Which to Play? Travel Team Sports vs. High School Sports

The rise of travel teams is a relatively new phenomenon. Back in my day (the late 1990s), high school athletes like me did both. (For context, I played varsity basketball and softball and also played on an AAU basketball team that went to nationals.) Today, young athletes feel a huge pressure to choose one or the other and "specialize." Let us take a look at the pros and cons of each:
The Travel Team: Pros
Travel teams participate in tournaments and events that get the players exposure to college recruiters.
Travel programs often practice year-round, giving you more time to hone your skills.
Elite travel programs carry more prestige (even if they are simply named "elite").
Travel teams are often more competitive, both in league play and within the team itself.
The Travel Team: Cons
Travel sports require a great time commitment that can eat into your social life, your schoolwork, and the time spent just being a kid.
Your parents will be forced to travel far and wide if they want to see you, which may not mesh with their schedules or your siblings' needs.
Between tournament fees, gas, hotels, and food, travel sports can be expensive.
Year-round practice and extensive travel can lead to burnout.
The School Team: Pros
You can play several different sports during the school year, which is attractive to college admissions boards.
College coaches have been recruiting at high schools for decades, and they are not going to stop.
School teams often put more focus on the social and emotional development that comes from sports, like character-building, resilience, camaraderie, and self-discipline.
You may get more playing time on your high school team. Put another way, colleges cannot recruit you if you are riding your travel team's bench.
The School Team: Cons
School teams do not recruit; players are pulled from the student body, which generally means a lower overall level of talent than most travel teams.
School teams often have much less funding than travel programs, which can translate into less-skilled coaches and worse facilities and equipment.
In recent years, school teams have been seen as less prestigious, even if, as mentioned earlier, some elite travel teams are elite in name only.
When it comes down to it, there are outstanding travel programs and lackluster travel programs, just like there are outstanding school programs and lackluster school programs. The best course of action seems to revolve around your evaluation of what you want to get out of your athletic experience. Evaluate the opportunities available to you locally, and decide what type of team environment is most likely to get you where you want to be.