At ages ten to fourteen, the fear of having the baseball world pass a player by becomes real for many parents. This is when boys start showing a passion for the game, and parents want to support their dream of playing high school varsity baseball. Rather than getting repetitions the old-fashioned way—that is, in the park or the backyard—many feel the need to enter the organized baseball format. They’ve been told that’s the only way to help their player improve. As you are about to learn, I am not a fan of this model.
When travel ball first started out, it truly was for a handful of talented players. The original thought was to create a more competitive level for young baseball players that would also provide a more advanced development environment. Then more organizations started forming more travel leagues. Today, the game at travel ball levels is watered down and almost unrecognizable from when it began.
I have termed it the “hamster wheel” of youth baseball. You’re running but you’re not getting anywhere. It works like this. You find a travel baseball organization. As a parent you are told this level of youth baseball will provide better competition and better coaching, and that your child will be surrounded by children with comparable skill sets. These programs often use the words elite and advanced when marketing their model, or they talk about how many former players have been drafted or have played in college. They often bill themselves as the only path to success—and that only failure can be obtained by not participating. In the end, most parents will literally buy into the marketing, unaware that there are options.
I understand.
As parents we never want our children to fall behind or be left out. We begin to think of how our children will feel if they are not able to join their friends the next season. It tugs at a parent’s heartstrings. However, does the year-by-year model of travel baseball make sense? Children simply want to participate with their peers and learn from and with each other. Children also understand who is good, who they want to try to be with, and most importantly who they want to try to play like—those that may be bigger, faster, or stronger.
Giving the benefit of the doubt, let’s say that most travel baseball organizations are well-intentioned. The problem is that the model is flawed. Travel baseball at these younger ages is a source of income. It is far more profitable to group teams by age and advance them one year at a time. More age groups equal more teams, which equal more players, which equal more revenue. It’s a business model, not a baseball development model.