The Accountability Standard Youth Sports
Has Always Needed
American Travel Baseball And Travel Softball
A library of tools for families who want to protect their investment, coaches who want to prove their credentials, programs that want to earn trust, and everyone who believes youth sports should be accountable to the kids it serves.
Travel Sports Has a Problem.
Families pour their savings into programs that operate with less oversight than a lemonade stand.
If this has already happened to your family, you can file a complaint — and before you write another check, start with our parent education center.
No Accountability
Travel programs operate across a wide spectrum — from unregistered operations collecting fees with no legal structure, to formally registered for-profit and nonprofit entities. Whether a program is a registered nonprofit, a for-profit LLC, or simply a coach collecting payment app transfers — no consistent standard exists to protect the families who trust them.
No Standards
Anyone can start a travel program and collect thousands in fees with no business training, no insurance requirements, and no participation guarantees.
No Protection
Kids get benched without explanation. Fees go unrefunded. Coaches' kids get preferential treatment. And parents have nowhere to turn.
No Financial Transparency
Families pay thousands of dollars with zero visibility into where their money goes. No budget disclosure. No overhead accountability. No refund policy. Just a payment request and a handshake.
Travel Softball Has Its Own Blind Spots.
Windmill Pitching Overuse
The windmill motion is often called "natural" — it isn't. Shoulder, back, and hip overuse injuries are common when a 12U pitcher throws 100+ pitches in a Saturday doubleheader and comes back Sunday. Baseball pitch-count rules do not translate, and most travel softball programs publish no workload limits at all.
Recruiting Misinformation
Softball recruiting timelines get sold back to families as urgency: pay for the showcase, buy the video package, join the "exposure" team at 10U. College softball coaches do not evaluate players seriously until 14U–15U — everything sold before that is marketing, not recruiting.
Headcount vs. Equivalency
Baseball splits 11.7 equivalency scholarships across 25–35 players, so most "scholarships" are partial. Division I softball has 12 headcount scholarships — full ride or nothing. Families are quoted baseball math for a softball reality, and it changes every decision they make.
Families invest thousands of dollars per year, per child in travel sports programs operating under wildly inconsistent legal structures — with almost none of that investment protected by any governing standard.
"Equipping the travel sports community to reform the game — so every player reaches their full potential."
ATBATS provides the knowledge, tools, standards, and transparency that players, coaches, parents, and organizations need to make travel baseball and softball what it was always supposed to be — a development experience that puts every player first, protects every family, and elevates the entire sport.
We Built The Solution.
ATBATS certifies programs, teams, coaches, and umpires — and protects the families who trust them.
CLEATS certification is the standard behind every listing — browse certified programs near you.
Verified Programs
CLEATS certified programs — regardless of their legal structure — have met consistent standards for transparency, insurance, coach credentials, and participation policies. The certification applies equally to nonprofits, for-profit entities, and every organizational structure in between. What matters isn't how a program is registered. It's whether it meets the standard.
Supported Coaches
Most coaches are passionate dads who know the game but were never taught how to run an organization, develop players systematically, or communicate transparently with families. ATBATS provides the infrastructure, education, and community they need to close that gap — and become the coaches every player deserves.
Protected Families
Before you write that check, know who you're sending your kid with. Our directory shows certification status, parent reviews, and playing time transparency data. Beyond the platform, ATBATS advocates directly with elected officials at the state and federal level — working to establish the first legislative framework protecting families in youth travel sports before harm occurs, not just after.
Portable Player Files
Every athlete builds a verified career file — stats, playing time history, development notes — that travels with them from program to program.
Launching in Michigan — get early access
The Complete Platform.
Built for everyone in youth travel sports.
CLEATS Certification
The standard every program, team, coach, and umpire can be held to.
ExplorePlayer Development
Every player. One file. One standard. For life.
ExploreFinancial Transparency
Open books. Total trust. See exactly where fees go.
ExploreConsumer Protection
Real recourse — not just a place to complain.
ExploreAbout ATBATS
Mission, founding story, and what we provide.
Explore"I paid thousands of dollars for my son to get one plate appearance in eight games — while the coach's own kid played every game. There was no accountability, no transparency, and nowhere to turn. So I built ATBATS."
ATBATS is the nonprofit tool library built for youth travel baseball and softball — consumer protections for families, certification for coaches and programs, accountability standards for tournaments, and the first independent governing body the sport has never had.
ATBATS serves youth travel baseball and softball — two sports, one accountability standard, the same commitment to every kid getting their fair shot.
ATBATS was founded on a simple belief: every kid who laces up their cleats deserves to play. We're building the accountability infrastructure that travel baseball and softball has always needed — and never had. Through the CLEATS certification program, we're making sure every program, every team, every coach, and every umpire meets the standard every family deserves.
Travel sports consumer protection questions
What travel baseball and softball families ask most about vetting a program, fees, refunds, and recourse.
7 questions
What is ATBATS?
ATBATS — American Travel Baseball And Travel Softball — is the standard youth travel sports has always needed. ATBATS publishes the standards travel baseball and softball programs are held to, certifies the programs, coaches, and umpires that meet them, and gives families a place to turn when a program does not.
Families use ATBATS to verify a program before they pay, and to get real recourse if something goes wrong after they do.
Is travel baseball and softball regulated?
No. In most states a travel baseball and softball program is a private business that can collect thousands of dollars in fees with no required insurance disclosure, no mandatory coach background checks, no published refund policy, and no outside complaint process.
That gap is why ATBATS exists: certification makes those protections a written, verifiable condition instead of a promise made at a tryout.
How do I know if a travel baseball and softball program is legitimate?
Ask for four documents before you pay anything: proof of general liability and participant accident insurance, the background-check policy covering every adult with roster access, the written refund and withdrawal policy, and the fee schedule that lists every cost for the full season.
A legitimate program hands those over without hesitation. A program that will not put them in writing is telling you something important.
What protections does a CLEATS certified program give my family?
Every certified program has verified insurance, background checks on every coach, a published refund policy, transparent fees, and an outside complaint process that does not end with the same person who took your money.
Certification status and tier are published in the ATBATS directory, so the claim is checkable rather than something a coach says in a parking lot.
What can I do if a travel baseball and softball program will not refund my money?
Start with the written policy you were given, put your request in writing, and keep every receipt and message. If the program is ATBATS certified, file a complaint through ATBATS and the program has to answer through a process it does not control.
For uncertified programs, ATBATS still records the complaint, tracks patterns across families, and can prepare a state attorney general referral packet when the pattern warrants it.
How much does travel baseball and softball cost?
Most families spend between $1,000 and $8,000 a year for one player once team fees, tournament entries, travel, gear, and lessons are counted. Travel is usually the largest single line item, and it is the one most fee schedules leave out.
The ATBATS costs guide breaks the year down line by line and includes a calculator so you can price your own season before you commit.
Does ATBATS charge families to check a program?
No. The certified program directory, the parent education center, the costs guide, and the complaint process are free and require no account. ATBATS is a nonprofit; certification fees are paid by the programs and organizations being certified, not by the families being protected.
Be Part of Building This.
ATBATS is launching in Michigan first. Whether you are a parent, coach, program operator, umpire, tournament director, content creator, or elected official — join the founding community and help shape the future of youth baseball and softball. Get early access to ATBATS Product Ratings — including our bat ratings launching first — and help us build the most trusted product database in youth sports.