What Is Travel Baseball? vs Little League and Pony League

What is travel baseball is a question that every parent asks when their kid turns around 8 years old.

What is Travel Baseball?

Travel baseball is a more competitive and serious form of organized baseball for kids as compared to recreational leagues such as Little League or Pony League.

It can start as early as 5 years old (way too early) all the way to 18 years old.

Key Differences

Here are the main differences between travel baseball and rec league, such as Little League or Pony League.

1 ) Goals and Seriousness of the Parents

The main difference is that the kids and parents who participate in travel baseball are more serious.

The parents who have their kids play travel baseball generally have bigger dreams and goals for the kids to play baseball, whether that means hoping that kids play in high school, getting a college scholarship or even playing pro.

Many of the kids who participate in Little League or Pony League, their parents sign them up to expose them to the sport or just to have fun.

2 ) Better Baseball Training

The training and practices are much better in travel baseball.

There’s usually a hired coach that practices and trains the kids, as opposed to dads coaching in rec league.

The kids who participate in travel baseball are also more passionate and skilled, so thus the quality of the practices is higher because the kids are better.

3) Travel Baseball is Way More Expensive

Travel baseball is way more expensive than recreational leagues.

Costs can be anywhere from $100 a month to $350 a month, and that does not include potentially an additional $200 to $300 of tournament fees.

4 ) Travel Baseball Takes More Time

Travel baseball usually requires two practices a week and also playing two tournaments a month, which will take away your weekends.

The seasons can last a lot longer than recreational leagues, and some teams in warm weather states such as California, Texas, Florida, etc. play year round.

5) Different Rules

Travel baseball also has different rules, including bat requirements and field dimensions than Little League.

6) Huge Commitment

Travel baseball requires a huge financial and time commitment.

For a kid that is not that into baseball, it can easily burn them out and make them not like the sport.

For the child who loves baseball, that kid could really maximize and have a great time.

How Travel Baseball Works

Here’s a quick outline of how Travel Baseball works.

Tryout

There is a tryout, and not every kid makes the team.

Practices

There are generally two practices a week, and they can be anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours long.

Tournaments

Instead of playing the same teams in the league, you travel to weekend tournaments to play against teams from other areas.

These tournaments can be anywhere near your city or even in other states.

Benefits of Travel Baseball

The main benefit of travel baseball is your son participates in better baseball training and plays in more competitive games against players who are better.

Disadvantages of Travel Baseball

Travel baseball can be very expensive, but the main disadvantage of travel baseball is that sometimes it is so intense and the schedule is so busy that you burn a kid out.

If your child does not have a real passion for baseball, they can easily get turned off and want to quit baseball forever.

Is Travel Baseball Worth It?

By now you should have a better idea of what is travel baseball.

Whether this is worth it or not depends on what your long-term goals are and whether your child really loves baseball.

If your child is just trying out baseball, then it’s probably not worth it, but if your son really loves baseball, then it could be something you should consider, especially if they want to play at a higher level.

For any child that wants to play in high school or higher travel baseball is a must.

Otherwise, your child will get left behind.

They cannot keep up, unlike other sports like basketball and football, which you can pick up later.

Baseball is a very technical sport, and you really need to be exposed to consistent training every single year.

Even skipping one year of baseball, your child can be left behind.

About Simon Chan