Questions about starting a travel team

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I am thinking about starting another travel team in my city. I am new to this and would like to know the cost and how things work in general. My biggest question is what is the insurance, cost and whats the purpose? Approximatly how much do uniforms and gear cost? This would be an 11u team and would most likely be made up of teir 2 players but I am thinking if I start working with them soon I can get them caught up by next year to compete. All replies are appreciated. Thanks

 

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Your best bet would be to join an existing organization in your area.

 

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The Basics:

Uniforms ... $100.00 /kid - more or less depending on style, taste, versions - could go a LOT less if needed (shorts, couple of "basic" tops) just to get the ball rolling, ... a LOT more if hoodies/warm-ups, helmets, bat bags, etc included)

Insurance ... $100-130 /yr (can get a half year for less, but impractical since travel = year round training & competition usually)

Sanction - $20-25 each for NSA & ASA (others?)

Tournaments - $300-400 (more or less, lots of choices) .... note NSA Nationals last year was $600.00!

For 12 player roster:

$1200 (uniforms) + $125 (Insurance) + $45 (Sanction Fees) + $2800 (Tournaments 8 x $350 avg) = $4170.00 in rough costs + $500 (lots of other little things) = $4670

Divided by 12 players = $389 in individual Fees per player at minimum. It will be more than this though, unless you opt for bare bones to get started, with no Nationals

Spano Winter League - add another $850-1000
Special Events?
Team Sponsored Instruction (or Individual)
Hotels, Meals, Travel - Usually on the family's expense and discretion

 

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Thanks. Who do you get the insurance thru? What is it for? Any body that I have seen get hurt they don't go thru the league. When my son broke his arm it was put on my insurance. Just curious. Also whats best ASA or NSA or if you register your team with one does that cover both? Thanks Again.

Shu

 

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Nobody's ever tripped in my front yard and broke their arm either ... yet. As coaches, you and your staff are labeled as the "responsible adults". By carrying insurance (car insurance, home owners insurance, health insurance, softball team insurance, etc.) you are betting that some unforseen catastrophe might happen; the insurance company is betting that it won't. Team insurance is CHEAP. Lawsuits are typically VERY expensive...

 

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Insurance usually is secondary coverage but required at all tourneys. You can buy the insurance from any of the sanctioning bodies. I found that at the time USSSA was the bet value.
Ones that I have used covered any sanctioning body as well and all sponsored functions for the team (practice, fundraisers, etc). As far as NSA, ASA, PONY, etc.
I did a mix to get my feet wet at first as the teams become more established i.e. Slammers who are at a top tier level at their age group, they do a very competitive ASA schedule.

 

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There are a few cost that may come up for you as well, if you do not aready have the items it takes to run a team. First aid kit, score book, lineup cards, practice balls, game balls if needed, some office supplies when you copy paper work and such for the parents such as season schedule plans. If you play scrims or extra games such as leagues, umpire fees. The bigger the event/tournaments the higher your unseen cost are!!! Travel, Hotel, Food, Gas/Transportation.

Starting small the first year is very wise and slowly going into it by watching the bigger organizations. The Ohio Teams that come from large organizations did start off small and worked hard to gain their status. This takes a few years and alot of dedicated parents and players.

 

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The Basics:

Uniforms ... $100.00 /kid - more or less depending on style, taste, versions - could go a LOT less if needed (shorts, couple of "basic" tops) just to get the ball rolling, ... a LOT more if hoodies/warm-ups, helmets, bat bags, etc included)

Insurance ... $100-130 /yr (can get a half year for less, but impractical since travel = year round training & competition usually)

Sanction - $20-25 each for NSA & ASA (others?)

Tournaments - $300-400 (more or less, lots of choices) .... note NSA Nationals last year was $600.00!

For 12 player roster:

$1200 (uniforms) + $125 (Insurance) + $45 (Sanction Fees) + $2800 (Tournaments 8 x $350 avg) = $4170.00 in rough costs + $500 (lots of other little things) = $4670

Divided by 12 players = $389 in individual Fees per player at minimum. It will be more than this though, unless you opt for bare bones to get started, with no Nationals

Spano Winter League - add another $850-1000
Special Events?
Team Sponsored Instruction (or Individual)
Hotels, Meals, Travel - Usually on the family's expense and discretion

