It’s Travel Baseball Season Now What, Parents?
It’s baseball season.
Drive through just about any town in America and you’ll see it — banners on fences, tryout signs at every field, new uniforms, new logos, new “elite” programs. There’s a select or club team on every corner. Meanwhile, recreational baseball in many areas feels like it’s on life support and diluted.
Let’s call it what it is: youth baseball has become big business.
The dust has likely settled. Your child made a team. Practice has started. Games are right around the corner.
Now let me ask you something important:
Why did you choose the team you chose?
And even more importantly —
Did you interview the team that chose your kid?
This Is a Business Transaction
If you’re writing checks, traveling every weekend, and investing serious time and money — this is a business transaction.
That doesn’t mean it has to be cold. But it does mean you should ask the right questions:
- What is the team’s mission statement?
- What are their goals for player development?
- How do they measure progress?
- What is their philosophy on playing time?
- How do they develop kids mechanically?
- How do they develop them mentally?
- What kind of culture are they building?
If you’re paying money, you have every right to understand the product.
What Are Your Kid’s Goals?
In parallel, have you established the goal for your child?
Have you actually asked them?
Depending on age, that conversation may look different — but it needs to happen.
Is their goal:
- To have fun with friends?
- To get better?
- To compete at a high level?
- To one day play in high school?
- To just enjoy the game?
This has to be fun. It has to be a passion for them.
Team sports are incredible for kids. Baseball teaches patience, failure management, resilience, teamwork, leadership, and accountability. But when it becomes pressure-driven and adult-controlled, we lose the magic.
It’s Not About Ring Chasing
From my perspective — and I’ll own this —
It should NOT be about ring chasing.
It should be about one question:
Is my kid progressing mechanically and mentally from the beginning of the season to the end?
That’s it.
Don’t chase the “best” team if your kid is sitting on the bench every game getting no reps.
At 8U–13U, it’s about reps.
Game reps. Practice reps. Situational reps.
Repetition builds development. Development builds confidence. Confidence builds performance.
Sitting builds nothing.
And let’s be honest:
There are no college scouts or MLB scouts at 8U–13U games…
Unless their own kid is playing.
Now That You’re in the Thick of It…
As you go on this journey with your child and family, here are a few things to stay aware of:
1. Watch the Coaches
Let them coach. Don’t micromanage.
But pay attention:
- Are they building culture?
- Are they teaching life lessons?
- Are they holding kids accountable the right way?
- Are they creating an environment for growth?
- Are they modeling composure?
The right culture will outlast trophies.
2. Eliminate the “Car Ride Critique”
For the sanity of your relationship with your kid…
Please.
No criticism car conversations after a bad game or practice.
I get it. I’ve done it too. It’s hard. You want to help. You see the mistakes. You know what they could have done.
But that car ride is sacred.
Let them decompress.
Be positive.
Sometimes the best thing you can say is:
“I loved watching you play.”
Be situationally aware. You’ll both learn more from calm conversations later than emotional breakdowns immediately after.
3. Put Family First
These are kids.
They won’t remember every win or loss.
They will remember:
- How you made them feel.
- Whether the game brought your family closer or created tension.
- Whether baseball was joy or pressure.
Baseball should enhance family — not divide it.
4. Play Multiple Sports
Please let your kids play multiple sports.
Don’t go all-in on baseball at 9 years old.
Play baseball in baseball season.
Football in football season.
Basketball in basketball season.
Old school.
Different sports develop:
- Different muscle groups
- Different movement patterns
- Different competitive instincts
- Different friend groups
It builds better athletes and healthier kids.
In Closing
Baseball is a phenomenal sport.
It teaches failure better than almost anything in life. It teaches delayed gratification. It teaches work ethic. It teaches that sometimes you do everything right and still get out.
Make it fun.
Make it about them.
If it’s their dream — let it be their dream.
Not yours.
See you at the ballpark.
Coach TO out.
