Travel Baseball and Little League

Baseball Mom,

Keep in mind when deciding whether to play travel ball or not, that it is a very large commitment, and very expensive also in most cases. Travel expenses, tournament expenses, equipment expenses, etc. in many cases for travel teams are paid for by the parents. The statement that an 11 or 12 yr. old kid that doesn't play travel ball will not have a good chance to play High School is pretty outrageous. Kids at that age should be learning the game and having fun first, period! The next step at ages 13 & 14 is really more important than the LL ages. PONY baseball is a great choice for kids that age, they will play full rules baseball against excellent competition, especially during All Star time. Here in San Diego, many Ex-Travel team ballplayers are in the PONY programs. Drastic changes occur to players during this age span, and a "Star" travel or LL player can become just an average player as many of the other kids begin to catch up talent and maturity wise. In the High School that I coach at we see many of the kids that we knew from before that were huge stars at a younger age, struggling to keep that dominance at the older age. So I guess what I'm saying is that in my opinion, playing travel ball at an early age, guarantees nothing. The really formative ages for young players are 13 through 16, 17 & 18.