User:Chemmie1/sandbox

In the sport of softball a 'Softball Travel Team' (sometimes referred to as a 'Travel Softball Club', 'Club Softball' or 'Softball Club') is a softball team that travels to different locales outside of their local community to play in tournaments or in games known as 'friendlies' to help in the skill building and overall college recruiting chances of team members beyond what the high school and local recreation leagues offer. Games typically offer higher competition than that found in local little leagues or recreation teams.

Softball travel teams usually fall into age groups such as 18 and under (18U) 16 and under (16U) 14 and under (14U) and so on. Age is usually determined by how old the participant is on December 31st of the year they are playing in. Lower aged athletes can 'play up' in the larger age divisions but older aged players cannot play in the younger divisions. For example a 14 year old athlete can play in 14U, 16U and 18U divisions but cannot play in a 12U division.

Tournaments and 'friendlies' (where a travel team scrimmages another travel team) are usually divided up into those aforementioned age brackets to help keep the games at the highest possible skill levels without trapping the more skilled players in the lower levels of play.

Cost
Travel teams cost significantly more than other teams mainly because of the travel expenses involved which include things like gas, hotel stays and eating out. The cost of travel tournaments and games are also significantly higher and adds to the cost of each individual team member as well. Most teams use fundraising to help offset the cost of playing on a travel team. Usually the charge is called a monthly due which is the fee a team member has to pay, usually monthly, to gain the benefits of being a member of that team.

Benefits can include multiple practice sessions per week with the team, private hitting or fielding lessons, and guidance in getting recruited by colleges.

Unlike volunteer leagues (such as Little League Softball) most travel coaches are paid coaches. The teams are usually formed and run by the head coach and that coach determines how much he/she gets paid. The amount of pay varies greatly depending on the demand for the coaches services such as hitting instruction, fielding instruction, etcetera and how successful the coach has been in both games played and in helping their athletes get recruited into college.

Usually coaching a travel softball team is a full time job for the coaches that run it.

Monthly rates for travel teams range in the hundreds of dollars on top of any actual travel costs which are normally not included in the monthly fee. Again most teams use fundraising efforts to help offset the travel costs of its athletes.

Types of Athletes
The type of athlete that joins a travel team is usually a highly skilled player looking for better competition and for the opportunity to be scouted at a tournament or event that will help them attend the college of their choice.

Time Commitment
The time commitment when participating on a travel team is significant. The practice sessions are usually longer (three to four hours instead of the normal two) as they cover skills more in depth than most other types of teams. The drive to any particular practice, usually held two to three times per week, could take you anywhere depending on where the team is based out of due to a lack of residency limitations on travel teams. And most travel team athletes play for their local recreation or high school team and have practices with them as well throughout the week. Balancing a college specific academic workload must also be taken into consideration as most travel players goals are to attend college.

=List of Travel Softball Organizations= American Softball Association (ASA)

Triple Crown Sports (TCS)

Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF)

United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA)

=List of Softball Travel Teams= Here is a list of travel teams:

Southern California
Marauders Softball Academy