A summer travel team is just a lot more FUN then the pressure of playing for your varsity coach all summer. playing with kids from your rival towns, or kids that you played PAL with that are now going to parochial schools or playing games against your friends and current HS teammates, getting a different set of eyes on you and hearing a different coach's voice. this all adds to the entire "travel" experience. It is a little crazy that the only reason we are all doing this is the scholarship and entrance into the Ivy League school at some point it has to be fun or it eventually becomes a job for these kids.