| SOFTBALL TIPS |
|
|
|
| SITE STUFF |
|
|
|
|
ARCHIVES
|
| • |
June 26, 2005 |
| • |
July 03, 2005 |
| • |
July 10, 2005 |
| • |
July 17, 2005 |
| • |
July 24, 2005 |
| • |
July 31, 2005 |
| • |
August 07, 2005 |
| • |
August 14, 2005 |
| • |
August 21, 2005 |
| • |
August 28, 2005 |
| • |
September 11, 2005 |
| • |
October 02, 2005 |
| • |
October 09, 2005 |
| • |
October 23, 2005 |
| • |
October 30, 2005 |
| • |
November 06, 2005 |
| • |
November 13, 2005 |
| • |
December 04, 2005 |
| • |
December 18, 2005 |
| • |
December 25, 2005 |
| • |
January 08, 2006 |
| • |
January 15, 2006 |
| • |
January 29, 2006 |
| • |
February 05, 2006 |
| • |
February 12, 2006 |
| • |
February 19, 2006 |
| • |
February 26, 2006 |
| • |
March 05, 2006 |
| • |
March 12, 2006 |
| • |
March 19, 2006 |
| • |
March 26, 2006 |
| • |
April 02, 2006 |
| • |
April 09, 2006 |
| • |
April 16, 2006 |
| • |
April 23, 2006 |
| • |
April 30, 2006 |
| • |
May 07, 2006 |
| • |
May 14, 2006 |
| • |
May 21, 2006 |
| • |
May 28, 2006 |
| • |
June 04, 2006 |
| • |
June 11, 2006 |
| • |
June 18, 2006 |
| • |
June 25, 2006 |
| • |
July 09, 2006 |
| • |
July 16, 2006 |
| • |
July 23, 2006 |
| • |
July 30, 2006 |
| • |
August 13, 2006 |
| • |
August 20, 2006 |
| • |
September 03, 2006 |
| • |
September 10, 2006 |
| • |
September 17, 2006 |
| • |
September 24, 2006 |
| • |
October 01, 2006 |
| • |
October 08, 2006 |
| • |
October 15, 2006 |
| • |
October 22, 2006 |
| • |
November 12, 2006 |
| • |
November 26, 2006 |
| • |
December 31, 2006 |
| • |
January 14, 2007 |
| • |
January 21, 2007 |
| • |
January 28, 2007 |
| • |
February 04, 2007 |
| • |
February 11, 2007 |
| • |
February 18, 2007 |
| • |
February 25, 2007 |
| • |
March 04, 2007 |
| • |
March 11, 2007 |
| • |
March 18, 2007 |
| • |
April 01, 2007 |
| • |
April 08, 2007 |
| • |
April 15, 2007 |
| • |
April 22, 2007 |
| • |
April 29, 2007 |
| • |
May 06, 2007 |
| • |
May 13, 2007 |
| • |
May 20, 2007 |
| • |
May 27, 2007 |
| • |
June 03, 2007 |
| • |
June 10, 2007 |
| • |
June 17, 2007 |
| • |
June 24, 2007 |
| • |
July 01, 2007 |
| • |
July 22, 2007 |
| • |
July 29, 2007 |
| • |
August 12, 2007 |
| • |
August 19, 2007 |
| • |
September 02, 2007 |
| • |
September 16, 2007 |
| • |
September 30, 2007 |
| • |
October 07, 2007 |
| • |
October 14, 2007 |
| • |
October 21, 2007 |
| • |
November 04, 2007 |
| • |
November 18, 2007 |
| • |
November 25, 2007 |
| • |
December 02, 2007 |
| • |
December 09, 2007 |
| • |
December 16, 2007 |
| • |
January 13, 2008 |
| • |
February 17, 2008 |
| • |
February 24, 2008 |
| • |
March 02, 2008 |
| • |
March 09, 2008 |
| • |
March 30, 2008 |
| • |
April 06, 2008 |
| • |
April 13, 2008 |
| • |
April 20, 2008 |
| • |
April 27, 2008 |
| • |
May 04, 2008 |
| • |
May 11, 2008 |
| • |
May 18, 2008 |
| • |
May 25, 2008 |
| • |
June 01, 2008 |
| • |
June 15, 2008 |
| • |
June 22, 2008 |
| • |
June 29, 2008 |
| • |
July 06, 2008 |
| • |
July 13, 2008 |
| • |
July 20, 2008 |
| • |
August 03, 2008 |
| • |
August 10, 2008 |
| • |
August 17, 2008 |
| • |
August 24, 2008 |
| • |
August 31, 2008 |
| • |
September 07, 2008 |
| • |
September 14, 2008 |
| • |
September 21, 2008 |
| • |
September 28, 2008 |
| • |
October 05, 2008 |
| • |
October 12, 2008 |
| • |
October 19, 2008 |
| • |
October 26, 2008 |
| • |
November 02, 2008 |
| • |
November 09, 2008 |
| • |
November 16, 2008 |
| • |
November 30, 2008 |
| • |
December 07, 2008 |
| • |
December 21, 2008 |
| • |
December 28, 2008 |
| • |
February 15, 2009 |
| • |
February 22, 2009 |
| • |
April 12, 2009 |
| • |
April 19, 2009 |
| • |
April 26, 2009 |
| • |
May 03, 2009 |
| • |
May 10, 2009 |
| • |
May 17, 2009 |
| • |
May 24, 2009 |
| • |
May 31, 2009 |
| • |
June 07, 2009 |
| • |
June 14, 2009 |
| • |
June 21, 2009 |
| • |
July 05, 2009 |
| • |
July 12, 2009 |
| • |
July 19, 2009 |
| • |
August 02, 2009 |
| • |
August 30, 2009 |
| • |
September 06, 2009 |
| • |
September 20, 2009 |
