So you want your daughter to play travel fastpitch softball huh...

This is for the parents of girls that want to play softball... or maybe she already plays rec or little league and you are thinking of taking the next step - travel fastpitch softball - and you have never done anything like this before. I just wanted to share my experience. I am sure yours will be different, but it will give you an idea of what to expect I hope. For the record none of my kids ever played any kind of travel sports before this so everything I experienced was as a first timer.

Finding a Team

The best way to find a team for your kid is to visit the local fastpitch softball oraganizations' message boards at the end of the summer or the beginning of fall. Around here the organizations are Top Gun, NSA, and IFA. Coaches are always posting about needing players. Also they post a lot of tryout dates and locations. Most of those you can just show up to - some you have to let them know you are coming. Most posts will give all the details you need. Also if your daughter has a private hitting or pitching coach, make sure you let them know to keep and ear out for a team that needs a player - especially if you missed the fall tryout season. Something will always happen on somebody's team where they need another player or 2. Maybe they had someone quit for another team, who knows. Coaches hear about that stuff a lot. You may have to take her to a lot of tryouts to try to schedule as many as you can. My daughter's pitching coach actually found her a team when she was 9. That was the start of all this.

Getting Her Ready

Now let me give you some advice. If you practice with your daughter like I do, you do not want to neglect any part of her game. Travel ball players practice almost all year long. My daughter wanted to pitch so bad and we were so focused on that - we didn't practice her hitting and fielding. She was a good hitter and decent fielder but after a winter of only pitching her hitting and fielding suffered greatly and that almost blew the deal. She worked extra hard on her hitting and fielding and I really believe by the last few tournaments of the summer she was one of the best hitters and fielders on the team. Make sure you work on everything before you try out. These girls are good and coaches can tell when a player hasn't picked up a bat since the fall season. It took my daughter more than half the spring and summer season to get her swing and fielding back up to par. Some girls are probably good enough to get away with this more than others. My kid has to keep practicing but she loves it. That's the other thing about practicing. Does your kid want to practice? We go out all the time and have a net in the backyard for soft toss and a pitching lane. At first she was pitching every day - now it's more like 4 times a week (she's 12). She swings her bat 4 or 5 times a week too. Not all kids will want to do that and not all will need to.


Are You Willing to Travel to Practice?

The team Keri started travel with was a startup team called Team TFS out of Burlington NC. This was their first 10u team in the area. Now because we were so late to the party we pretty much had to play for them or not play - luckily the coaches were great. Now it was an hour drive to practice 2 or 3 times a week... that is something you have to think about. Are you willling to drive that far? Maybe you will get lucky and get on a closer team... We drove 2 hours round trip for practice and it was worth it for her (she loved the coaches and players)  so it was worth it for me. We did find a closer team the next year because of the drive and because my kid needed to move up a level age wise and that team did not. Start early in the Fall if you can when looking for a team. The earlier you start looking in the fall the better chance you have of finding the right team. Take her to as many tryouts as you can, even if you think you probably won't play for that team. The tryout experience will be great for her.

Do you Care if They Lose?

Keri's team was a startup team. That means there were a lot of players that were just starting travel ball, and that means tough times. They didn't win a whole lot, but they did get better. They never got a trophy until the last tournament they were in. We were fine with this. Maybe you won't be. That team is a really good team this year so if you have a good coaching staff and patience, you will be rewarded. The team she is with now is really great too. The coach doesn't care about winning trophies just for the sake of getting one. He wants the team to play great competition and win there - and he will not settle for less. I love that.

Playing Time

How much do you expect you daughter to play? Every parent wants playing time for their kid. We ran into this on our first team. Keri first joined the team as a part time player. The coach made it clear that she wouldn't play much and that she could play little league and just come to the games she could make which I was fine with - but that's a very unusual situation. Then some players quit and he asked us to join full time. The problem with this was she still did not play much when she wasn't pitching. One tournament she played an inning and a half even with her pitching. That would be fine if she hadn't given up little league where she would play every inning of every game. Luckily for us, she got a lot better during the season (from her hard work and extra practicing) , started hitting and earned plenty of playing time the last few tournaments. My feeling is that if you want someone on the team, you should want them to play, not just to take up space on the bench. Not all coaches feel this way though. You should definately make sure this is clear before you join the team. We learned the hard way. .On her current team the coach made sure he told us that he doesn't keep players unless he wants them to play and he has kept his word and she has played very well for them so far.

