Alright, so I wanted to share a bit about our journey with youth baseball here in Colorado, specifically finding a more competitive spot for my son. It’s a whole process, you know? You start looking around, asking other parents, trying to figure out what’s out there beyond the local rec league. We were at that point where he was ready for something more, something to really push his skills.
I started digging, talking to folks at games, and the name “USA Prime Baseball” kept popping up for teams in Colorado. Sounded like a bigger organization, maybe more structured, which is what we were kind of looking for. So, my first step was just to see what they were all about. You hear names, but you gotta do a little homework yourself, right?
Getting some initial info wasn’t too tough. I think I made a few calls, asked about how their teams worked, what the commitment level was, and of course, about tryouts. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking, for the kid and for us parents, too! We eventually found ourselves at a tryout. Lots of kids, coaches watching closely, taking notes. Pretty standard scene, but you could tell it was a serious environment. They were looking for players ready to work.
Getting into the Nitty-Gritty
So, after the tryout, we got the good news – he was offered a spot. That’s when you get down to the details. I remember them being pretty upfront about the financial side of things. From what I recall, the monthly dues were around $140. That covered a lot of the regular team stuff, practices, coaching, all that. Then, for tournaments, their approach was to basically take the total cost of the tournament and divide it evenly among the players on that specific team. Made sense to me, rather than some huge, all-inclusive fee where you’re not sure what’s what. You knew the base, and tourneys were extra as they came up.
- Practice schedules were pretty intense. Definitely a step up.
- Coaching seemed solid; they knew their baseball.
- The overall atmosphere was competitive, which is what we wanted.
Once we signed up and got going, the practices were definitely more focused. Lots of drills, work on fundamentals, and strategy talk. It wasn’t just about showing up and playing a game; it was about development. You could see the improvement in the kids who were putting in the effort. It’s a commitment, for sure. Not just the money, but the time for practices, games, travel to tournaments. It takes over your weekends sometimes, but that’s travel ball for you.
My experience so far has been about seeing him get challenged. It’s a different ballgame, literally, when you move into these kinds of programs. We wanted him to face better competition and get good coaching, and USA Prime in Colorado seemed to offer that path. It’s one of those things where you weigh the pros and cons, the cost versus the opportunity, and for us, it felt like the right move to see how far he could go with it.
