Best Age to Start Travel Baseball

Best age to start travel baseball is at 9 years old (9U) where your child has already demonstrated interest and passion for the sport.

Why 9 Years Old is the Best Age to Start Travel Baseball

By 9 years old, your child probably has played anywhere from 1 – 3 years of recreational baseball, such as the Little League or Pony League.

By now, you should be able to tell whether your child has passion and real interest in the game.

If your child really loves to play baseball, then travel baseball would just make things even more fun.

Why Not Start Travel Baseball Earlier?

Kids may not be mature nor old enough to appreciate the seriousness, intensity or time commitment that travel baseball requires and then they will lose interest in the sport forever because it no longer becomes fun for them.

We personally know a friend who joined a very competitive travel baseball team at 8 years old and they were practicing in 90 degree weather.

Needless to say, the kid lost interest in the game because baseball no longer became fun.

Kids Not Developed Enough Before 9

It takes time for motor skills to develop.

When kids are younger, they have trouble throwing strikes.

What you end up seeing are games where kids just throw endless balls and the positional players just stand there and watch the pitcher walk batter after batter

The game becomes super boring.

I once saw a team that walked 6 batters in a row and every kid on the field was bored out of their mind!

This will be the easiest way for them to lose interest.

Let Them Explore Other Interests

Before 9 years old, it’s good for a child to explore different things that they may like but the time commitment required for travel baseball will prevent them from discovering other things.

Why Not Later than 9 Years Old?

You can always start later, but from our experience, kids who started later generally, they fall behind and it’s much harder to catch up because of the advanced training and competition that they have missed out on.

Of course, there are exceptions, but generally the exception only applies to kids who are naturally really athletic and can be good at all sports and even then, it may be hard for them to catch.

The reason why it’s hard to catch up is because baseball is a very technical sport and involved so many different skills.

The technical skills play a much bigger impact than the athleticism meaning that you can be the biggest and strongest kid, but if you don’t have the skill to hit a ball, it doesn’t matter how strong you are. You are still never going to be good.

I have personally seen so many kids who take just one year off to never be able to catch up to their peers.

Don’t Get Started With Travel Baseball If…

We don’t recommend getting your child involved with travel baseball if they don’t have a strong interest in the sport because the intensity and the competitiveness may turn them away from baseball forever.

About Simon Chan