Still in Des Moines, there are quite a few clubs in DSM area. They may produce some good players, but not a club we would want to work with. I am convinced there is no perfect club, though. We like our club we are with for what we want at the moment. The travel wears on our daughter, though, as far as travel to/from practice. Tonight was in Waukee which is an hour each way. We have access to our indoor facility as part of our club dues, but hard to get her down there. 45 min each way just to go hit balls. If she was an only child it would be doable, but too many other kids to put all our time and efforts into just one kid and one sport. Ames is lacking for indoor space that is easily accessible.
It is really tough, no doubt, being a softball parent (or player!). It's a 30 minute drive to the indoor facility (Wasco Diamonds) for us, and 40 minutes to the outdoor fields. Between team practices, hitting, and pitching, we're there 4-5 days per week. There are some families that drive from Rockford (45 minutes), Dixon (60 minutes), and even Milwaukee (2 hours, ugh).
And we aren't even at the level of Iowa Premier, Illinois Chill, or (and especially!) the Beverly Bandits. We get to play them often though, so that's always fun.