Differences Between Travel Ball and Rec Ball

Wow. So many pros and cons. I think it might help the rec leagues if the rec league BOD (board of directors) helps the rec league coaches with building skills. The rec league has to have a mission statement, I suppose that is what you might call it. What is the exit outcome for these girls that play rec league? Everyone should be all on the same page... a utopia I suppose:)
That said, I played rec league/ summer league, minimal travel ball (toooo costly for us at the time) middle school, high school, colleve and now I'm in 16 and over leagues. I enjoyed all of my experiences and those experiences help to make me a better coach.

my daughter played on travel ball for about a year and a half.I've noticed that travel ball coaches promise you brand new top of the line under armour jerseys and bat bags but come up short of delivering on all these promises.travel ball coaches remind me of shady politicians that are always promising things but fall short.there are alot of good rec ball players AND coaches that don't get the credit they rightfully deserve and it's about time to set the record straight.One travel team we were on had an argument about which direction to take the team in,regarding scouting for new more "talented" players and one of the coaches wanted to keep the original girls that did all the hard work,fundraising and hours of practices,etc. while all the rest of the parents wanted the more talented girls.Well long story short we ended up going on a new team with the coach that wanted the original girls to stay together only to be stabbed in the back by said coach.Now this coach has gone on to start another new team only he is having trouble getting girls on his team.HMMM? My daughter tryed out for another travel team only to be told she was too "raw",this is a girl which during her last year of little league baseball led all of the girls and a majority of the league with a .768 batting average.travel ball is literally falling apart at the seams with the economy and all of the politics associated with travel ball teams.I have rarely seen a good travel team stay together for more than a season or two.when the coaches decide to move the team from 10 under to 12 under,there isn't anywhere for the girls that are staying in 10 under to go so rec ball is getting a majority of good softball players back into their system.people aren't going to keep spending money into travel ball only to play games when they go to tournaments once or twice a month when my daughter can play a few games a week in rec ball without having to spend a ton of money waiting for travel ball tournaments to pop up!!! travel ball is highly overated and more and more colleges will start recruiting rec ball players because of that.

I think travel is over rated. I see former rec ball players who were average on travel teams that their dad started just so he can go to work and say his daughter plays travel. What a joke for fathers who do stuff like that. But there are a good percentage of teams who only pick up the best in the area. Thats what travel should be. We call them T-SHIRT teams over here. Cause thats all they got . UNIFORMS!!!

I played Rec softball for 9 years. And even though it was a good learning experience while I was young, I developed several bad habits from it. In my first year of playing A class Travel Ball, I had just a couple months to try to break those habits and start new, better habits.

I would definitely reccomend REC to younger girls that are wanting to play softball, but once in middle school, stick to travel and school ball. (:

I believe travel ball is to political. Rec ball is more relaxed. With that said I would lean toward a good rec ball program. Girls can still become good and great players in rec ball. I have seen many rec ball teams beat travel teams in the past. Rec teams are more relaxed, have more fun, a lot less politics, and better softball parents.

Are you in So Cal?
Because rec ball here is EXTREMELY political and full of "daddy ball".
And All Stars in many leagues is a complete joke! It's full of Manager and coaches kids, it's NOT a true indication of the best players in the league
I'm a travel ball dad and it is VERY different from rec ball.
It requires more dedication and outside coaching like pitching, hitting ,fielding and Strength & Conditioning.
If a player (and family) can dedicate to all the extra work and expense, It does pay dividends as you will see your daughter play with a higher level of competition.

thats too funny

I have been playing for 12 years now, and I have been recommended by alot of coaches from my high school coaches, to be on a travel team or a year long team, to keep up with conditioning and skill, but the only reason I stay in rec ball, is because i cant afford the 2000$ each year, if travel/year-long ball was less exensive then alot of girls that cant afford it would play. I play for a small town league off a travel league (Bellevue Shockers) and the program is great. Durring the off season in winter, the big head coach lets me come in with his 18U team to work on pitching. Another thing about travel vs. rec, the playing level is different, my team is undefeated 2 years running, and have even switched leagues. Its hard to find a good game in rec ball, its one team dominating the other, sometimes heart breaking.

