Travel Baseball Tournament Organizers and Tournaments in Texas
Texas Tournament Baseball
Find tournaments hosted by this organization.
North Texas Baseball Tournaments
Several tournaments in the region are listed here.
Articles For Those New to Travel Baseball
What is Travel Baseball?
Clarkstown Baseball Association provides a cut and dry overview of what travel or elite baseball is and the differences between it and "Recreational" baseball.
Choosing a Youth Travel Baseball Team
This is a great introductory article for those new to the travel baseball scene that can help you narrow down what you are looking for.
Picking the Right Travel Baseball Team
By John Pinkman
Taking a look at Coaches, Mission, costs, size of team and much more.
Overuse Injuries in Youth Baseball
Pitchers aren't the only ones with overuse injuries in baseball. Check out the latest data and prevention tactics.
Pros and Cons of Parent Coaches and Being One Yourself
Parent coaches in travel baseball, good thing or bad thing? Is it a good fit for you?
Youth Sports: Maintaining Reasonable Expectations
What are the chances your kid will play college baseball or softball? Professional baseball or softball? You should read this article.
Where the Elite Kids Shouldn't Meet
By Tim Keown, ESPN Writer
A raw and honest look into Travel / Elite Baseball
Sites, Organizations and Articles We Like
American Legion Baseball
Teams from 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Regional tournaments, State tournaments and a World Series make this one of the most popular baseball organizations around.
Dixie Youth Baseball
They play great baseball and players have an opportunity to play in tournaments and a league World Series. Find a team or start a franchise.
Babe Ruth League Youth Baseball
Great organization and great baseball. This is another option for youth baseball players to continue developing their skills. Start or find a charter here.
Travel Ball Select
Travel Ball News, Forums, Scores, Travel Ball TV and other cool stuff.
Game Changer
Sign your team up, keep stats during the game, track other teams. It's great!
Little League News
College Baseball News
MLB News and Rumors from Yard Barker
Texas has more than 150 major leaguers – not in the pages of history books, but out there on the fields. Clayton Kershaw, Hunter Pence, Chris Davis, Adam Dunn, Joe Nathan, Homer Bailey, Scott Kazmir... the list of Texas-born pro ball players goes on and on.
Clayton Kershaw was born in 1988 in Dallas. He played several youth sports – and with good company. He first played alongside future football great Matthew Stafford in second grade. Sports Illustrated has a photo of them posing together as youth baseball players (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1207/pro-athletes-in-little-league/content.15.html). The Dodgers have provided a picture of them at an even younger age (http://instagram.com/p/RWXe_5rEHj).
Formal sports weren't always enough for the two. On rainy days, they'd play 'Hallway Hockey', a game of their own devising.
As a junior high schooler, Kershaw played on travel teams (http://www.baseballamerica.com/high-school/kershaw-could-cash-in-on-rapid-rise-1426/). He later pitched for Highland Park High School and was named High School Player of the Year by USA Today.
As a teen, Kershaw also played for the D-Bat Mustangs. It was a high-caliber team. One of Kershaw’s teammates, Jordan Walden, would also go on to be an All-Star in the major leagues (http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/red-fever/North-Texans-on-Opposite-All-Star-Teams-125391833.html).
Kershaw was a 1st round draft pick in 2006 at age 18. He played for the Gulf Coast Dodgers, Great Lakes Loons, and Jacksonville Suns during his short trek through the minors. His MLB debut came in May 2008; he was only 20.
As a major leaguer, Kershaw has continued to win awards for his work on the field – and for his contributions off the field as well. When he strikes out batters, charities tend to win. Kershaw won the 2012 Roberto Clemente Award and the 2013 Branch Rickey Award.
Kershaw conducts short baseball camps as a way of giving back to the community (https://mercystreetdallas.org/kershaw).
Hunter Pence was born in 1983 in Fort Worth. He was playing ball informally from the time he was a toddler; he was in a coach-pitch league at preschool age. He reportedly expressed his intent to be a major leaguer as a boy (http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-21/sports/29912032_1_new-glove-indoor-baseball-facility-leagues).
Unlike Kershaw, Pence was not from a family of means. Once his dad requested a new mitt in exchange for cleaning services or odd jobs. The proprietor gave it to him -- and ultimately did more for the young Pence, allowing him to use his batting cages and even practicing with him.
Pence played for Texarkana Junior College and later the University of Texas-Arlington. He was a 2nd round draft pick in 2004. He played for the Low A Tri City ValleyCats in 2004. From there, it was on to the Lexington Legends, Salem Avalanche, Corpus Christi Hooks, and Round Rock Express.
He had his major league debut in 2007 when he was 24.
Along with his brother and a friend from youth, he founded the Hunter Pence Baseball Academy (http://impactnews.com/houston-metro/cy-fair/hunter-pence-baseball). For those who, like Hunter himself, catch the baseball bug at an early age, their ‘Tot Ball’ program takes children as young as three.
Kershaw and Stafford took different paths to the majors, but they both played plenty of ball as kids. And they’ve both done their part to help today’s aspiring ball players. Not every starry-eyed youth will make it as far as these guys, but they can still benefit from the opportunity to grow their skills and confidence. They can still benefit from having role models.
Stars like Kershaw make it look easy, but they, too, have struggled along the way. “When I was a freshman I was short and fat and just sort of thumbing up breaking pitches every time I threw,” Kershaw says. “And I just grew and started working out (http://www.baseballamerica.com/high-school/kershaw-could-cash-in-on-rapid-rise-1426).
Pence said, "I made this decision that I was going to give everything I had to have this opportunity (http://articles.philly.com/2011-08-21/sports/29912032_1_new-glove-indoor-baseball-facility-leagues)."
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