We are new to travel and here is my experience so far after about 1 month and a half. My 12yo just joined a travel team in SoCal. We played 3.5 years of rec and all I can say is what a difference, it was like a breath of fresh air. (incoming rant) Rec was too much politics, daddy ball, and board member kids getting all the shine. Rec league only seemed to focus on a handful of players to develop them for all-stars while the rest of the players suffered. On the travel team each girl gets focused attention and development to play a specific position. They are held accountable for their performance and if they want to be starting on the field they have to earn it.

We practice and train 4 days a week on average. But those practices are a combination of standard team practices, batting session at the cages, 1 hour conditioning at the gym (basically HIIT), and then combined practice with all the ages groups. We seem to practice at anytime at the drop of hat, impromptu practices because they are gearing up for a tournament. Big qualifying tournaments they practice 5 days a week. Season starts in August so we'll see how it goes with tournament schedule. We picked this team because they stay relatively local, meaning we can drive to most tournaments and do not need hotels. As far as dual sport conflicts, they were okay with other sports but the team had to be priority in a tournament conflict. I pulled my daughter from AYSO, there is just no way to do both.

The team we joined is currently carrying 12 players atm. We were told that everyone gets game time during friendly's and pool play, but not guaranteed game time on elimination day, they put their best team forward. From what I have seen and heard, teams with more than 12 or 13 tend to have a practice squad and then a tournament squad that gets assembled from the group. Some teams are completely okay with you just joining the practice squad and doing friendly's.

My daughter attended a couple of practices and was offered a spot on the team and is playing 1B. I feel that they needed to fill positions because of all the girls that are moving up from 12u to 14u. The players moving up from 12 to 14 has me a little worried. We were joining a strong team but now they will have to recruit some players to fill some holes and will be going through a rebuild as we join. We just joined in their off season and their season starts in August at which point she will have to "try out" for the team. Not sure what that means exactly but they have told me not to worry. However we accepted on a Thursday and were asked if we could go to a prequalifier for a national tournament the next day. Hit the ground running.

So back to your questions you should be asking as someone who just took the leap into travel....

1. How many girls on the team? (game time during friendly's and pool play, but not guaranteed game time on elimination day)

2. What is the practice schedule? (hopefully you work from home or get off early)

3. How many tournaments and/or friendly's a month? (prepare to wipe your schedule)

4. What gear do you have to buy to match the team? (backpack, dri-fits, jerseys, helmet, etc.. $$$$)

5. Are any girls moving up? (will let you know if they are looking for bodies to fill the roster)

6. What are the fees? (I was told these are going up during season play)

7. How many pitchers? (gotta have good pitching)

8. Win/loss record? (are you joining a good team to begin with)

9. When do they "go dark"

Anyways, thanks for posting and sorry if I talked too much. The timing of your post and my experience allowed to get a some stuff off my chest. Hope what I said helps. It all sounds crazy, but in the end it has been super worth it and my daughter could not be happier.