As a parent/coach who has daughters playing both Rec and Travel, there is almost no comparison between the two. The level of effort and commitment required for the players and parents between the two is driving them in different directions. In my experience, our Rec ball teams were filled with players that wanted to socialize or make their parents happy. To play travel ball the player has to be committed to playing softball otherwise they are going home. The weekend practices before the season then almost every weekend during the summer you are up early in the morning going to a tournament somewhere. Many Rec programs have catered to those players that otherwise would never have the opportunity to play and it usually easy and convenient. I continue to support both, I let my daughters choose which path to take, then I make them commit to it.

I have the unique perspective of this topic as I coach a rec team, that league's All Star team, a travel team, as well as a high school team (and yes, I am stretched thin and pulled in 500 different directions). The softball pecking order goes as follows; rec ball, rec ball all stars, high school ball, and travel ball. Rec ball is comprised of players of all levels, from beginner to advanced. At this level is where most every girl will get their feet wet and introduced to the joys of softball. This is where they start, and Lord willing, fall in love with the game. Here we find an array of playing ability as well as coaching ability, it is my observation, that here, there also tends to be less parental support of the players as well as the program. Some people use rec ball as a part time babysitter, others view it as a way for their kids to get off the computer, off their cell phones and ipods and get some much needed exercise. It is at this level that the younger kids learn to socially interact, learn about winning and losing, learn about how to cooperate with others, and learn to be competitive. It is also at this level that you will find less softball educated coaches. Coaches that are volunteer parents, mostly dad's that at one point in their lives played baseball, and think that softball is baseball only with a bigger ball that happens to be yellow. Many of these dad's will either play their daughters 100% of the time regardless of their child's skill level, or go the extreme opposite and not play their kid because they don't want to show favoritism. (for the record, I have no child that plays softball, they opted to play other sports). Many of these coaches will do a total injustice to their players because they are softball ignorant and have no idea how the sport is played and won't educate themselves about the game and/or they are complete jerks that don't understand how to coach girls. It is also at this level that girls get left behind because their families cannot afford the cost of travel ball. The next level is rec ball All Stars, which is obviously (in theory) the best players from the rec league. Hopefully at this level is the best coach as well. But the rec ball All Stars is not quite travel ball level. From the rec ball All Stars, we go into the high school team. Now here, Lord willing again, the high school team is coached by somebody that is well versed in the game of softball. Where I live, the head coach is typically a teacher because teachers have first shot at a coaching position (whether they're qualified or not...believe me, this is a whole different can of controversy). The high school teams are (again, in theory) comprised of players that are the best in that school's district, provided the student athlete meets the required eligibilities to play for said school. Meaning, they must carry a certain GPA and pretty much simply stay out of trouble both in school and off the campus. It is at this level that girls of higher skill levels can play regardless of family financial status. At the high school level is where girls can be nationally and locally recognized for softball achievements and greatness, and they can be recruited by colleges IF the head coach and Athletic Director do their jobs correctly. Unfortunately a lot of annoying politics come into play for the high school level. Finally, we have the travel ball level. Again, in theory, the travel ball team is comprised of the best of the best in the area. You can have many star players from various high schools playing on one team. Travel ball coaches tend to be very softball smart, and also very hard core. Travel ball is also very cut throat if there are many travel ball teams in the area. I've seen many travel ball coaches promise players and their parents the world if they come play for them. I've seen lots of coaches purposely try to sabotage a rival team, and even rival players. It is in the travel ball world that I have seen a lot of ugliness come out of something that is supposed to be fun and exciting. Not brutal and ruthless. I have seen many kids and parents walk away from the game due to ridiculous behavior from coaches, parents, and players, more so at this level than any other. Travel ball also is about who can afford to play. Many girls get left behind at the rec ball level simply because the family couldn't afford to put their kid in the next level. Yes, fund raising helps, but we all know that softball can be very expensive, with equipment the cost of traveling, lodging, food, etc., when all is said and done, a family can be out thousands of dollars. In this day and age, with the economy the way it is, many people just simply cannot go this route. Travel ball can be advantageous too. Many teams will play in tournaments that are college show case tournaments. Here, an unknown player or even known player may finally get much deserved recognition and be recruited by colleges. This is especially good if the high school player's coach and AD did not do their job and help further that child by sending video and what not to colleges to help her get a scholarship. Though I express to my players that an academic scholarship is far better to achieve than an athletic scholarship. Anyhow, I could go on and on about all the differences, buy those are the glaring ones to me.

