Gone to AAU?

Most travel teams here are not made up of kids who's families are financially well off. All the teams I know of work very hard to raise the money that's needed for the team. Travel teams get NO money or support from their communities... all umpire and field fees are paid by the team... all uniforms and equipment are bought by the team. This past season our team raised over $11,000 by giving a dance, 2 golf outings, selling raffle tickets, and hosting a tournament. That was a lot of hard work put in by the parents, coaches, and kids. No one showered us with money... anyone can raise that kind of money if they just go out and do it instead of sitting around and whining and asking for handouts.

As far as having jobs that allow us to get our sons to the games... there are lots of players that carpool with coaches and other parents to get to the games and their parents arrive at the games right after they get off work. My employer has flex time so I'm able to work 6am to 2:30pm... and I'm not a doctor or business owner... most parents are just regular working class... nurses, truck drivers, construction workers etc...

We don't think of our kids as elite and we don't look down on rec. players... We just really love baseball a lot... and we are willing to put in a lot of time and effort and energy into our team. Baseball is a big part of our lives and the team and games are a lot of our family's recreational and social outlets. It's just a totally different lifestyle... Our springs and summers revolve around baseball...you have to be willing to change your life to accommidate travel baseball... if you're not willing, then please don't bash those that are.

Kathy