VERY Accurate Numbers... We started a 14 U last season entered 9 Tourneys Played in 6 ( RAIN.. and 1 Cancellation by Tourney) we Charged $400 . We stayed Local , Had no Team Bat Bags or Batting Helmets. We had been coaching Rec for some time and had lots of Balls already , had to Buy Catchers gear . Bought Nice Uniforms though , we looked Good and played better with each Tourney. And had some fun !! Played 24 games... Took some lumps , but were Competitive (Finished 2nd Once). Drama from Parents a Bigger issue. But ALL teams can suffer from that.
IF you have TWO GOOD Pitchers and can be above average up the Middle (C ,2b, SS, CF) On D , you can Compete . You have to sew up the remaning D and get some decent Hitting to be consistantly GOOD though. LOTS of work overall and the "Established Teams get the Vast majority of the Talent Pool through Tryouts. So if you have a Core unit of say 6 SOLID players (Not Solid REC players , they would have to be STUD Rec Players). Then maybe if you get lucky with tryouts, and put in a Ton of work on the Dirt you can be good. We bailed after one yr. With an Established Org. now. If we had One more SOLID pitcher we would have went for another year. We seen Improvement and It was fun overall.

 

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Thanks. Who do you get the insurance thru? What is it for? Any body that I have seen get hurt they don't go thru the league. When my son broke his arm it was put on my insurance. Just curious. Also whats best ASA or NSA or if you register your team with one does that cover both? Thanks Again.

Shu

All the organizations (NSA, PONY, ASA) have an insurance company that they work with with a link on their website. We went with the ASA insurance through Bollinger (you ony have to get one insurance). You only have to register with each organization that sanctions a tournament you are going to. We usually split ours between ASA and NSA; we like the fact that NSA lets you bat 11 and freely substitute.

5-6 games on a weekend is a tough adjustment for some players the first season. If you are starting from scratch you need at least 1 good and one OK pitcher, a couple of girls who can catch, and a couple that our versatile and play mre than one or two positions.

 

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Same thing happened with us as the Freak....The parents proved that it is just not worth it. Rec parents are NOT travel parents and it will show after a while and the drama will be too much. We too found life easier joining an organization. Running the team, raising funds, and all the million extra things that come along with it is nothing compared to the problems the parents will cause because they have rec ball mentality. GOODLUCK to you and I wish you the best-don't lose too much sleep over it!!

 

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Thanks everyone you have been a great help. I will keep all this in mind, and hopefully make better decisions becasue of it.

Thanks again
Shu

 

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The Freak hit on some VERY key issues; two of them are literal "team killers". First is the "REC" mentality. REC ball, by design, is typically a two hour a week parental commitment, even when you count dropping off the kid at the weekly baby-sitting... er "practice". Everybody gets their allotted playing time. I know 'em ALL TOO WELL!

Second is taking a group of REC kids (along with their parents) and dumping them cold turkey into travel. One or two studs, I can see - but a WHOLE TEAM?? Now THAT'S gray hair!

Freak, you are SO correct in what it takes to compete! Also applies to HS ball, by the way. I'll go as far to say that even if you only have ONE stud pitcher, you can still make it pretty far. BUT - that "up the middle D" MUST be strong. MUST be able to bunt through the lineup (I've seen some pretty pathetic bunt attempts), 4 - 5 consistent power hitters, and the rest contact hitters. A batting lineup loaded with sub .200 hitting will send you back to REC!

 

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Sammy, your are 100% correct on that....... the Rec attitude top off with parents and the .200 avg. will kill a team fast no matter how much practice you give them, the attitude has to be for Travel Ball not rec.ball.
A coach can be good but can not fix the wrong type attitude, they have to have it from the Get Go or its time to go find it somewhere else. Too much work goes into rebuilding a players/parents attitudes. If they think REC Ball they should go play REC Ball.

I have been dealing with this and tried to work on some players to see if they can make it, That mentality is like a bad apple and it gives a bad taste to the entire team.
RECRUIT RECRUIT give tryouts but dont fool yourself, the players have to be ready.

 

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good luck! should we start prayers?

 

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lots of comments are on the money.... let me tell you.. we are well into year 3 and have been through some stuff, had lots of fun, and made plenty of mistakes. You should put a list of "who we are" together... almost like a business plan. Surround yourself with others that are the same or will TRULY do what it takes to stick to "who you are...". This includes getting rid of bad apples and making hard decisions for your organization. You may be 1 team this year, next year 3 or more. Who knows. We have had to keep an eye on each other and thick skin is very very very very very important. I personally spend sooooooo much time on the team and organization. Communication is key, including letting the parents know what you are, who your, your expectations (of everyone), how much help you will need, and the list could go on forever. I would recommend joining a organization that has an opening as well us the ability to lead or support as needed. We do some cool things due to our size and willingness of our coaches to help one another. From fundraising to learning plays and teaching each other, we are smarter because of it. I know going on my own would have probably lopped off 20-30% of my teams' success. Good luck and let us know how you do!!!