Well said, especially regarding some talented rec ball players being left down because they are not able to afford the extra instruction and the extra travel that you need to play Travel or rep ball.

I coached my son, 5yrs old in T-ball up to his 2nd yr in jr level little league and we ended up making it to state that yr. I started coaching my daughter when he was in his 1st yr of majors, so I coached them both at the same time, I was a busy Dad and loved every minute of it. My son lost the passion for baseball after little league, didn't want to play in high school he went a different direction and a very good direction. My daughter when she got to jr level softball she and her friends went to state both yrs of her jr playing. She also played high school ball and ASA at the same time. She loves softball, she has given up being able to play Varsity basketball and yes I'm having an issue with this. She says the only reason she plays BB is to stay in shape for softball. The guest post living in Calif. is lucky to be able to practice as much as he is, for us living in the Vancouver wa. Portland or. area, we don't have that many dry days. From my experiance unless a girl is a natural, by 13 to 14 yrs old you as a coach can tell if they should stay in rec or get into higher play. I'm not including the parents because some can't see it, but some can. ASA ball (travel teams ) are the best way to go for upper level play. Little League is for any one to be able to come in at any age and learn how to play I knew this and coached the right way, never stuck a guy or girl in right field. LL is for any one. High school ball was I and will assume will still be not a good upper level play for our girls in soft ball or BB. We dominate (the girls) in both sports. I have a friend of mine who coaches a very good 16U A ASA team thinking that he might keep her off the high school team so she doesn't play down. My thought on that is when you play the game you always play your upper level game! The only position my daughter can't play is pitcher, her main position is catcher, she is very agressive. I have allways coacher her to through down on a steal wether theres someone to tage her out or not, they will be there next time and 1st and 3rd with runners on be ready. almost done. Daddy ball will destroy a team. When you are on the field your either a coach,player,or blue, not daddy. Now a comment for John about playing on sundays you are either mormon or very missed informed. If you truly wanted to coach a traveling team you could and still make it to church. I have a friend who is morman and his daughter has played for years with us LL, ASA and and High school. With ASA it's full weekend play and Sundays are championship play, it's hard for her and the team she will help us their and not be able to finnish what she helped us get to. Last thing, I enjoy softball, coaching and watching much more than baseball. Softball is a much faster game more fun to watch. It's all about the coaching you can have all talent, but the coach has to know how to put it together and make is mesh. Case in point we have a pitcher that can throw low 60's but if she is not on target that game it can be ugly, as a coach you have to see it and ajust quickly or it's over, for that game anyway.




asa

Travel ball is the only way to go. First of all rec ball or as we call it high school ball has tooooooo much POLITICS in it. The rec ball is no where near as competitive. When your playing travel ball the team your playing against has nine very good players compared to a rec ball team which may have three or four. Travel ball gives you the opportunity to play against players as good or better, it gives you an opportunity to play against players from other states and it gives you an opportunity to see what girls of your own age group can do and where you stack up.

Ray, I agree with the toooooo much politics in rec ball or high school ball, but my experience in travel ball is pretty much the same. Highly skilled girls very seldom beat out the coaches daughter or the girls who have been on the team, even if they are just as good or better.

I found rec ball to be a great way to introduce girls to this wonderful sport. For some, rec ball was sufficient while for others it was a stepping stone to go play on a travel ball team. I have coached rec ball, allstars and travel ball. In rec ball there are generally a few good players on the team whereas travel ball they are pretty good all the way up and down the line up. Nowadays the majority of starting high school varsity softball players are playing on a travel ball team as well. Both avenues have their place. For the girl who wants to see what its like or just wants to meet some new friends there is rec ball. The girl that wants to advance her skills so she can compete for a position on her high school team, or better yet get a college scholarship there's travel ball. I am so going to miss it when my daughter stops playing!

Sadly I find one of the big differences between rec and even A and B ball is whether the family can afford it. My daughter has stepped up from rec to B ball which we are all glad about and we would like to take that next step up but I have listened to the parents involved in the A ball talk about their expenditures and I cringe. She probably would help pay for all the stuff but how would she find the time to work when there is so much travel, school, and family. Not to mention the extra training the "A" ball players pay for outside of their ball team (to stay competitive) ie:batting, and pitching. As well each (A rep) player has at least one $300+ bat or more. And truly a good bat does make a difference. Sadly there are probably a lot of promising young players in rec ball that don't get the opportunity to play better ball because of the financial difference. It truly has become a sport for the elite. Perhaps Leagues should implement a grant or subsidy for talented rec ball players that would like to play "up" but don't have the resources or support from family.

