Just wondering how many play summer travel vs playing on the summer HS team if you have one in your HS program.

What benefits does travel offer over HS or HS over travel.

Does anyone think one is better than the other? And should players be allowed to do both?

Thanks.

This is a battle I've been having in my mind too! My son, currently a 10th grader, has played HS summer ball for two year, he was asked as a rising 9th grader to play summer JV ball. The two years have been a growing experiance. The competion was average, in my opinion, but he got to start working with the coaching staff and making a name for himself.

We have a new assistant coach this year who says he is going to raise the level of play for the summer team. If this happens, we will be back, if not, this is the last year. I'm more conceren about the team playing in events that scouts attend in the summer, not just to playing "big time" travel ball.

I have several good friends who decieded that travel ball is the way to go and are spending thousands of dollars doing so. While they are getting exposure, I'm weighing the cost vs trying to guess the proper timing to get my son out there.

travel ball is the way to go. the competition is better. the coaching is usually better. how serious the players take high school summer ball is pretty sad most of the time. i myself only play travel ball. i played a couple games for my high school team when i had some time and they needed a catcher. the only bad thing about travel ball is that it takes the whole summer and costs more money, but when you play baseball in high school, most parents are willing to give up money for something there kids love to do.

Not even close. Travel baseball will always be better ball than Highschool summer ball. Let's see a local H.S. team or a program like East Cobb. Not a tough decision. There's many very good travel teams around the entire country. I think many top players if forced to make a decision would give up HS ball to play travel ball full time. If they had to make a decision on only playing one of the two.

I agree with atl and blackjack, it is not even close the competition because most of the players in hs don't take it serisouly in the summer as they would in the spring.

Plus the level of competition is a lot better in tavel ball than a hs league. You will play a lot of good teams and some very good, but you will hardly play in a blowout as would in a hs league.

So far 3 for 3 in favor of travel. Being new to HS ball but having been involed in travel for several years I too have heard that most summer HS leagues don't play a competitive schedule. My son plays on a EC team and the level of competition he has seen this past season was very impressive.

The Cougars have a great Fall HS program and he did play on the 17U team. Played a few pickup games and several tournaments. That team did pretty well and played some good teams. One of the coaches said the level this fall was much higher than he had seen over this past summer.

The main concern I have is that some HS coaches expect you to play in their summer program if they have one and the competition was not that good from what I have been told.

Thanks for your reply.

well all i can say is i hope you have a coach that lets you play summer travel ball. some coaches like it, some dont. i know my high school coach wanted me to play whenever i had time. his philosophy is that if you are on a travel team and you are getting alot of playing time at your main position then he doesnt care. but if you are just sitting there on the bench or playing some random position he wants you to play for him. it all depends on the high school.

Our coach doesn't like it either but knows he can't stop it. There was rumored that a local coach told his guys that if they didn't play summer ball for him, then don't expect much, if anything, come spring.

As for myself, if you can afford the "thousands" of dollars, including the travel costs, to play for East Cobb, more power to you! (unfortunately for me and others the cost IS a major factor)

I don't think anyone would try to say a travel team isn't, most of the time, better than a High School summer team. But I think the question can also be; when to make the jump? I think that getting better is the key, especially at the early ages, and that can be a function of the kid and the coaching/training he is receiving.

Travel ball is better.high school ball is only a
Bragging rights thing.Most of the time they get less instruction,less productive practices and alot fewer games,and alot of I'm here because of who i know not what i can do!If there were travel ball in the spring to take the place of hs ball,that would be the end of high school ball

I am with OBrady regarding the cost of playing for teams like East Cobb.

So my question is what do you do if you can't afford the thousands of dollars it costs to play for a team?

Are there teams/leagues that don't cost as much and still offer that level of competition?

Most of the high school summer ball is over by July 4 which still gives time to play travel ball. Unless you play a fall sport, the fall is a great time to play travel ball. Home Plate out of Peach Tree City/Newnan would be a cheaper alternative. Also go to the East Cobb website and look for teams that played in their events. There were several teams that played this past fall that were not East Cobb $$$ teams. Also, go to Georgia Dugout Club's website and tryout for the top 80/100 showcase. The tryouts are typically in June at Georgia Universities and the showcase is mid to late July.