This article, by Chris Candido, underlines the flawed system that travel baseball functions on. There are good intentions that come with playing full-time travel baseball, but the expense is costly. A misconception of travel baseball and the recruiting process has build a million dollar platform for travel baseball in the United states. As a high school, and Dixie youth baseball coach, I see many times that players are confused as to what is the best way to get better as a baseball player. As a result of the confusion, they are led and tricked into believing that having the latest gear, or joining a showcase baseball team will make them hit better, throw harder, and get more recruiting looks. My personal opinion as a former player and coach is that travel baseball does help with recruiting but comes at a costly expense. According to the article, the average family spends about $2,000 dollars for their kids exposure and participation on a high profile team. As for having the recent gear that makes players feel like they are hitting, and throwing harder, the truth is that it just makes your look better. I am a strong believer that if your look good, then your feel good, resulting in playing better, but all this comes from building confidence. I have been coaching for 4-years which is fairly new, but within my four years I have learned that playing with confidence and going 100 percent all the time is all you need to become a better baseball player, and get this is free of charge: You pay with dedication and teach-ability. You do not need to be on a elite baseball team to be a better player or get recruited, it boils down to maximizing you opportunities as a player, and sometimes it take performing at a high level when you think people are not watching.
"Make the Routine Play"