Travel Ball Parents’ Guide

What to expect in travel ball

• More of everything. More games, more practices, weekend tournaments and some driving. Ask for the season calendar and costs up front.
• Playing time and positions are earned. Your coach should explain how at the parent meeting: effort, attendance, attitude and skill. Kids will try different positions, especially at younger ages.
• Losing is part of it. Good teams lose plenty of games while they are getting better. Development comes first and winning follows.
• Arm care comes first. Tell the coach about any pitches your child throws for another team, and speak up if their arm hurts. Rest rules are on ArmRules.
• Regular feedback. A good coach checks in with every player at least once a month (more below).

On the sideline

• Cheer effort, not just results. A hustle double, a good backup, a great at-bat that ended in an out. Cheer for every kid on the team.
• One voice: let the coach coach. At the game, the head coach is the one voice on the field. Please don’t coach from the sideline or yell directions that differ from the coaches’. Two sets of instructions only confuse kids. Cheer effort, not instructions.
• No coaching from the stands. When a kid hears one thing from the dugout and another from the bleachers, they freeze up. Save tips for the backyard, and only if they ask.
• Don’t judge your kid by the app’s stat line. Hits versus errors are a scorekeeper’s judgment call. Look at quality at-bats instead: did they see pitches, swing at strikes, hit it hard and compete with two strikes? (More in Development over trophies.)
• Respect the umpires and the other team. Kids copy what we do. Many umpires are young people still learning, too.
• Stay calm when things go wrong. Your player will glance at you after a mistake. Give them a clap or a thumbs up.

Game-day fuel Our suggestion

A box of donuts in the dugout feels like a treat, but three or four donuts between innings is not how a kid plays their best. Sugar spikes and crashes, and a long tournament day needs steady energy. Skip the sugar before and between games and bring real fuel instead.

• Protein that travels: beef jerky, string cheese, a turkey sandwich or a PB&J.
• Simple carbs and snacks: fruit like bananas, oranges or grapes, pretzels, and nuts or trail mix if the team’s allergies allow it.
• Water, water, water. On hot days, add an electrolyte drink.
• Between games: on multi-game days, refuel between games with something not too heavy or greasy, plus water. Honestly, a simple burger can work fine; from our own experience, we’ve watched our son play great after a cheeseburger. Every kid is different, so learn what works for yours. Other things we’ve seen work: hard-boiled eggs (if your kid will eat them) or steak cooked ahead. Keep them in a cooler with ice packs, and warm them up if you have a way. A big, carb-heavy plate between games can leave some kids too full and sluggish, so keep portions moderate. A little bread or pasta is fine.
• Save the sweets for the end. Treats wait until after the last game of the day or the tournament. That is what the ice cream is for.
• Snack schedule? The team parent checks the team’s allergy list first and shares it with every family on the rotation (see parent volunteer roles).

Side note: fuel a few hours ahead, not right before. Michael Jordan’s longtime trainer, Tim Grover, has written that Jordan’s pregame meal at home games, eaten around 3:30 for a 7:30 game (about four hours ahead), included a small steak to keep his energy steady late in games, and Grover is clear that it was a plan for Jordan, not advice for everyone (excerpt of Grover’s book Winning: Men’s Health, also reprinted by Black Source Media).

General ideas, not medical or nutrition advice. Follow your child’s doctor and any allergy plan.

You don’t have to be best friends with the other parents

Travel ball can feel like a club where everyone already knows each other. Relax. It is completely OK to pull up a chair by yourself, watch your kid and cheer the team on. Nobody expects you to be best friends with the other families.

• Be friendly and respectful: a hello, a cheer for their kid, and a hand with the tent when it’s needed.
• Stay out of sideline drama and gossip, about players, parents or coaches.
• Remember why you’re there: for your kid and the team.

Ground Up parent cue

The ride home

The car ride home can be the best or the worst part of a kid’s baseball day. Most of the time, the less we say, the better.

A good first question: “Did you have fun?” And a good thing to say any day: “I love watching you play.”

Talking to the coach

• The 24-hour rule. Wait until the day after a game to bring up a concern. Emotions settle and the conversation goes better.
• No pregame conversations with the coach. Before the game, the coach’s focus belongs to the team. If something can’t wait, catch them after the game; otherwise bring it to the next practice or follow the 24-hour rule. (Health and safety news, like an arm that hurts, is always the exception: tell the coach right away.)
• Private, not at the field. A phone call or a set time to meet. Never in the dugout, the parking lot or in front of players.
• Playing time questions start with the player. When your child is old enough, encourage them to ask the coach first (the player’s guide shows how). It builds confidence. If you still have questions after that, then reach out.
• Talk about your own child only. Comparing to other players never helps.
• Assume good intent. Most travel ball coaches are parents and volunteers giving up their weekends, too.

Supporting the monthly check-in

We encourage coaches to sit down one-on-one with every player at least once a month (see expectations and feedback). It goes both ways: the coach asks your player first, then shares where they stand, what they have improved and what to work on next.

• Help them get ready. A day or two before, ask the same four questions the coach will: How is your coach doing? How are you feeling as a player? What have you gotten better at? What do you still want to improve?
• Encourage honest answers, including about the coach. Good coaches want to hear it.
• Let it be between coach and player. Afterwards, ask “How did it go?” and listen.
• Back up the focus items with a few minutes of catch or tee work at home, if your player wants to. Do not add a second list.

It’s their journey

Many of us played. Some of us were pretty good, and some of us still think about the one that got away. That is normal. But our time has passed, and this one belongs to them.

It’s their journey, not your second chance.

• Let them be their own person. They may love the game in a different way than you did, or play a different position, or care about different things. That’s OK.
• Their goals might not be your goals. Some kids dream of college ball. Some just love being with their friends on a Saturday. Both are good reasons to play.
• Let them find their own love for the game. It grows best when it’s theirs, not when it’s handed to them.
• Support, don’t steer. Drive them, cheer for them, play catch when they ask, and let them lead the way.

Someday they will look back on these years. Help make it a story they love telling.

Ground Up parent cue

Growth begins with gratitude

At the end of the day, Ground Up teams ask each player to thank a family member for driving them, supporting them and challenging them (see the postgame gratitude cue). When your player thanks you, take it in. Then show them how it is done: thank the coaches, the umpires, the scorekeeper and the team parent on your way out.

Play Hard, Stay Grounded.

More for families

Share the player’s guide with your player, and use the Training Planner to build a safe training week around games. Ways to help: the team runs on parent volunteers. See the parent volunteer roles (team parent, scorekeeper, pitch count monitor and, if your team uses them, walk-up songs or social media) and tell the coach which one you can take. Photos: post only your own kid unless the other families have said yes. See the photo and social media consent policy. Coaches can print our team standards for players, parents and coaches with the Code of Conduct builder.