| • |
October 04, 2009 |
| • |
October 11, 2009 |
| • |
October 18, 2009 |
| • |
November 08, 2009 |
| • |
November 15, 2009 |
| • |
November 22, 2009 |
| • |
November 29, 2009 |
| • |
December 27, 2009 |
| • |
January 03, 2010 |
| • |
January 10, 2010 |
| • |
January 17, 2010 |
| • |
January 24, 2010 |
| • |
January 31, 2010 |
|
|
| SOFTBALL LINKS |
|
|
|
End This "Travel" Myth
by Dave
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Something triggered a memory I have previously discussed in blog entries on related topics. I want to air the issue again because while I feel foolish for ever having believed a certain myth, apparently others have been told the same story. I would like to see the myth gone forever. I would like folks to understand the way things really work when they want to either leave rec for travel permanently or merely experiment with it.
A long, long time ago (and I can still remember how that music used to make me smile), my kids were dabbling in youth sports like Goldilocks playing with the sleep-number-bed control box. This sport was too hard, that one too easy (boring). Then the oldest played her first game of softball and the comments about why she didn't like the game ceased. Instead, she said, "I wish they played with real outs .. like when you get three outs, the other team should be up instead of having everyone bat." She also said something about not liking it when a girl ran to the next base on a foul ball and nobody made her go back. I thought to myself, we just may have something here.
In the early years of playing rule-based softball instead of clinics where everything was allowed, my kid was not particularly good but she worked very hard and the coaches repeatedly noted that if there was an award for most improved, my kid would get it. She was very young in a league which had an age group that spanned three years and she was holding her own. Before long, her age was not apparent in her playing skills.
We began some lessons to try to refine some of her skills since she seemed to like the game more than I had hoped. That's another story and not relevant to today's discussion. At some point, I heard about this thing called "travel" and became curious as my daughters skills progressed to where the competition in rec was no longer quite as appealing. I opened my ears wide and began to eavesdrop on others' conversations, particularly whenever the word "travel" was used. I overheard several discussions but didn't learn what I wanted to know, how one got involved in this thing called "travel."
I took note of who apparently was already involved in travel and resolved to question them about it. One fellow had an older daughter who many said was a good player. She played "travel." This guy seemed to be the resident expert as I overheard many conversations in which he appeared to be the authoritative speaker on the subject. So I began asking this fellow about travel and working my way around to asking him directly how one gets involved.
Eventually, my acquaintance offered up his sage words of advice. Eventually, he let me in on the "secret." He said, "If a girl is really good in the rec leagues, the travel coaches will hear about her, come watch her play, and then ask you to come to a tryout or even ask you directly if your daughter will join their team."
With this sage advice in hand, I proceeded on my way. I worked with my daughter hoping that I could bring her skill level up to the point at which she might garner some travel attention. We continued with lessons. One day her instructor asked me directly if I had thought about getting my kids into travel. I told him that I had and we would like to do it but don't know how to get involved. I suggested that I had heard that trav el teams ask you to join but this advice seemed to me to be wrong. He confirmed my suspicions and told me to keep my eyes and ears open for tryouts and just go.
