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DecaturDad
619 Posts |
 Posted - 05/11/2011 : 17:04:41
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We are playing in a tournament this week. Out of the 12 teams in our age group, four of us will have one pool game Friday night, and the second pool game on Saturday. So, not only do we have to spend an extra two plus hours in the car on Friday evening, we get to pay the gate fee each day. I completely understand that tournaments are here to make money, but why add addition costs to teams that get stuck with the bad draw on the schedule?
I will now get off my soapbox 
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Spartan4
913 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 00:12:17
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quote:
Originally posted by DecaturDad
We are playing in a tournament this week. Out of the 12 teams in our age group, four of us will have one pool game Friday night, and the second pool game on Saturday. So, not only do we have to spend an extra two plus hours in the car on Friday evening, we get to pay the gate fee each day. I completely understand that tournaments are here to make money, but why add addition costs to teams that get stuck with the bad draw on the schedule?
I will now get off my soapbox
I agree 1000%....Usually teams who play on Fridays agree to do so to help the TD out so teams from farther away can play by playing both pool games on Saturday instead of one game Friday and one Saturday. Sometimes there is no choice.....But I really think that when a team steps up and plays Friday games they are putting themselves at risk as well as inconvenience, not only is there more travel time and an extra gate fee but teams also get the ole Slugfest treatment...I know our team agreed to play a Friday night game and got the shaft for doing so, we played one game on a Friday and got 50% of the entry fee in return, kinda wish our team would have gotten the 2 Saturday games after that one!! |
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Gwinnett
791 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 07:58:48
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They ALWAYS want to nickel and dime everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
quote:
Originally posted by DecaturDad
We are playing in a tournament this week. Out of the 12 teams in our age group, four of us will have one pool game Friday night, and the second pool game on Saturday. So, not only do we have to spend an extra two plus hours in the car on Friday evening, we get to pay the gate fee each day. I completely understand that tournaments are here to make money, but why add addition costs to teams that get stuck with the bad draw on the schedule?
I will now get off my soapbox
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in_the_know
985 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 10:48:26
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Don't forget the benefit of having a Friday night game. Gives you a MUCH better opportunity to rest arms and bodies for the Sunday run. Also, there's always those teams that play and lose their first pool game on Saturday afternoon/evening, so it's not just a nickel and dime grab. If it were, then you'd never see a team playing both of their pool games on a Thursday/Friday night game and you'd never seen bracket games begin on Saturday.
Yes, your families may pay an extra day of gate fee, but seriously, is it that big of a deal? |
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Scorekeeper
35 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 11:36:50
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Yes, it is that big of a deal for some in terms of money. Especially with as many people who are out of work and the $4ish per gallon gas gouges.
Bring a family of 3 in and pay the gate fee, add the cost of gas to travel that extra day. You might be talking about one whole days worth of work at the only crud part time job you could find paying $10 an hour.
Its a wonder many can still find the dollars to play travel ball to begin with. I would guess the ball is a priority with some and they have cut many corners elsewhere to make it possible.
So yes, it is a big deal. |
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DecaturDad
619 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 11:40:45
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quote:
Originally posted by in_the_know
Yes, your families may pay an extra day of gate fee, but seriously, is it that big of a deal?
The actual fee isn't that big of a deal. But when you consider that we need to spend over two hours in the car Friday night just to play one game, then it would be nice if we did not also have to pay the gate fee. And no, we did not choose to play Friday night. Driving through Atlanta for a 7:00 game on a Friday night would never be a choice :-)
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AllStar
762 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 12:16:25
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Like dad coaches, blues with attitudes and early season walkathons, it comes with the territory. Nobody held a gun to our heads to play travel ball in the first place, never mind any specific tournament. So-we will be getting up at about 5:50 AM on Saturday, at a ballpark from 8 AM until 10 PM and then back at it on Sunday.
I'm still not sure what level of baseball that is preparing the boys for. At what level do you play at 8 AM?
fwiw-If I were out of work, travel ball probably wouldn't be happening. It's our choice, not a constitutional right... |
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bball99
29 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 12:43:03
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| Have you ever paid to enter a cheerleading competition? It's $80-125 to enter per girl, then $15-25 to get in the door per person. The routine lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Most competitions are 2 days, so that is $30-50 person just to watch for 5 minutes. Want to complain about $$, try cheerleading . . . If $$ is a big deal and tight for people then travel sports of any kind are not for them. Travel sports are an upgrade, not a necessity. |
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nwgadad
137 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 12:57:50
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Some of the games have had cheerleading, so should we be happy that we got in for less? 
quote:
Originally posted by bball99
Have you ever paid to enter a cheerleading competition? It's $80-125 to enter per girl, then $15-25 to get in the door per person. The routine lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Most competitions are 2 days, so that is $30-50 person just to watch for 5 minutes. Want to complain about $$, try cheerleading . . . If $$ is a big deal and tight for people then travel sports of any kind are not for them. Travel sports are an upgrade, not a necessity.
