A combination of factors makes for a successful Travel Team.  It begins with the Head Coach.  The Head Coach is usually one with experience, who is dedicated and spends many hours involved in making important arrangements and decisions for the team.  His involvement most often goes way beyond the couple of hours after the game or when a practice has ended.  He sacrifices much of his own family and personal time to share his baseball wisdom on the field and displays a genuine desire to teach young athletes, which becomes his primary motivation.  He is a volunteer!

 

The players are usually “self-motivated”, dedicated to improving their own game regardless of the team’s skill level.  They also possess a strong desire to compete.  Their parents are dedicated to providing them with whatever tools are necessary to help the athlete reach a level of success.  The parents also become part of the “complete package”.  Too often, a coach has a player on his roster that is not worth the trouble that the parents add to the team.  A coach would much prefer having the nice parents of an average player than an above average player with uncooperative parents.  Supportive parents are always welcome, especially when they understand that the Head Coach of a Travel Team is just a volunteer!

 

Lastly, a coach hopes that parents always remember that, when they expose their child to a competitive environment like Travel Baseball, it is the family’s responsibility to make sure the player maintains a high level of motivation and skill along with maintaining the dedication required to follow through with the commitment!  We should NEVER forget that, as parents, no one ever puts a gun to our head and says that you must have your son playing travel baseball!  When your son is selected and finally given an opportunity to play, we all agree to the conditions and terms set forth by this competitive environment.  You can’t simply decide to change the rules and conditions as you go to suit your personal needs.  Ultimately, our own child suffers for it.  Travel Baseball is designed to compete and bring out the highest level of competition from our players.  Because of this, we choose to expose our child to failure or disappointment at any time, not the coach.  The best part of it all is that the good times are much more rewarding when we ultimately expose our children to one of the biggest lessons in life…when you work hard and succeed, it feels very rewarding!  It’s much like real life itself!