Travel Ball Tryouts

---

With summer coming to an end, the travel teams are starting to look towards next year. If you're visiting this page, you're either already playing travel, or are interested in playing travel. 

As you move from rec ball to travel ball, you most likely will now have to tryout as opposed to simply being placed on a team. So what does a typical tryout look like?

 Your athlete will probably be given 8-10 balls to hit. This may be from a pitching machine or one of the coaches.  Tell your athlete that it's more important to make contact than swing as hard as possible. 8 infield hits are better than 8 swings and misses. They may ask to see bunting as well.

There are a couple of typical fielding exercises

Infield 

• Your athlete will be placed on first base and will catch a number of balls
• Your athlete will go to the 2nd or short stop position to take a series of ground balls to see how quickly they can react, how well they can move from side to side, and if balls can get between their legs.
• Your athlete will go to third base to catch ground balls, run and step on 3rd base, and then throw all the way from 3rd to 1st base
• Additionally, they may catch some pop flies in the infield

Outfield 

• In the outfield, you players will probably see a variety of balls to catch. Primarily they will see pop flies, where the goal is simply to see if they can track a ball. They will also have to run to catch balls so the coaches can see how fast your player is as well as how well they can catch.  They may also hit some balls over your player's head to see how well he or she can run backwards while still tracking the ball.

So they can hit and catch, but can they run? Most likely the coaches will want to see how fast your player is. To evaluate this, they will time your player running from home to first, home to second, all the way around the bases, or perhaps in the outfield from one cone to another.

If your player is a pitcher (or maybe even if they're  not), they will want to see your player pitch. Most likely this will be 10-20 pitches to see your fast ball and anything else you can throw.

If your player is a catcher, they will want to see your player catch. They will probably primarily catch for the pitchers, but there will also be a chance for them to do a few "throw downs" (throwing the ball to 2nd to get a player out). 

Your player can play, but what kind of a teammate is he or she?  The coaches will also be listening to how your player is interacting with the other players. No profanity! No pointing out failures in other players. Every dugout needs to stay positive when the team isn't doing well. Coaches are looking for those players who can support and lead others. Make sure your player doesn't come off as arrogant. Have them congratulate other players on great catches, fast times, great throws, etc. 

As you can see, there is quite a lot that can happen during a tryout. Depending on the number of players trying out and the number of drills, this could take 2 hours. Parents may or may not be allowed to be present during tryouts. So be prepared that after all the preparation for the tryout, you may have to drop off your athlete and come back as opposed to being there for all the action.

Be sure to consider other items about the team.

1. How far are practices from your home?
2. How much travelling does the travel team do? Many travel teams simply play local summer tournaments after spring rec is over. Others will have multiple out of state trips.
3. What is the cost?  With the cost of an indoor facility rental fees, coaches' salaries, uniforms, tournament fees, out of town hotel fees, etc. this can easily get into the thousands.
4. Is your coach focused on developing all the players or simply winning and playing the best players? Be sure to understand how much playing time to expect for your athlete.