Back in the day,
we put down $1000 a season for Clare to belong to a travel team. All that did was start the meter running.
Then you have to
factor in all the miscellaneous costs—hitting/pitching coach; equipment that
doesn’t come cheap or last long; food; gas; lodging; and time. Most, though not all, weekend tournaments
were considered “local,” usually anywhere between 20-50 miles from home. The first year Clare was on the good team, we
also went to Toledo Ohio.
Ah, Toledo in
June. Temperature in the 90s, and the
humidity close behind. That was the
weekend we spent $50 at the concession stand—on BOTTLED WATER. The drinking fountains were broken, missing
or camouflaged. The Tony Packo hot dogs
just didn’t make up for the $400 we spent.
And that was separate from the $1500 it cost to finals in Kansas
City. What are finals? you ask. Just another tournament, a week long for
bragging rights and little more.
I sold off $700
in memorabilia on eBay to help pay for the KC trip; I’m not complaining, just
saying. The next year, the coaches
scheduled a tournament in Denver, and we said, No Thanks; it was a choice
between that and nationals. A word of
advice here from the voice of experience—skip nationals and go to the
out-of-state tournament, especially if it’s a Division I exposure tournament
like Denver was. Oh, well, you live and
learn.
I’m now at the point
of believing everything was ordained to happen as it did—the first travel team
led to all the others that helped Clare have two great seasons in high school
so she’d get noticed and have a chance to play in the CCIW. As for all those parents who paid $2000-plus
to join a travel team (and we looked into it), I hope they had good karma, too.
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