What is the advantage of a player trying out for a High School Feeder Team vs playing on a AAA U13 travel ball team?
I have noticed that several feeder teams are having tryouts this weekend and in September. Why are they waiting so late to have tryouts? Most seasoned travel ball players have already committed to teams for next Spring. What if a player makes the feeder team after committing to the regular travel team? How is that fair to the team he decides to leave?
We are trying to weigh out the pros and cons of playing on a travel team or feeder team. I've heard several cons about playing on a feeder team at age U13 - almost like playing on a rec team.
My son has played travel ball for 5 years and is in the 7th grade. He is kind of short for his age (still waiting for that growth spurt) but is a good, well rounded athlete. The High School that he will be attending in 2 years is having tryouts this week and we are trying to decide what might be best for him next Spring. Any advise?
Feeder team ball is not as competitive. It is a good opportunity to play with class mates and to get on the high school coaches radar. We did it but I wish we had complimented feeder with more travel ball like we did in eighth grade.
Its mostly a fund raiser for the high school. If you want to play at a high level play travel, and your son will still make the high school team in 9th and be way above the others.
Where would you have to play if you went the feeder route? Honestly, it all depends on the feeder program. I'm the president/coach of a feeder team and we play travel baseball. Yes, most feeder programs play in what's called the Lanier league or in a feeder league which tends to not draw the more talented teams. If that's the case with the feeder team in you area, then i might say he would face better competition elsewhere. However, it truely depends on how strong of a team you can put together out of one high school district. Either way if it's not rec ball it's travel ball just different levels of competiton. It would be the same as asking if you should play A/AA or AAA/majors. I know A/AA travel teams that couldn't beat the first feeder team out there but nobody's saying they don't play travel or they aren't a travel team. Coaching makes a difference too, and just because it's a travel team doesn't mean the coaching will be good. I didn't mean to ramble off so much but there's more if interested. Bottom line, i wish you the best. It's never an easy decision.
Agreed with wjwbc. We did a competitive feeder team the last two seasons and played a travel ball schedule against mostly majors-level teams. That is rare however - you will find most feeder teams are the equivalent of a AA travel ball team or less. You should get in touch with the High School coaching staff in your area and determine if they have a preference since it varies in every HS district. Some HS coaches encourage strong players to play travel ball and others do just the opposite. And you have to assess the coaches also. Some players do both since feeder seasons typically end in April but if you're going to do that you need to have that understanding with your travel ball coach as feeder will most likely take precedence during the feeder season. There is no "right" answer on this topic - it varies in every HS district and with every player/family situation.
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Posted - 08/28/2010 : 23:02:04
