Rec vs Travel Baseball // 5 Clarifying Questions to Learn the Main Differences

~ Grab your free Rec vs. Travel Baseball guide right here: www.buildingbetterbaseball.co...
If I had to choose just one question that I could guarantee every youth player, parent, and coach has thought about and asked themselves - it would be “recreation baseball or travel baseball?”
This the burning question that keeps youth baseball up at night because it’s such a loaded question, with so many things weighing on its decision.
I’ve been there as a youth player and as a youth coach - and I’m here today to explain the big differences between the two and hopefully give you some clarity to make the decision as easy as possible.
In today’s bullpen bulletin, I’m giving you 5 questions you should ask yourself when it comes to playing baseball - and your answers will help guide you to the right decision.
5 Questions:
1) Do I want to play more baseball?
2) Do I want better competition?
3) Do I want to play high school baseball?
4) Do I want better coaching / development?
5) Am I willing to put in individual work to improve?
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#buildingbetterbaseball

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

~ Grab your free Rec vs. Travel Baseball guide right here: www.buildingbetterbaseball.com/recvstravel

[@BilliumRye]

One very important factor that wasn't included in this video that I always make sure to stress to families considering making the jump from rec to travel is the financial commitment. From monthly fees, to uniform costs, to travel costs (hotels/flights/gas), tournament fees, etc. Travel costs can rack up quickly. And that's all before mentioning equipment. There are ways to be frugal and save, but either way you slice it, travel is both a massive commitment time wise AND financially.

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Great addition to the video William! Thank you for the comment, hopefully people read this so they’re aware 👍

[@jam2861]

Travel baseball players who tryout might not make “THE” team, but they do make “A” team. It’s not like they’re gonna turn down peoples money. It’s just which team level you get put with.

[@leonwilliams2224]

Exactly!!

[@danielmusfeldt6393]

Not in my sons club. 40 ish kids tried out, 13 were selected

[@Rooster_king]

Lot's of good information here. Although you should've touched on all stars in rec leagues since there are good competition there for an established local program. Our local all star team is more than capable of winning AA travel tournaments. Little league also can play 18 games in a season with playoffs afterwards that can add another 2-6 games. In rec league playoffs, all the kids dont get the same playing time either. Also, I know you're speaking generalities here but you can have great coaches in rec league too. I know coaches in rec league that could easily coach a good travel team and I also know some coaches that do both. They've been in baseball their whole life and understand the importance of having a local program to start young players. Which leads to my next point on age. You should also talk about what age would pertain to your recommendations. No high school coach is scouting an 8u travel game lol. And finally, you should've touched on the decision to play both (rec and travel). Lot's of kids play both and balance priorities.

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Yupp, all great points! I'll have to do more videos on this topic because there's so much involved.. I tried to keep this one super basic and broad or it would've been a 30 minute video haha. Thanks for the comment!

[@TPFMBH]

Good video and qreat questions for parents to consider. I'm in florida. NE FL. There are tons of travel ball teams in florida especially down south. But, a lot of thw rec leagues have some fierce competition as well. There isn't any Little League around us. We play Cal Ripken/ Babe Ruth. There is actually a good bit of difference between those organizations (I'm sure you know, this is for parents). But this last season(fall) we played 20 games. And since we did so well, we are now moving our rec team into a few winter tournaments. Sure we don't have tryouts but there is a draft. And the more senior coaches will get the pick of the litter. Unfortunately that does mean that usually one team on a league will be the bad news bears. Parents that found this video, Rec ball is great especially if you are starting out. Travel ball is awesome too. The biggest thing you need to look out for on either side of the house is abusive coaches. If you see a coach let a 10 or 12 yo pitcher pitch 90 throws in one game. Walk away. That coach doesn't care. I've seen it happen in both places. Follow BBB advice and choose what is right for you, and watch for safety.

[@BrandonDoesStuff1]

Awesome video! Really appreciate it. Eye opening! I am ready, but I don’t think my kiddo is ready for Travel Ball… goofs around to much and still working on the mechanics.

