We have a son that played his first year of club ball this past summer (U12). Now, it's lower level tournaments...we played in Council Bluffs, Omaha and Lincoln. He in no way will ever be getting a scholarship. But, the club was taking half his school team and he was probably an upper half player. More than anything, we thought he could use the extra coaching and didn't want him falling too far behind his teammates. For us, it was 3 weekends in June and some practices. Plus, if anyone hasn't been to these tournaments, the venues are usually pretty nice. The one out in west Omaha had a restaurant, bar, arcade, bowling alley, laser tag. They make it really easy for the adults to actually enjoy it where you're not just sitting in a gym all day between games. We kind of enjoyed the whole thing and the money was worth it. But, I do see how these club teams can get out of hand where you feel like your kid gets left behind if he/she doesn't specialize and commit to traveling teams. That part kind of sucks.