On another note, someone mentioned that travel or rep ball was ruining the league (taking too many players away from rec ball) We ran into that in our small town where the people that ran the league said they weren't against rep ball but they did everything they could to get in the way of it. The head of the executives mentality was that if the Rep players were made to play in the regular league it would bring up everyone's level of play...I think that what ultimately happened was that the more competitive girls became frustrated with the slowness of the game and the laxidazical attitude of the rec players and quit and went to other sports that had more competitive clubs like Volleyball and Soccer. My daughter could see where some of the fastpitch players in the rec division that could be so much better than they were but they (the recreational players) didn't want to put in the effort to be that much better. Very negitive attitudes and language when they were being shown how to do something the correct way like "that's stupid" or "I can't do that" or "it just doesn't feel right"...You would never hear someone in Rep or travel ball talking like that or you would be "outta there" So our experience of "playing down" was frustrating I guess you would say. I don't think making the rep players play league and then on a travel team on the weekends is a great idea but it maybe the only alternative for small towns.

I think making recreational fastpitch more accessible to those kids that not only can't afford it but don't have the support at home they need to get driven to and from games as well as practices. I think that what has helped to kill softball in our town was the fact that the games could be 2 of 5 nights and nowadays people want to know that it will be every tues and thursday for the season (or Monday Wednesday). Another thing is the other sports like Volleyball and Soccer at one time used to work together to coordinate ending one season and starting another but now Volleyball and (summer) Soccer go right through Spring Fastpitch season.

I am a little sensitive about blaming rep players for the demise of recreational league play. It is a combination of things that has lowered numbers in rec fastpitch, but denying my daughter or anyone the opportunity to play as competitively as they want to... that is wrong

Bean - The biggest difference I see between travel ball and rec ball is the level of dedication the girls and parents must have to the team. While there are some dedicated parents and players that are playing rec ball for one reason or another, most are just there to have fun. Most rec league teams have a good player or two surrounded by players that could either care less about the game or who enjoy the game but haven't put the time in that's required to become a good player.

As you move into B ball and A ball, the skill level of the players increases and you see a lot more players and parents who are dedicated to the game. Most travel ball parents eat, sleep, drink and live the game, and this rubs off on their children. Life revolves around softball during the 9 month or so season, and the off-season is spent brishing up on skills.

As far as everyone having a 300-dollar bat goes, that simply isn't the case. Good bats can be had for a couple hundred bucks, and if you can't afford that, most teams and parents I've coached have no problems with letting the kids who can't afford the more expensive bats use theirs. I've also seen teams sponsor players and help players who can't afford to play pay the high cost of entry. Don't let finances be the reason your child doesn't play. There may be options, and it doesn't hurt to talk to a travel ball coach or two, especially if your daughter play at a high level.

Black Sheep - The level of play in rec ball doesn't compare to the level of play in travel ball, especially when it comes to A ball teams. An .800 average in rec ball is meaningless when you come up against pitchers who have tournament experience. Take the coaches advice for what it is. Most kids who make the move from travel ball to rec ball are rough around the edges, and parents refuse to believe that their rec ball all-star is not the best player on their travel team too. It takes time for kids to adjust to the higher level of play, but if you give up because a coach says she's rough around the edges, she'll never get the opportunity to grow into the player she can become.

Case in point, my daughter is a pitcher and had over a hundred strike-outs in the rec ball season prior to me deciding to put her on a travel ball team. She struggled badly her first season of tournament ball, but has developed into a solid pitcher. Had I of given up when told she was rough around the edges, she never would have developed into the player she is now...

You probably voted for Oidot for prez.

Oidot...? I don't vote for a prez

I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences. This year I started a Fall Ball Team with a "Travel Team" feel for 10u here in Pismo Beach. Central Coast Riptide. We have been practicing two times a week for two hours. Its been great introducing drills that we don't have time for in regular rec league. The girls on our team are also very motivated and their skills have doubled in the 6 weeks that we have been practicing. Now that soccer season is here, we'll suffer a bit from some of the girls splitting time between sports. Thats where the travel ball has an advantage over us.