My wife and I started looking in every corner we could find so that we could educate ourselves on the subject since our available resources had led us down the wrong path. Somewhere on eteamz, via a softball forum or some such place, we read about a tournament taking place in our area. That's another story I have told on here before so I'll skip it today. In any event, we decided to see if we could get a tryout for the team hosting the tournament. After numerous e-mails, we finally got a response and subsequently got involved in this strange, hidden animal known as "travel."
Now, after many years of participating in travel as a parent, coach, etc., I want to dispel the myth or, at best, misunderstanding that some people still spread. Travel teams do not have crews of recruiters out watching rec games looking for players. They do not scout towns, teams, or players. The only way a kid gets "asked" to play travel ball is if a coach's kid also happens to play in some rec league, the team needs players, and the coach observes someone who would fill his open roster spot(s) well. Sometimes such coaches have few requirements, like for example, does the kid have a pulse and respiration. "Can she run faster than she walks? Oh never mind, we'll teach her how to run." "Does she own a glove, oh never mind, I have some spare gloves, she doesn't need a glove." Sometimes, mere pulse is enough.
I'm not kidding about the pulse thing. Sometimes there are so many travel teams around that it becomes next to impossible to roster the minimum number, 9 players, let alone the advisable one of 11 to 13. They want their daughters and other kids on the team to be able to play and they'll take just about anyone to fill out the roster. I've never been stuck like that but have seen many teams that were.
So how does one find a way into the "secret world" of travel ball? There are, of course, several avenues. The first is what frames the backbone of the myth. Sometimes girls are asked to join teams. That's somewhat rare but it does happen. Another way occurs when a girl playing for some travel team that is holding tryouts to fill open roster spots tells her teammate or girlfriend to come and tryout. Coaches of teams who have children playing rec ball sometimes ask kids on their rec teams who have shown some promise or desire to get involved with travel to come to a travel practice. So, in these cases, entrance into the travel world is provided via personal relationships.
Another way to get involved in travel ball is via the local rec all-star team. These teams usually play something like the Little League or Babe Ruth tournaments and then end. But sometimes the coaches or players want to do more so they sign up for some tournaments. They may find a degree of success at these or they may get stomped. Sometimes a travel team is born of such experiences or sometimes you may learn something about the travel world when your rec all-star team plays some team you didn't know exists. Perhaps you will recognize a kid or parents from your rec league, your church, or even from your neighborhood. Go over and start asking questions of them. But maintain a healthy degree of skepticism when they tell you that their child was asked to join this team because the coach was at her rec game.
If you have your softball playing kids involved with any sort of instruction, the instructor and others attending the clinics or lessons are an excellent source of information concerning travel teams as well as which might be looking for a kid. Some of our instructors are the virtual hub of information flow in our area with respect to travel teams seeking players. I haven't directly benefited from this when it came to my own kids but I have spread the word about open spots or tryouts via instructors. They almost always know what is going on around them. Also, when kids are in multi-kid clinics, the parents of other kids often know what is going on or are involved with teams that open slots. They can be a great source of information and, possibly, invitations to practices or tryouts.
Aside from being asked or learning about tryouts through your acquaintances, one can use these relationships to gain entrance via "guesting" opportunities. Teams often have trouble getting enough kids to play a particular tournament because the family or other obligations of roster members make them unavailable for a day or two. While the team seeking players for one tournament might never need a guest again, you still gain entree into the travel world and learn useful things. For example, you might learn when the team your daughter is guesting for is holding its tryouts. You might learn completely unexpected things such as you really like the way the opposing coach handled things with their girls and while you never realized that particular team existed just two miles from your home, you would like your daughter to play for them. So you walk up and ask that coach when they are conducting tryouts. He answers by saying, "Well, we're looking for a kid right now. Why don't you come to practice Tuesday, 6:00 at the elementary school."
I have seen some pretty strange things happen. For example, some girl is asked to guest for a team and that team's first game is against a team whose coach is a co-worker of one of the girl's parents! I know a guy who reads this blog who got his daughter involved with travel last year only to learn that one of his best friends, a friend he has known since childhood, runs one of the biggest and best travel organizations in the state. He ran into him at a tournament the organization was playing. He had spoken to this guy at least weekly for twenty or more years and never known that a good portion of his life was devoted to travel and high school softball.
Aside from personal relationships, all-star teams, coaches and parents of kids you meet in passing, there are a couple other ways to get involved. Teams almost always have need of roster members between years and they conduct formal tryouts which are publicized in newspapers, via softball message boards, or in postings where your kid takes her lessons. Good organizations field teams at multiple age levels and often more than one team in certain age levels. The key to being ready for tryouts is to understand when teams hold them.
