Travel baseball is competitive. Travel teams play competitive schedules. Although teaching is always a focus, travel teams will play to win. At the younger levels, some intramural teams play in non-competitive Divisions or in competitive Divisions where the focus is clearly on teaching fundamentals. Travel is different. During the travel season, your child may not get a "turn" to play a particular position and may not play as many innings per game as some other players. Playing time and positioning is at the sole discretion of the travel team manager.

Travel teams begin at age 7.

All players should tryout for their respective travel aged team. Travel ages are determined on the players age as of April 30 of each year.  See this page to help calculate your player's travel age https://www.usssa.com/BASEBALL/AGECALCULATOR

When your child decides to try out for a travel team, you have to understand it is a choice not to be taken lightly both as an individual player and as a family. 

If your child makes a team you will be spending at least 3 -5 days a week on a field during the season in addition to an extended summer, optional fall, and winter workouts. In essence, you have chosen to make Travel baseball/softball an integral part of your summer until the end of July. Players are expected to attend all games and practices. We hope you make this choice and have the opportunity to share an amazing summer with your child playing baseball. 

Guidelines will be addressed by the manager of each team

Typically teams play 3-5 times a week consisting of possibly two practices and two games per week or a combination of both. Possibly 20-30 games in addition to the Little League regular season.  13U and older teams will play in games and tournaments after school baseball has completed.

Our teams play year-round, with individual exceptions for multi-sport athletes in the off-season.  After teams are formed in July, they will continue to practice and play in the fall.  During the winter, the team will work out once per week, usually from January-March.  The primary travel season is April - June.  8U - 12U teams will continue to practice once per week during the Little League season as well as play in competitive games and several travel tournaments.

Practices and games typically begin at 6pm during the week and various times on the weekend depending on a polling of the players and, the coaching staff availability. During the weekend practices and games can occur as early as 8am depending on tournament the team is registered in.

Most teams stay local and play within the Central Ohio area.

We want all travel players committed to the program. Having said that, if it's a one time thing it needs to be discussed upfront with that particular manager. If you have other plans every weekend, then travel is not going to work for you or the team.

All teams are usually formed by the end of July.  Tryouts will be offered usually in the first two weeks of July.

It will depend on the following criteria:

(1) sufficient number of players with competitive abilities

(2) sufficient number of players with pitching ability

(3) availability of a manager for secondary team.

Olentangy Little League wishes to accommodate the needs of children and will do so provided we can enter such a team into an environment that will provide them with both an enjoyable and positive experience.

At the coach pitch level we encourage managers to take more players - suggested number is 12-13. At the older ages it is usually 11-12 players per team.

While it would seem obvious that the best baseball players would make a travel team, this is not always the case. The selection process involves the evaluation of many tangibles and intangibles. Some of these include:

• Baseball Talent and Ability - Evaluated at the tryout and past performance on travel teams and intramurals.
• Past Performance - Players that have proven to succeed in their respective levels in earlier seasons will be provided greater preference over players that have not succeeded or played at that level. We will not penalize a player for a "bad" tryout if the player has shown to regularly succeed at his level.
  
• Winter Training - Winter training is a factor in team formation. If a player continues to miss winter training or is underperforming at winter training, he may lose his placement on a team to another player.
• Athleticism and ability to improve - More athletic players and players that have strong baseball foundational skills and the potential to improve are given greater preference. With practice and additional skills training, these players usually out-perform the less athletic player.
• Team Composition - At the older age groups, we consider total team composition in order to form a well balanced team. We need to make sure we have enough players on a roster that can sufficiently cover all positions. At the younger age groups, we place less emphasis on this as we encourage managers to experiment players at several different positions in order to verify where a player has an aptitude for a particular position.
• Eligibility - Any player trying out for a travel team must enroll in the Spring Intramural Season and is required to play at least 75% of all intramural games.
• "Coachability" - If a child has shown an inability to follow direction, lacks focus, or has been a behavioral problem, he/she might not be selected, even if he/she is one of the best players in the division. Conversely, a child who shows a strong willingness to learn and improve, but is not one of the top players, might be selected.
• Sportsmanship: A child who has exhibited a lack of sportsmanship towards his/her teammates, opponents, coaches or parents may be excluded from consideration. Additionally, if a parent has exhibited a lack of sportsmanship toward players, coaches, other parents or umpires, the parent's child may be excluded from consideration.
  
• Commitment: If a child has shown prior disregard for practice and/or game dates he/she might not be selected, even if he/she is one of the best players in the division.
• Parental issues: We consider parents/guardians' on and off-field behavior. Parents are expected to be supportive of the team and the team's coaching staff and their coaching decisions. If a parent has known behavior issues, it can affect the child's selection to a travel team.

There is no guarantee of any playing time and no guarantee as to which field position a player will play; There is also no guarantee of position in batting order. In each and every case above the Travel manager determines each player's participation.

This amount varies based on the number of players that are selected for each team. Every player pays their share of the team expenses. For example, if there are 12 players, each player pays 1/12 of the total budget of the team. Budgets of teams shall include but not limited to:

• Baseballs (game and practice)
• Tournament Fees
• League Fees
• Umpire Fees
• Various Equipment (hit stick or net)
• Field Rental
  
  7u thru 12u  $550 - $800
  

         13u & older $800+

In most cases, teams fund raise to help alleviate the cost per each child.

If you are unhappy with the selection process, you will need to discuss the issues with the team manager.  If there are additional questions, please email us at [email protected].

The first payment is expected to be made within 24 hours of after being selected to the team. Uniforms will not be distributed until the player issues full payment. Payments are made through the Cubs website.