Thanks for taking the initiative...dream big and make it happen. There are those athletes waiting for their chance to shine. They come from smaller communities and have been overlooked. With the travel ball-experience they develope. Who knows whether another Jennie Finch maybe out there and not given the opportunity. WELL DONE!!!

Greetings Don:

You have just hit the tip of the iceberg. I believe there are many ways that rec coaches can do more and help those girls that want to get into travel ball be better prepared to do so while providing even more improvement and success for the girls that don't. Best of luck with your team. I have another opportunity for you to discuss this if you want, email me at coachmike@kidznsports.com.

As a former rec coach and current 14u travel coach, I was all for girls playing in both leagues. Until I starred to see the effects of it. What I saw was the girls who played rec during the week often struggled on the weekends with travel ball. The level of play is just not there when it comes to rec ball. Therefore our girls played "down" to the competion in rec and had to readjust when it came travel ball time. Even some of our pitchers went to rec ball just to get more time in the mound. This actually hurt them because they could get away with pitches in rec that they couldn't in travel ball, giving them a false sense of accomplishment. I believe it's never good to go down in competition, but always up

Agree with everything in the article. Travel ball is much more competitive and much more enjoyable.
Much more of a time commitment for everyone involved - coaches, players and parents. I would not
trade my daughters travel ball experiences for anything. She loves it and it has made her a much better,
more rounded player.

Is there any reason for players at this travel level to also be playing rec ball at the same time? That is a question that comes up at our rec league board meeting. The rec league also sponsors the travel teams and has expectations about travel players also player in the "in-house" rec league. I don't see the value for either the travel player or the rec players for making it mandatory. Any other thoughts?

The park my daughter plays at makes it manditory for all travel ball players to play rec.
I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand she really enjoys playing rec because she's a superstar and we allow several of the older girls (including her) in pitching lessons try out pitching (she's 8U so its coach pitch for travel) etc., her dad and I volunteer to coach so we try to make it a really fun positive experence where everyone learns something and it is much more relaxed then travel. BUT... on the other hand we get about 2 weeks a year off and thats about it. At the end of summer travel after world series we get about 2-3 weeks off in the begining of August other then that its Fall Rec, Fall Travel, Spring Rec, Summer Travel and they all over lap anywhere from a month to a couple of weeks. She dosent have an opportunity to try any other sports not to mention the huge time commitment we as a family have to make. And I know what your saying... then don't volunteer to coach, well we learned the hard way- that it was far worse to have no control over who she has coaching her- At least with travel it is voted on by the board so there is some sort of vetting by peers but for rec., you just write your name on a board and pass a background check. It's not really the parks fault, what are they going to do.

No reason at all to make them play both. Sounds like you have broken up your league in "A" level and "B" level players but they force the "A" to play with the "B" so the "B" league will survive. At some pt. it can become a safety issue. If I was a parent of an "A" level parent, I would not want my daughter to be forced to play against the "B" level team.

My thoughts on Travel Ball are: I would enjoy to coach a travel team if the surrounding citys, countys and associations would schedule the games for Friday nights and Saturday nights. I would rather go to Church on Sundays and worship God! Most people don't think this, but I think it is an essential part of our daily lives to worship Christ.

Amen brother. All glory be to God!!!

Your thoughts are very true coach. I have coached at every level of baseball and fastpitch softball for over 20 years and the fun and excitement is still there for me. I try to coach my girls at what level we are playing at that time. With rec ball I am a more happy go lucky type of coach. In tourney ball I am more of a focus on fundamental aspects of the game. We do tons of drills (alot I learned From Coach Marc and Stacie Mahoe), as well as the conditioning and mental part of the game. In tourney ball, most girls have the talent, it's just getting them to focus on the game of softball. Alot is going on in their lives,esp. at 14U where my travel team is.

You practice plans are spot on. I think more quality is better than quantity. Never can stress the fundamental's too much. I coached a 16/18U showcase team for our Diamond Star's organization a couple of weekend's ago, and even they needed work on some fundamental stuff. Focus being the main one.
With my new team, I thank them for coming on board. Other more talented girls passed us up because they felt
we were not going to be competitive right away. Maybe not, but with hard work and dedication from the girls and their parents, we will be very good before the fall season is over.

