Help with starting a 16-17 y/o tournament team?

I'm in Illinois.

Teams here would contact one of the state reps for a program like USSSA, CABA, AAYBA or whatever. You can contact them or check their websites for the names of the reps. If you go with one of these groups, you have access to insurance for your team -- and some tournaments will ask for proof of it.

Figure out a budget for the team. Include costs for things like insurance, uniforms, balls, catching equipment, and medical supplies. You might also need to include costs for renting practice fields. You might also need to buy bases to use on the practice fields.

Figure out the number of tournaments you want to play and the cost per tournament. Tournament costs vary. At 16-17 they will be a little more expensive because hopefully they are using 2 or more umps. The costs will also vary if they are just tournaments or if they are "qualifier" tournaments with bids to National tournaments or World Series tournaments.

Decide how many players you will carry on the team and figure out the per player cost. Parents will want to know that. They will also want to know if you are playing local tournaments or out-of-state tournaments which require travel, lodging, and food costs beyond the team fee.

If you know some talented players, recruit them for the team. Schedule and hold a tryout for other players. Run an ad in local papers (many will do it for free). If there are local baseball schools or batting cages, see if they will let you put up signs. The baseball schools might also be able to refer players looking for travel teams.

Teams around here also put signs up at the sporting goods stores and in local restaurants where lots of kids go. You can also post on some websites.

Hold your tryouts and select the players for your team. Make sure you don't to just pick talented players -- you need to fill positions at this age level. It will not do you any good to have 4 kids that play one position and no one for other positions. Make sure you backup players for your key positions, like SS and C. Recruit enough pitchers to get you through 4-5 games in a 2-3 day tournament or 10-12 games in a National/World Series. Some pitchers may not play any other position or based on talent you might not want them to.

In our area, when a boy is offered a spot on a team, he is usually asked to pay a partial fee ($150-200) within a few days to secure his spot on the team. Teams do this so kids will not continue to "shop" for other teams and then back out of their commitment to your team. If they back out, you may not be able to get your second choice player if he goes to another team.

You may also want to consider having a player and parent code of conduct to be signed when the roster spot is accepted. It should explain your expectations of the players and parents. Things like attendance for practices and games, uniform up-keep, behavior of players and parents, how you want to hear complaints, costs to be paid by player in addition to team fee. My younger son will be playing on a 14YO team next year and the coach requires a 24 hour cool-down period after games to discuss things and wants all 4 coaches to be included in the conversation.

At 16-17, the players could help coach the bases, keep the scorebook and pitch counts, warm up relief pitcher. You can also ask the parents where they are willing and qualified to help.

You can also offset some of the fee with fundraisers or sponsorships. This is another area where parents might be able to help.

Sorry for being so long. I hope I gave you the kind of information you were looking for.