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biggin
174 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 13:43:50
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| Decaturda-we are also playin same tournement with yall this weekend. My problem is that there is no reason to play friday nt with 12 teams and 2 fields available no need. The only difference would be championship would be played at 7. Also if you have ever tried to battle traffic in henry co on friday evening not fun. You might advise your parents to come down hwy 155 to avoid traffic. Good luck this weekend. |
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Hurricane
351 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 13:58:20
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| It has gotten bad in all sports. A year ago my son was playing rec basketball and we had to pay every time he played just to watch him play. Can you imagine rec baseball parks charging for rec games. That is exactly what we did. We left that park by the way and wont be back. I heard they are struggling to keep the basketball going now. |
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Scorekeeper
35 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 14:18:51
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But when travel ball becomes about money and starts to be cost prohibitive to many players.......... is it really competitive travel ball being played?
If ability to pay the ever rising costs and fees become the determining factor for playing travel ball what happens to the competition? Kinda narrows the competitive pool of candidates at some cost point?
Is travel ball about having the free money to play? Or is travel ball about getting the top competition together to play each other weekly?
The 'oh well, its expensive, stay in rec ball if you can't afford it' mentality doesn't lend itself to the best competition on the field. Money doesn't buy baseball talent, but money sure can narrow the talent field down.
I want my team to play the best talent out there, not just the best that had deeper pockets. |
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Scorekeeper
35 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 14:26:33
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<<<Travel sports are an upgrade, not a necessity.>>>
With the baseball disaster that many rec leagues have become, I'd say travel ball is an absolute necessity for any truly talented player.
You can't expand and grow your talent while playing with clowns who can't catch a ball or throw it across the field or do any more hitting than rolling it around the infield. |
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mrbama31
252 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 14:58:09
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Travel Baseball has fees. It is a business. The directors do this to make money and I am sure that most enjoy their full time/ part time job but not well enough to do it for free.
If you don't like it or don't feel it is fair....Then don't go and or participate. But when you freely participate and then moan and groan about it...Well I'll just say your probably not going to get a lot of understanding.
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in_the_know
985 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 15:05:02
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It's not just travel ball. There's not a high school out there that isn't charging admission for you to watch your son play baseball on his high school team. That's on top of paying your "dues", doing your fundraisers, joining the booster club, etc., etc.
As to your last statement, you can always invite the top teams to play your own round robin and pay umpires and field fees yourself. You choose to enter tournaments. You can still arrange to play the best competition on your own without handing out a piece of plastic on a Sunday.
I'm not insensitive to the topic (as my "is it that big of a deal" comment might lend you to believe), but the reality is that it isn't cheap and coming up with the money to do it comes with the territory as an earlier poster mentioned. Will money exclude some people from being able to participate? Sure. There are alot of good ball players out there today who aren't playing travel ball because their parents aren't willing to pay.
Now if your team is ALWAYS the one playing the extra night and the same TD is doing the scheduling each time, then request to have both pool games on Saturday. Just realize that you lose the benefits mentioned earlier with regard to an extra day to spread your energey across.
quote:
Originally posted by Scorekeeper
But when travel ball becomes about money and starts to be cost prohibitive to many players.......... is it really competitive travel ball being played?
If ability to pay the ever rising costs and fees become the determining factor for playing travel ball what happens to the competition? Kinda narrows the competitive pool of candidates at some cost point?
Is travel ball about having the free money to play? Or is travel ball about getting the top competition together to play each other weekly?
The 'oh well, its expensive, stay in rec ball if you can't afford it' mentality doesn't lend itself to the best competition on the field. Money doesn't buy baseball talent, but money sure can narrow the talent field down.
I want my team to play the best talent out there, not just the best that had deeper pockets.
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Edited by - in_the_know on 05/12/2011 15:08:34 |
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DecaturDad
619 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 15:11:48
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quote:
Originally posted by biggin
Decaturda-we are also playin same tournement with yall this weekend. My problem is that there is no reason to play friday nt with 12 teams and 2 fields available no need. The only difference would be championship would be played at 7. Also if you have ever tried to battle traffic in henry co on friday evening not fun. You might advise your parents to come down hwy 155 to avoid traffic. Good luck this weekend.
