The posts from both Mark and fan-and-fun implicitly raise an important point: the economic and time burden of being far away from the "home location" for the team is actually higher at the younger ages than at the older, especially in a state like Ohio where high school regulations forbid spring practices with the player's travel ball team.
If I had a younger DD (say anywhere from first year 10u to first year 14u), I would be expecting at least two practices a week from the time spring weather allowed until fall weather shut things down. (Allowing for other school sports to have precedence in their season once the player hits middle school). And I would be expecting at least two or three spring tournaments along with 7-8 regular season tournaments. That is a lot of driving and meals out, so if I could find a team closer to home that has coaches who can teach proper mechanics and game strategies, I'd probably opt for that rather than a big name organization.
Starting around 13u, however, Ohio school regulations cut down on the number of school year hours that can be devoted to practicing with your travel ball team. If your daughter has become proficient enough that she can play with other really really good players, it is probably worth it to join the best team she can, as long as there is sufficient family money to cover the expenses. First, while at the older ages there is still a lot of teaching that goes on with the big-name teams, most of that comes during tournament trips rather than through frequent weekly practices. And as Mark candidly points out, if you a good enough player (and I'm sure he would also include, a hard worker on your own and/or with private coaches), showing up for those big name tournaments may be the only team practice that is required. I think those talented Ohio residents who are playing for high profile out of state teams are not required to travel much for the sole purpose of participating in a team practice.
So, when the player is somewhere around 14 or 15 the family has to get a firm picture (probably from the coaching staff of one of these big name travel ball organizations or, if the organization's plans for the DD haven't been made clear, from an objective third party) of the DD's playing skills. If D1 with some prospect of significant softball money is in the cards (or if the family can afford tuition whether or not there is softball money and the player's dream is to play for a D1 program), it probably makes sense to travel a long way (even out of state) for the right team. But there are so many things to balance, including the DD's desire to have a normal social life or to participate in other meaningful things such as religious, volunteer, or other sports activities (or to pursue a major in college that might make playing D1 sports a hindrance to excelling in that major), that there isn't any one "formula" that can tell you how far flung your travel ball search should go. This strikes me as one of those decisions where you make the two lists of pros and cons. After making that list, finances may be a prohibitive barrier to hooking up with the long distance/frequently traveling team. Or you might have the finances to make it happen, in which case the old gut is going to have to make the call whether the pros outweigh the cons.
