Rec Allstar travel positioning players

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Jun 27, 2011
5,089
0
North Carolina
I have 6 really talented girls which I plan to play in the infield all the time. Then I have 6 better than average players I plan to play in the outfield.

I read an article once about the importance of the outfield, it being the last line of defense. If it were me I'd talk up the importance of having strong players in the outfield.

But if you really believe in the importance of having strong players in the outfield, wouldn't your advice to Zachary be to put some of the ''6 really talented girls'' in the outfield?

Imagine talking to Jessica, your 12th best player, and telling her ''it's important that we have strong players in the outfield,'' and then her saying, ''Then can I play first base instead of Julie? She's a lot stronger outfielder than I am.''
 
Jul 10, 2014
1,283
0
C-bus Ohio
You do have to convince them that outfield matters, but you still can't make outfield more fun than infield in 8U. Which you acknowledge in your last paragraph. How do you balance fun (infield/outfield) with winning in 8U all-stars?

You can't make outfield more fun than infield at any level lol! Full disclosure: loooong time SS here.

Maybe you can't find an exact balance. Maybe you can take the girls to a 14U or 16U tourney and show them how important every single position is - no idea if that would register with 8 year olds? Maybe you explain what it means to be a good teammate and show good sportsmanship by playing a position they don't like at 100%. It may not make a change, but at least you'll have taken the right path, and exposed the girls to a different way of viewing the situation. My DD is 12 now, and I never did figure out how to get the younger girls happy with outfield. Heck, I can't do it now at 12U.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
But if you really believe in the importance of having strong players in the outfield, wouldn't your advice to Zachary be to put some of the ''6 really talented girls'' in the outfield?

Imagine talking to Jessica, your 12th best player, and telling her ''it's important that we have strong players in the outfield,'' and then her saying, ''Then can I play first base instead of Julie? She's a lot stronger outfielder than I am.''

For me it would be less about putting the strongest players in the outfield (because obviously, you do need your strongest players at certain positions to get the outs), and more about the girls who are outfielders understanding that they *are* important, and feeling inspired to work hard to become stronger players. We've played many teams with equal infields to ours where we've lost because their outfield was strong and ours wasn't. I think sometimes they feel unimportant so they kind of give up. If you can make them see that their job counts, they'll be more likely to work harder to be good at it. JMO.
 
Dec 27, 2014
311
18
DD is on the 9/10 all star team. All kid pitch. Up front, Coach made it very clear that it was important to her to make it to state. Kids may not get the play, and positions, they got on their REC team, even though they were very good players for their rec team. This is all stars etc. etc.

That said, If I had as many good players at 8u all stars, like the OP,I would rotate at least one "better than average" to the IF for each inning. Assuming better than average is still very competent for IF skills.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
One thing to keep in mind is that some really good infielders are just brutal in the outfield. I totally disagree that at any level OF isn't as fun as infield but that's a different topic.

How you rotate players depends a lot on the rules and the type of play you will have. If it's LL all-stars and you have one tournament and if you don't win you are done for the summer you need to play the top 6 all the time. If you have multiple and you worst player is above average then give them a chance.

As far as the rules., if you have stealing and a runner on 1st will just steal to 3rd OF isn't that important, however if you have no stealing OF's that can keep singles from becoming HR's are very valuable. Or even make a catch or 2 that can often be a triple play.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
Depends on your league and how many teams in the all-star division (ex. 10U gold, 10U silver, 10U bronze). When DD played all-stars (gold) the goal was to prepare the team for Districts, State, and Nationals (I believe 8U was a state tournament of champions with no Nationals). The silver and bronze teams rotated the players more and in general didn't try to qualify for State or Nationals.

You need to manage the expectations of the players that all-stars consists of many talented kids and you as a player need to work hard for playing time. The season is relatively short, 5 weeks, so you don't have a lot of time to prepare for tournaments. I think rec all-stars is a great stepping stone to travel ball for many kids and should be treated as such.
 
Aug 29, 2011
2,581
83
NorCal
I guess when mine did 8U all stars we played some good teams. No, the outfield didn't get as much action as the infield but they did get plenty.

My DD pitched and played OF at 8U all-stars. She caught several balls in CF, almost threw out a runner at home from RF (catcher missed the ball) and was able to get a few outs at 1B from RF on hard ground balls. She talks more about that throw home that "almost" got the girl than anything else from 8U all-stars.

That said, most of the kids want to play IF, coach them up and see if you can work in some time for them at 2B or something. They are 8 year olds after all.
 
Apr 7, 2013
54
8
I have an above average 8u Travel team, we have similar issues with our Outfielders(and the Parents). Don't know your exact team "composition", but usually at 8u what makes you a good player or "separates" you is the ability to whack it pretty good. I only have about 5/6 girls ready today to even say there Infielders. So my OF is made up of average at best defenders who hit pretty well. Forget the competitive side, I worry from a safety point of view bringing them in the INF.
 
Aug 12, 2014
644
43
I'm not going to get into whether or not you should be "playing to win." But you're never going to convince players that the outfield is important when you do "the six best players are in the infield and never come out of the game" thing.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top