Travel Ball Rookies

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Here's a nice pitch across the middle of the plate. But remember, I am being serious. My wife and I will be following our baby 12U daughter to her and our first tournaments this spring and summer. My wife and I are no longer youngsters. What equipment (chairs, shade/rain canopy, etc.) should we bring with us to our diamond weekends so it looks like we know what's going on (hah), and we're prepared.

 

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Shade is a must. EZ-UPs are the greatest inventions since wheels on coolers. Also, go down about the third base line about 150' away from home plate and let the ump have it on the first called strike to your DD. They'll say, "Wow, that guy is a veteran."

 

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Shade is a must. EZ-UPs are the greatest inventions since wheels on coolers. Also, go down about the third base line about 150' away from home plate and let the ump have it on the first called strike to your DD. They'll say, "Wow, that guy is a veteran."

Oh yeah! Pour it on the Ump. LOL!:lmao:

 

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A large cooler on wheels.

A budget for bottled water just south of the current stimulus package, unless you can teach DD to drink from a large 10-gallon team cooler. (Warning - this involves coordination with other parents and may not be worth it.)

Freezer space to freeze about 18 bottles of water. It is the ultimate energy management scheme - ice becomes water that you can drink later.

A hat - a big hat. I am the guy that looks like Indiana Jones, but my head, ears, and nose don't get sunburned, usually. Sunglasses - but I would go for the amber-tinted ones as they do better when a cloud crosses the sun.

The pop-up tent is great, but here is some advice. Well-meaning parents will feel sorry for the girls and take your tent to put over the bench. Get at least two. (See coordination with other parents note.)

Antacid tablets - unless you are going to pack all your own food. Good luck with that. I have seen have the girls on our team turn up their noses to beef brisket and roasted pork tenderloin to go eat walking tacos and hot dogs.

A really good thermos - coffee is a luxury at early morning games. If you have a thermos, you have the technology to get coffee to the field. (Styrofoam cups for you and your friends.)

I might think of more later.

 

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take lots of cash and sunblock

 

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A personal first aid kit, youd be amazed how many times advil, or bandaids are needed but the team first aid bag is no where to be found.

Xtra Pre wrap, this is as valuable to a teen as a hot stock tip is to Warrenn Buffet

Keep blankets in the trunk of your car, maybe even a warm change of clothes for you and the wife

Road maps as map quest has been known to be as wrong as it gets, if you dont get lost at least once during the travel season,,,,,, the season cant be called complete

Umbrella, Golf type,

A realy good comfortable chair, dont skimp on this one, trust me you will regret it

more to come later im sure, and welcome to the madness

Tim

 

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bag chairs, beer, water bottles, beer, sunblock, beer, gatoraid, beer. Oh yea, cooler for the beer

 

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Cooler full of good food to feed your DD. Most consessions are far priced and the food is good, but do not offer what these athletes need to play six games on Sunday.

 

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Here's a nice pitch across the middle of the plate. But remember, I am being serious. My wife and I will be following our baby 12U daughter to her and our first tournaments this spring and summer. My wife and I are no longer youngsters. What equipment (chairs, shade/rain canopy, etc.) should we bring with us to our diamond weekends so it looks like we know what's going on (hah), and we're prepared.

Welcome! I hope your family will enjoy Travel Ball as much as ours does. Summer Vacation as you once knew it no longer exists, it is now better!!!!!

*Umbrella, Chapstick and Sun Glasses a must
Almost forgot my most needed GPS lol

 

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Some parks (Expressway, ahem! Pastime, ahem!)... sorry, clearing my throat - some parks forbid coolers, so we usually pack our car or van trunk with a huge box of snacks to pick from (PowerBars, granola bars, pretzels, apples, bananas, etc.), and a huge cooler of drinks, from iced tea to Gatorade, to plain bottled water. Leave the park, go to car/van, fill up on refreshments, walk back into park. Prolly save you $30-50 a weekend, easily.

 

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A GPS is a must
A tub of sunscreen
Earplugs
Muzzle
A recipe for homemade cinnamon chips

 

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GPS unit to find your hotel!! And ball field!

Ez - Up a must! If the wind picks up stake it down or hold on to it! In a matter of 2 minutes you will have a tangled up mess of pop metal and nylon. Waste of 100 bucks!

Blankets, Sweat shirts for the wife!

And a couple of beverages for the hotel room!!!

 

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Ear plugs.Just in case your little suzie makes a mistake.

 

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Also something to read maybe between games when you have a few hours to kill. The ablity to nap on command is also nice.

 

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We never threw away the kids old wagon so by pulling out the slats I could fit camera case, first aid kits, misc in the bottom, then two heavily padded full length folding lounge chairs from Wal-mart, then the full sized coleman steel belted cooler full of drinks, sandwich fixins and whatever, then the pop-up tent and tripod for the camcorder and more misc (looked kind of like a dagwood sandwich) all held down by several bungees and a pull rope. Pretty much the only thing missing was a generator and plasma TV. Point is if you're going to spend two to three days every weekend living at the fields you may as well make it as comfortable as possible. When after sitting in their little fold out chairs all afternoon I can tell by people's looks they'd kill at that point for my full length reclining lounger. At An NSA event at Berliner I left my shade and chair for a bit and when I came back found the oldest umpire I'd ever seen stretched out sleeping in my lounger! For a moment I though the geezer died in it but what do you do, kick him out? I can imagine what his strike zone would have been like then calling our next game! One last bit of advice, a number of venues don't allow you to take in drinks or food so if your wife will use a beach bag as a purse you can usually get a few drinks and sandwiches snuck in unless they scrutinize like nazi's (or Ohio State Patrol troopers.) And sideliner is right, if the kids have no shade and you do, you usually guilt trip enough to put your pop-up over the bench.

 

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Welcome! I hope your family will enjoy Travel Ball as much as ours does. Summer Vacation as you once knew it no longer exists, it is now better!!!!!

*Umbrella, Chapstick and Sun Glasses a must
Almost forgot my most needed GPS lol

Boy! isn't that the truth. We have an 18' Cuddy Cabin and the only water that it gets to see anymore is what falls from the sky. I sure miss my days on the Ohio River, No! I don't, Not really.


FASTPITCH! Anything else, And you're playing to SLOW!

 

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Go with an open mind and understand that it is travel ball and not recreation ball. The days are much, much longer and the game is much different.

 

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I would emphasize the chair. However, in between games, possession of your chair will be relinquished to either your daughter or another player on the team. Bring an extra, or at least bring a blanket to lay on the ground.

My girls like to play cards in between games. A couple of decks of cards, and you will be the hero.

Enjoy--the time goes fast.

 

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Do not... do not invest in a cheap cooler with wheels. Pay for a good sturdy cooler with industrial size wheels. I suggest two coolers. One stays in the car and on into the park. Then you can refill in between games.

Along with a sturdy cooler, make sure your chairs are sturdy as well. You will open and shut them, move them and maybe throw them on the ground a few times this summer.

Also, if you plan on packing food, invest in containers in a variety of sizes. Do not spend a lot of money here, because they will be abused.

Welcome to summer ball. It is fun and the people in the softball community are great.

 

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For the parks that don't allow coolers break out the trusted Ball bucket cooler.
Have used mine for years. No one checks out all the Ball buckets that come into the parks. Mine has the cover for carrying things like cell phones etc on the outside, just make sure you aren't leaking water on the way in. Still working on how to insulate it better.