Manchester I understand your point, but the two summers we went to Tenn and Michigan. Yes it was fun, I am able to look back at is as a great time in my life, but with that said when my best friend turned 16 and a got a car I was home when he showed up for us to enjoy our first taste of freedom. Or hanging out on the summer nights after I was done with my crappy job trying to pick up girls with my friends. I think when these kids get involved in national travel they may enjoy it but they are still missing out on events that you and I did not and while they may seem trivial in nature they are a part of growing up. The kids I coach are all friends of my son and the parents have all grown close over the past two years. We will go to some out of town tourneys this year for the first time and while I hope we play well I also hope that everyone has alot of fun with it. Lets face it, of all the kids playing youth sports, less than 15% will play in college and less than 1% will play pro. So everyone should keep that in mind. So I can live with being a coach of team that plays locally and once a year or so we'll travel and we'll let the kids be kids and just enjoy the moment and let them worry about the bigger picture when they join the real world.
And I also agree with the original post. Getting certified should not be an arm and a leg. Let's identify the people who want to coach let's get them trained up, let's share ideas with one another and then we'll be be doing the kids and the parents a real service