I have mentioned the softball annual cycle before but I'll go over it quickly again because it fits into this discussion. Teams generally form up in August / September and play some sort of fall schedule. They then give kids off for a month or two - some teams don't give a break and some teams give a break longer than 2 months. In either case, indoor practices often begin sometime from November to January and end around March. The teams then begin playing tournaments in March or early April. The season often concludes with a final tournament sometime in July or early August, after which the cycle begins again.
This means that teams generally conduct tryouts in late August or early September. Sometimes, when teams have difficulty filling their rosters, the tryouts are extending into late September, sometimes as late as October. It is not unusual for a team seeking a 12 member roster to find only 11 and play its fall schedule while keeping its eyes open for a twelfth player. They might conduct tryouts at any time during one of their practices. Many times, this extends into indoor training season so that extends your opportunities well into the winter. In rare cases, teams still cannot fill their roster even after they begin playing spring ball. So tryouts can be conducted after the season has already begun.
To sum up, the typical way into travel ball is not via a travel ball scout observing your kid playing rec ball and inviting her to join a team. That can happen but more often, kids just go to tryouts. Sometimes they are asked to guest in order to help out a team stuck in a bind. Instructors often know who is looking for what sort of player. Use all your available resources. Talk to people. View softball forums online. Look around at your lesson center and see if there are postings. Read your local newspaper. Talk to people you know as well as those you don't. Ask direct questions concerning tryouts and roster needs, if you happen to be somewhere with coaches or parents of travel players.
Finally, if you think you might want to try out this travel thing, don't be afraid of trying something you don't know enough about. Don't assume that when you get to some travel team tryout or practice that everyone there is going to be some sort of softball monster player. There certainly may be some but there will probably be average kids as well. if the other kids seem better schooled than your kid, keep in mind that they may have benefited from good coaching and/or frequent practicing. Your kid, given the same coaching might have more upside potential. And the coaches might see this. You shouldn't be afraid of trying our a travel team because you think your kid is not good enough. You would be shocked by some of the players on a typical tournament team. Even when they look good in tryouts or practices, their lack of real ability might surprise you when it comes to game time. Just give it a shot and see what comes of it.
Additional Comment
A reader of the blog wrote in to remind me of an additional way to get involved in travel, start your own team. Many travel teams start this way. For example, say your daughter has a bunch of friends playing softball in the rec league, some are excluded from all-stars or the rec league's travel program, and some just want to play with other kids, a parent can sometimes pull together a full roster, sign up for some tournaments and just go play travel.
This can be a very tough road as these teams often get started a bit late their first year. If the team can stay together for a second year, fill roster needs via tryouts, and get themselves into better and better tournaments, this can be a great way to go. "If" is the middle word of the English language, however, and sometimes the "ifs" do not come out quite as well as they might. So I have some reservations to add.
For one thing, teams pulled together on the fly need to have some direction about what they want to accomplish. &n bsp; There needs to be a longer-term perspective. Sometimes, these teams can fall into the trap of playing the same weaker tournaments some town teams play. They never see the better competition. I can say from observations that several teams like this have stayed with weaker tournaments because their perspective was to play only those events that feel they can win. They avoid playing things in which they might go 0-4 or lose their first game of elimination play while learning a great deal.
If you are putting together something like this, it would be best if somebody helping to coach the team had some travel experience. It isn't necessary but it is helpful. If nobody has any experience, it can still work but it is necessary that somebody at least have an idea about what is going on in the full spectrum of competition in the travel world.
As an outsider joining such a team even in its second year, there are some additional reservations I'd like to mention. For one thing, it can be very difficult to join into the social fabric of a team if everybody aside from you is already friends. Of course they doesn't need to be true but it is something to look for. I know of many happy outcomes in which a girl joined a team on which everybody was friends before she got there.
I also know of a team of friends which held a tryout to fill open slots. The slots were open because some of the friends had decided they no longer wanted to play. At the tryouts, kids already on the team stuck to sitting on the bench while other girls performed drills. The girls on the bench watched closely, made fun of kids when they made mistakes, often laughing out loud, and generally were unfriendly to all others outside their circle. The team filled empty slots eventually. Those girls stayed with the team for that season and left to find better, more friendly circumstances. The process repeated itself each year thereafter as more and more friends left the team, replacements were picked who could not crack the inner circle, and so on. Eventually, the team folded as its reputation became known, replacements could not be found, and an otherwise good team began to falter. My point is, join a team in its second and third year with your eyes wide open to the social realities when such teams are filled with one circle of friends.Labels: youth tournament teams
 
|
|
|
