” (also run by parents) to train “likely all stars” from as early as age 8ish. It is totally insane. I have honestly never seen anything like it, and I have 3 kids who have all played multiple sports over the years (including LL).

Most leagues have some drama but are not like this (according to friends in other areas) but in hyper competitive leagues it can really be bad. My youngest has aged out of LL, fortunately, but our neighbors have 2 younger kids in LL and have mentioned their frustrations.

Travel ball is so much better, at least in our area. There will always be a bit of drama in youth sports, but we have found travel ball to be way less drama overall. [/quote]

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