Thanks Biggin,
I am NOT looking forward to the drive. When we signed up, it stated max 8 teams. That meant no Friday night to me. By the way, what field are you on friday night? We are on field 2. Stop by and sat hi. |
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biggin
174 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2011 : 16:34:56
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| Decaturdad,were not playin friday nt. I don't no why since our team is from mcdonough and 3 teams are havin to drive 1 hour or more to play heck the ga redbirds prob more like 2 hours. |
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wareagle
324 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 07:57:02
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quote:
If ability to pay the ever rising costs and fees become the determining factor for playing travel ball what happens to the competition? Kinda narrows the competitive pool of candidates at some cost point?
I would bet that not many great players are missing out because of money. If The kid is good enough and really wants to play , I have seen many generous teams and or "sponsors" help out. |
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bball99
29 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 08:42:58
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| Wow! Some people just can never be happy! waaaa . . . . . |
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Stinger44
49 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 09:32:45
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quote:
Originally posted by wareagle
quote:
If ability to pay the ever rising costs and fees become the determining factor for playing travel ball what happens to the competition? Kinda narrows the competitive pool of candidates at some cost point?
I would bet that not many great players are missing out because of money. If The kid is good enough and really wants to play , I have seen many generous teams and or "sponsors" help out.
While it is true that Travel Ball is optional and a choice TD's will and should have to look at ways to make it more affordable if they want to survive. Unnecessary Friday games is one that coaches and parents will remember and look at when deciding how to allocate precious team resources. |
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UGA12
29 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 10:16:42
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| How about the rain coming in tonight? I bet they play until the lightening nealry hits the concession stand to avoid refunding the tournament fee. |
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bballman
1432 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 12:04:58
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| It is what it is. The older you get, the more it costs, so you really need get used to it or you will be miserable for a long, long time. Wait till you get to 15 and start playing in the WWBA tournements. Tournament costs $1750 to enter. Then it is $10 per day per person to get in to the game. The teams play one game per day for 6 days. Do the math. You can buy a weeklong pass for like $45. If you play in multiple age groups, say your 15u team plays in the 15 and 16 tournaments, that's two weeks worth of it. At 16, we played in the 16, 17 and 18 under age group. It cost a fortune, but like I said, it is what it is. It's not going to go away. There will always be enough families willing to pay the money. |
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baserunner
115 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 12:33:32
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quote:
Originally posted by wareagle
quote:
If ability to pay the ever rising costs and fees become the determining factor for playing travel ball what happens to the competition? Kinda narrows the competitive pool of candidates at some cost point?
I would bet that not many great players are missing out because of money. If The kid is good enough and really wants to play , I have seen many generous teams and or "sponsors" help out.
Trust me many kids are missing out. The average cost for for a rec team runs $150-200 per season. How many of us pay 10 times that or more to play on a quality travel team. That's not even counting travel expenses, hotels, food, equiptment, etc. Heck gate fees (the original topic of this discussion) hardly even matter when you factor in how much we're spending on everything else.
I personally know several talented kids over the years who could play high majors from 11U on up but were never given the opportunity because their parents were in so much debt, or just live paycheck to paycheck. Think about how many kids you've seen playing on good AAA/majors teams and end up right back at the rec park after a year. It's not always because they weren't good enough, or they didn't like the coach/team. Not everyone will tell you the truth, but I would bet most of the time money is the primary factor. |
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wareagle
324 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2011 : 13:13:38
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Baserunner:
I see your point and it is well taken. However, I have seen people step up and help out with expenses on numerous occasions, and not just for the elite kids. Where there is a will there is a way. I see far more families not playing because of the time committment, than money.
One answer to the problem of cost could be to play less tournaments and have more weekend practices/ scrimmages. The kids get more instruction and reps in this situation, costs less, and requires less time commitment.(Not as many trophies though)
If I am not mistaken I think Tim Nichols w/ Peach State Diamond Sports in South GA has gone to more Saturday only tournaments, Which could help in the case of smaller tournaments as well. |
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Strike 2
61 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2011 : 00:37:39
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| The most famous 8am org. TC. Won't play it. |
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hhj2575
1 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2012 : 08:29:52
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| We had same issue this weekend. We had to play one Friday night game and one Saturday game. It was not needed. We could have played both games on Saturday easy. It was just about the money in my opinion. |
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Friday night gate fees