(On a side note I hope you do NOT have the experience my oldest daughter had in club / travel volleyball. She joined the Triad Spikers Volleyball Club in High Point NC when the director told us they really needed players and she would get "plenty of playing time". So $500 later we found out they just wanted her to ride the bench 80% of the time (sometimes more). This was a team that never won and was in the lowest bracket and most of the players were no better than my daughter - sorry had to vent). Point is you need to try to make sure the team fits what you are looking for before you drop your money on them.

Are You Ready to give Up Your Weekends?

I love being at the ball field. I can't get enough. The fact that my daughter plays makes me very happy. Do you like being there? I hope so because on average you will be there every other weekend (or more) from early Saturday morning to 8pm or later (we have been there as late as 11pm) and then again early Sunday til whenever you lose out or win your bracket. You will be there a lot. Most of these tournaments will most likely not be in your area (unless you are very lucky) so you may have to drive an hour or more to get to these places. You could stay for the night if you have the money I suppose (see the next section).

Get Ready to Pay Up

Do you have a deep wallet? Some teams are very expensive but if you make it to one of these teams you already know that. The teams we have been on are pretty reasonable. Between $250 and $400 for the spring season. this year we have 9 tournaments scheduled and will most likely play more - then you have to do it again for the Fall season. Doesn't sound too bad. Don't forget to factor in gas, meals, travel chairs, sunscreen, hotels, softball equipment, water .or sports drinks (which I hate), water  and snacks. There are many ways to save money though. Last year was our learning year. We ate out a lot. We found out we could not keep doing that. This year we started packing all our food. We bought a travel propane grill for $45. The propane tanks are 2 for $5. Now we have a family of 5 and sometimes take friends so buying hot dogs or hamburgers to grill will saved us a ton of money when you figure how much feeding 5 or 6 people eating out would be. We pack sandwiches for lunch and snacks like chips, crackers, fruit, plenty of drinks, nuts and other assorted stuff. Still it is a lot cheaper. We also do not get hotel rooms. Most of our tournaments are about an hour and 20 minutes away. When we factor in the gas vs. a hotel room we come out much cheaper driving. Now if the tournament goes really late we have decided this year to try to find a room just so we can get some sleep.

You also have to factor in the costs for the parents equipment. Things that you wouldn't think of normally like a canopy for hot sunny days  (it helps in the rain also), a wagon to carry all your stuff around, travel chairs for everybody (you do not want to sit on the bleachers all day and night), a cooler (which you probably have already), and in some places blankets and a propane heater (believe me, after your first couple of tournaments with temps in the 30's you just might want one too). These things really make the weekend better. But not everyone uses all this stuff and you might not need it. Lots of people just use our canopy. I don't mind at all but I would rather have one for myself than rely on someone else to bring one. I am also looking for sides for the canopy so we can have a heated "room" on the really cold days. One parent on our team has a wagon that has been modified to have 3 levels. that is pretty cool. We are also getting a trailer hitch for our mini-van so we can just put the wagon on there instead of inside the van.

Get Ready To Be Proud Of Your Kid!!

These kids are worn out after a tournament. They play more in a weekend than they play in weeks of little league or rec league ball. They will all do something to make you proud during any tournament whether it is getting a big hit or just hustling to keep someone from scoring. It is a very rewarding experience for your child. I can see the love of the game my daughter has and it really makes me a proud father to watch her give 100% effort to help her team win. The players become a family and would do almost anything for one another. The coach is one of the most important people in their lives. It really is a wonderful thing to behold if you find the right team. Sometimes you tryout for a team and it just seems right. They want your kid and she loves the coach and players from the start.  Sometimes it is different. Her first team she didn't get along with many of the other players at first. I think they viewed her as some kind of outsider. These same girs became her best friends after just a few weeks once they got know one another. Travel softball isn't for everyone. But hopefully if you are thinking of giving it a try I have given you some idea of what it could be like.  I hope you try it and it becomes as great an experiance as it has for me and my daughter because it will provide her with many wonderful memories she will keep for the rest of her life!

r