[@tonyd9821]

Well said. Thanks for the vid

[@TheStevieb1983]

my man speaking facts

[@Joseramirezhunts]

I want to tryout for a travel team but I don’t know how and I have a broken arm so I can’t even tryout and I’m going into high school next year and I wanna take baseball seriously

[@raymarkey8062]

Good video

[@joshsims3056]

Bet this dude can give some awesome signs to the batters from 3rd with all these hand signals....LOL

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Lol the best signs! The kids never miss a call 😂

[@thenext9537]

Travel around these parts (middle TN) is 800$ + fees and tourneys. Comes to about 2700$ all in + uniform , bag , and travel bat (400$). During spring, every weekend you are gone from 7am Sat to late Sunday. 5 games, first 2 to seed and if you win, then you play Sunday. Not doing travel, but I’ve been told from several families what the level of commit is and it’s pretty huge. If you are looking at middle school, high school ball then it’s a must. Otherwise you’ll be eaten alive!

[@jasonyncera635]

If my son is interested to start travel ball, what age is a good age to get him started? He’s only 6 now and I know he’s young, but he wants to keep playing now that the regular season is over. I don’t want him to get burned out or overworked but he does love playing. Any suggestion on a good age to start?

[@jms0313]

You could play with him on the weekends

[@Onlygatorsmakeitoutalive]

I would suggest 9 years old. Nine years old is when your child starts to develop. Don’t wait to long to start travel though, if your start too late the difference between the travel player and the rec player will expand drastically. So if your planing on travel start at 9 or 10.

[@andrewboyce8230]

12

[@CarlspacklerJr]

My son just started rec baseball and he’s less than thrilled because of the lack of competitiveness. Most of his teammates have never played and goof off, so I want to be fair. Caveat: my son has never played in a league before but I’ve practiced with him for a year to the point where his hitting/catching/throwing mechanics are pretty solid. I understand it’s rec baseball and I can’t have high expectations but I’m gonna have him tryout for travel next time. The only silver lining I can see with rec baseball is my son will be the best player on the team. The downside is he’ll lose interest because his teammates aren’t playing at the same level. Super bummed. He wants to have fun but is struggling

[@mrbug4803]

One thing I think he underestimates is the season length/ game schedule. It is not uncommon for an 8u team to play 45-50 games a season. By 12u you may be looking at a 60-70 game season. That is a lot of baseball for kids AND parents. It is a family commitment. But, a good team with good kids, parents and coaches will set you and your family up for life with great friends and opportunities.

[@Jack_all]

Logistically speaking its seem impossible that a 12U baseball team can play 45-70 games in 3-5 months.

[@joerogers7359]

@@Jack_all Depending on where you live what you consider a season by what he is saying, it is more than doable. I personally think it is way too much but very doable. My son is playing his first 10u travel season next year. We are playing almost every other weekend from April to August as a team...3 game minimum and that's about 30 games. I know a kid who team hops between 2 or 3 teams and if one team is not playing, he plays for one of the others which equates to almost every weekend from April to October.

[@andrewboyce8230]

I disagree 100% with your entire statement

[@michaelkline8751]

