Fastpitch Masters Blog

New to the travel/competitive softball world? Don’t worry we’ve created the tips you’ll need to know when getting your player involved in a more competitive world of softball! Here is our frequently asked questions about travel/competitive softball. 

1. How to find a team? The easiest way to find a team or even lessons is to look for a facebook page about softball in your area. PlaySoftball.Net has a softball page for just about every state. You can search Kansas City Fastpitch (or whichever city you’re in) and you should find a community page to join or post on. Next create a post stating your daughter’s age and her positions so the team that needs that can pick her up.
2. What level should she play? If you’re a state that has USSSA tournaments you may be confused on the different levels or divisions. USSSA has ages ranging from 8u-18u with Gold, A, B, and C classifications. Players at the A/Gold are playing at the highest level. Players from recreation softball will usually start at C and work their way up as they continue to grow as a player. 
3. What kind of things need to be paid for? For travel softball players will need their own equipment meaning cleats, glove, helmet, or bat unless provided for the team. Expect to pay money for tournaments, renting practice space (this could be a field or an indoor facility) , uniforms, and even tournament gate fees. This sounds like a lot however it is all split by each parent. 
4. What are tournaments like? Expect to be seeing a lot of softball as teams will play tournaments frequently throughout the fall, summer, and spring. Tournaments can include up to 5 games a day depending how far a team makes it or the total number of teams. 
5. Do teams travel far? This is really dependent on the team. Many high level teams will travel all over the country, but a team just starting out usually plays in local tournaments.