How To Start a Traveling Softball Team

A travel softball team can be a great way to introduce local kids to a fun sport, advertise your business or participate in a game that you love. However, starting a team takes some work. 

Figure Out Your Age Group

Travel softball teams are divided into groups based on the age of the players. A child is placed into an age group based on what her age was on January 1 of the current year. Kids can play with a team intended for an older age group than they belong to, but not younger. When you start building your team, you need to be aware of how old your players are.

Different aged players are not only placed into different categories of teams, but they play with different equipment and on different sized fields. For your team to perform well in tournaments, you need to have them practice with the correct sized balls on the correct sized field. Leagues may also have rules about the types of Marucci bats players can use, so it's a good idea to make sure you know what the regulations are before you start buying equipment.

Know the Sponsor's Rules

The sponsors for the various travel team tournaments all have their own sets of rules and regulations. If you plan to play in one of these tournaments, make sure you understand what the rules are so that you can be preparing your team on the correct size fields and instruct them on the correct rules of the game.

Decide How Far You Want To Travel

Which tournaments you can play in depends partly on how far you are willing to travel. Most teams with younger players travel within a 50-mile radius of the players' homes. However, more competitive teams and teams that are hoping to attract the attention of scouts travel across state lines and even around the country. Travel expenses add up quickly for teams that do a lot of long-distance travel. It is important to make sure that the players you invite to play for your team, or their parents, are financially prepared to foot the bill.

Recruit Players

Holding tryouts is the most traditional way to recruit new players. However, you will have to make a plan for advertising your tryouts to attract the most talented players. If you are already familiar with the ability of some of the top talent in your area, you can try sending them a personal invitation to join your team. 

Decide the Number of Players on Your Team

Most travel softball teams have 11 players. If you go too far over that, some players may become unhappy with the amount of playing time they get. Try to keep multiple players who can pitch or catch on the team and then spread the rest of the players around the remaining positions. Snatch up any left-handed players you get a chance at because they can be hard to find.

Find Coaches and Volunteers

If you are not planning to be the team's coach, then you need to hire a coach. If you are coaching the team, then you need to hire a first base and a bench coach. This means you need a minimum of three adults to coach your team. You also need a volunteer or group of volunteers to keep track of stats in a scorebook. If you are starting a competitive team, hiring professional coaches is probably a better idea than having parents volunteer for the job. However, paying coaches means you need to raise more funds to support the team. 

Set Your Fee Structure

Player fees are one of the primary ways softball teams raise money to cover the cost of running the team. Be upfront and transparent with parents about the fees you plan to charge.

This isn't a comprehensive list of everything you need to do to start a travel softball team, but it should give you a good start. If you are already feeling overwhelmed, you might want to consider getting your feet wet by starting a local recreational team before you move up to travel ball.