Our version of ‘travel ball’

I suppose you could have called it our version of “travel ball.”

Growing up, there wasn’t much free time for us boys during the summer. You worked hard during the week on the farm, especially during tobacco barning time. So, those Saturday afternoons playing baseball on Mr. Randall’s team were special. It wasn’t anything close to today’s Little League, but it was fun.

And we got to travel, all the way to places like Roseboro, Salemburg, and all the way down to Beaver Dam in Cumberland County on those Saturday afternoons. We would jam as many as we could in a car, or load the back of a pickup truck with just about the whole team. The games were fun and Mr. Randall always had winning teams. (For me, I spent most of the time on the bench hoping to get in the game if we were winning by a big enough margin. But I enjoyed being on the team, anyway.)

You played ball on Saturday afternoon, went to church on Sunday, and it was back to the farm work on Monday. That was our summers and our travel ball way back then. Today, travel ball for kids, whether it is baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball or some other sport, is much different. I was reminded of the change while watching a recent TV news report on youth club sports, or as we call it around here, travel ball.

Today, travel ball is almost year-round, no matter what the sport. Weekends are filled with games, which often means the expenses of hotel rooms, along with the entry fees and other expenses. The news report stated that some parents will end up spending several thousand dollars a year in order for their child to be involved in club sports.

It has also become big business. Sean Gregory, in “Time” magazine, back in 2017, wrote about the growing business in “How Kid Sports Turned Pro.” He diagrammed how the youth sports market, which includes team fees, apparel and travel, has grown from $8 billion in 2005 to $15 billion in 2016.

Big corporations, like Bain Capital and NBC, see an opportunity. Gregory wrote, “A range of private businesses are mining this deep, do-anything parental love. The U.S. youth-sports economy, which includes everything from travel to private coaching to apps that organize leagues and livestream games, is now a $15.3 billion market, according to WinterGreen Research, a private firm that tracks the industry.” (Remember, this was back in 2017; it’s probably much larger now.)

Cities and towns are also getting in on the act. According to Gregory, “Cities and towns are using tax money to build or incentivize pay-and-stay mega complexes, betting that the influx of visitors will lift the local economy.”

Why do parents invest so much time and money on their kids playing travel ball? The reason that is often given is the hope of a college scholarship. They hope that their child will hit, throw, spike, shoot, whatever, their way to a free college education. But the reality of that is slim. In the article, Gregory wrote, “Only 2 percent of high school athletes go on to play at the top level of college sports, the NCAA’s Division 1. For most, a saving account makes more sense than private coaching.”

Sadly, the idea of even playing high school sports without spending weekends playing travel ball is often not an option. A friend told me that a coach said that he could forget about his child playing in high school unless they started playing travel ball.

Of course, playing sports is good for kids, and it’s a lot of fun. I officiated with the Parks and Recreation for several years, and saw the many positive things kids learn by playing ball. And if a kid is busy playing ball, he or she is not busy doing something that could possibly lead them down the wrong road.

On the other hand, could they possibly be missing out on things that could help lead them down the right road, or a better road? In other words, will all the time and expense spent in the search for a higher batting or scoring average eventually lead to a better and more prepared adult in the future?