Good Luck Coach and to your San Diego Blaze have fun.
Coach Bobby
Diamond Stars 14U
North carolina

IMO there is a big difference between the two and it all depends on what level your daughter wishes to play at... The last time my daughter played in a regular Rec league was at age 10... Since then I put her in a more competitive weeknight travel league through our Rec league but not playing girls from the town. The team I put together by the time they were 13 could beat our Rec league 18 yr old girls. Rec league is more of a social enviroment for girls who just want to go out play and have fun which some girls my daughter included felt was too boring. I am not taking anything away from any girl because as long as they are out there playing it is better than sitting home.

I've coached a rec league team (13-16 year old girls) for the past seven years, plus my daughter played rec league as well. What i've noticed is that constantly increasing number of travel teams plus the time commitment for them is slowly killing the rec league. Five years ago, there were plenty of girls for five teams. The year after that it was four; this past season, we barely had enough players for two teams.

Even then, some of the girls that played rec league also played travel ball. That meant on weekends, when they would have tournaments, the rec league teams would be scrounging for players. Many times this past season, I had to "call up" players from the lower league (10-12 year olds) in order to field a team.

Don't get me wrong, i don't begrudge the existence of travel teams. I just think it's a shame that it's killing the rec league.

so true travel is hurting rec leagues especilly at the older level also older girls want to plat highscholl ball to hang out with friends but get a surprise when they get cutand there friend makes the team they still wont cross over too rec travel ball has ruined the rec leagues soon rec will be no longer

Yes, this is a big problem. Travel players playing in the Rec. league, especially if u r relying on that player to pitch and she can't show to your game because of her other team. Our league decided to make a decision to be a true Rec league and therefore does not allow travel players. Thus we don't have key players not showing for games or quiting in the middle of the season, because they can't stand the fact that a couple of the players on their teams have never played before. Yes the quality of play is not as good, but we have eliminated forfeits due to travel players not showing or quiting mid-season. This also helps develop the non-travel pitcher get more pitching time. BTW - the travel ball pitcher really does not care about the Rec team, she is just there to get pitching practice. I have also coached at Rec and Travel levels.

I think it depends on the goals of both. We developed a travel program specifically designed to improve the Little League program here. Both are scheduled with the other in mind, and it has improved our play significantly. We never had any success in the LL all star tournament. Now we have several district and state championships. And that has actually helped us get more younger girls interested in the program, rather than taking girls away.

Walt,

Can you expand on how you approached your local LL about forming a travel program to complement your LL. We discussed with our local LL the idea of form ing"A" and "B" teams based on the skill level of the players. The"A" caliper players would play each other and other "A" caliper teams in our district and our LL wants no part of it.

We have decided to form a travel program so that our core "A" players could play together more than a few weeks out of the summer. We would love it to complement the league and have their support but we're thinking we'll run into a brick wall just like we did with idea of forming "A" and "B" teams.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Tom

Don...well said. I am a parent of two travel ball girls who also played on Little League All-Star teams this past summer. Both of my girls (10U and 11U) teams ended up winning our states title. Actually, our league is very "Little League" friendly as such both of their travel ball teams wrapped up their seasons early enough to support the rigorous practices and conditioning involved with All-Stars (our girls practiced for 2 hours per day for the most part 7 days per week; I would like to have seen a day of rest in that practice schedule though for God, family and physical recovery but that is another story:)) Other than that, we had a wonderful All-Star season. I saw what you are seeing in your girls...basically that practice and hardwork like that make a player better rather quickly. During our run with the All-Stars, I saw our "less talented" girls step up to the plate...because they also worked hard right along with our "big guns" they were productive. EVERY one of those girls contributed during our season. As coaches and parents, especially at the age of my girls (now we are on to tournament ball conditioning and practice (10U and now 14U)), you can't give up on any coachable girl with a desire to be a better ball player. Keep up the good work and keep up the positive attitude. There are only so many years in a kids life that they can play softball and yet there are so many life lessons that they can learn and take from the coaches, parents and other kids they encounter and how we conduct ourselves. I want my girls to remember the fun they had, the lessons they learned about hard work, dedication, friendship, team work and fair play.