This is a perfect example of what Travel Programs sell as the reasons you should play travel baseball in oppose to community baseball. Unfortunately, you are making some really bad assumptions here. Let's start with the term REC. Most organized community baseball programs like Little League should not be considered REC because that implies non-competitive but are more accurately, should be referred to as Community Baseball. Let's address these points one-by-one to an avg. Little League Majors Division Season 1. Number of games... Typical community baseball player plays approximately 20-30 games during a season. Season starts with evals/tryouts in early March, Games start early April with 2 per week until, first week of June (regular) add in internal playoffs, external tournaments, All Stars... Anything more that you are over playing. Opposed to a majority of Travel teams that will play 30-50 games with the majority over 2-3 day weekends of condensed baseball (not healthy). 2. Level of Competition... Yes, there are players in Little League that have never played before but they are evaluated and place at appropriate division/level with a Majors Div. team having AGE + SKILL placement where travel is just age. Meaning highly skill 10 yr old will play against similar level skilled 12 yr olds. This method advances those players much faster than playing against just same age players. Also, older players tend to learn better leadership skills this way. This model is similar to High School where you could have Freshman to Seniors playing on the same team. 3. Do you want to play in High School? - Well let's just say when my son played high school baseball and EVERY player on that team played Little League. That team also was the State Champions from our state. More travel kids would burn out before they ever made it to High School. When they all play community baseball together they also, in the same community for High School. 4. Do I want better Coaching/Development? - To be 100% clear there is GOOD and BAD coaching whether you play travel or community baseball. Good coaches should always be sought out... In the area in which I live the Community baseball programs have Coaches which are much more experienced than any of the typical travel teams which are mostly Dads who coach those teams and only following their kid through the program. Now some of those Dad's are not bad coaches but that is not always the case. Again in our area community teams will practice 5+ times per week prior to the season and then 1-2 times during the season. 5. Am I willing to do extra work? - So, again this is not accurate, playing time on a Little League team is not evenly split. More skilled or advanced players will play more than less skilled players. Yes, everyone plays and that is OK. With travel baseball you may PAY anywhere from $1,000-$4,000 to play on that team and if you happen to have a kid ahead of you that may be a little better than you will not play, sometimes an entire weekend where you just paid for hotels and travel expenses. Lastly, I do not feel Travel baseball is bad but the ideas that you expressed for evaluating whether to do Travel vs. Rec are just inaccurate. My top 5 would be... 1. What's your WHY? Fun or love of the game... Play in HS... Play in College (D1 or D2, or D3) 2. Weigh the value proposition Travel vs. other? 3. What age is appropriate for a condensed baseball schedule? A lot of college coaches get damaged goods when they arrive on campus. 4. Be real when evaluating a players potential for long term success? Have an evaluation (not a tryout) from a respected and honest 3rd party who really knows the game. If your player is not a D1 or D2 level talent, travel is not a great option. 5. Is there other models available like a hybrid Travel and Community option? Best of both... Itch that scratch before you make a commitment to travel. Sorry for the long comment... :)

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

All great points! I tried to keep it as simple and general as possible for an audience who's new to the game and just wanted a short explanation of the major differences. There are definitely MANY exceptions to the points in this video, as you listed - but that would've been a video that never ended lol. I agree with your points, and I'll have to do a follow up video on this topic sometime. Appreciate the comment!

[@dallinoaks5242]

Thanks for this explanation, I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanna do and still trying to figure it out, my main concern is whether I want to continue playing football and baseball for my highschool team, or if I want to just commit to a travel team and drop football or vice versa

[@robertgibson5475]

Travel ball is just a money grab😂, I coach rec, we practice 4 days a week play on Mondays and wendays, we play 14 games and then a big 20 tam tournament at the end of the season. Then a 6 team playoffs. Travel ball is so over hyped just to get money

[@andrewboyce8230]

Yes Sir. You are correct and a very smart man.

[@MDRZ10]

@robertgibson5475 I am with you and like many parents I'm sick of youth sports culture these days. I would love to learn more about your league. Can you share a link?

[@danialcompton3093]

This is a good infomercial for travel ball. Travel ball is just coaches that are too competitive for rec ball. that's it. money grab and competitive adults living through their kids.

[@Jack_all]

sounds like you made up your mind.. How long did you kid play travel ball?

[@MDRZ10]

Not wrong. I agree that travel ball and year-round single sport specialization is not in kids' best interest and well being, and that it's popularity is largely driven by an adult-centric culture disguised as "for the kids". We gotta come up with a better solution. We have to re-invest our time and efforts into community leagues to make them more valuable.

[@andrewboyce8230]

Exactly, travel ball is for the Parent's Social Media. For developement focus on strength training, speed and agility, pitching, hitting and fielding. Hit 5 or 6 times per week. My Son is best player on his Freshman team that is full of year-round travel players. The Dominican Republic, and Japan has passed Middle Class American players with a practice heavy and game light strategy.