Softball potential at 8 years old

chewbaluba said:

Sometimes it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, unfortunately. If you've read Outliers by Gladwell, you realize that by setting that arbitrary age cut-off, we put the 8Us born in the 2nd half of the year at disadvantage. That girl born on Dec 31st might be the worst girl at 8U in 2016, but born a day later, she might be one of the best 8Us in 2017. The older girls at 8U get all of the reps and we get a cumulative affect as they are that much better the next year. Sometimes the nature of the secondary options for playing games aren't great (ball4...ball8...ball12). I think finding ways to get the younger girls into practices at young ages, even if they're not in the 'top12' can mitigate this affect.

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I did a back of the napkin study of my league, last season, and there was an almost direct correlation between the average age of an 8U team and their end of season standings. I'm finding that on my team, now, as well. The younger, more experienced, 6U's playing up in 8U are getting passed by the older girls who are playing for the first time.

At this level, IMHO, I beleive age is the biggest factor of W&L's (more so than "talent"). I have younger, more "talented" girls who are getting passed by older girls with less "talent".

Do4g78 said:

The younger, more experienced, 6U's playing up in 8U are getting passed by the older girls who are playing for the first time.

At this level, IMHO, I believe age is the biggest factor of W&L's (more so than "talent"). I have younger, more "talented" girls who are getting passed by older girls with less "talent".

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I've seen a decent amount of references to 6U teams. 6U = Kindergarten and 1st Grade, no? I know they grow things bigger down there in Texas - but unless we're talking about a super-talented, both parents are Olympic athletes kind of gene pool, how many 5 or 6 year olds would be expected to compete equally with an average 3rd grader? Maybe 5 out of a 100? I've heard of 6U travel teams, which I still can't quite get my head around - maybe it's just that softball is the big sport for girls in the south? (even here in soccer-obsessed NoVa, they don't start travel until U9) Is it that common for K or 1st Graders to play up with 2nd or 3rd Graders?

To paraphrase Mr. Holland's Opus, if you can't teach a willing 8 year old how to throw, catch and hit a ball, you're not a very good coach.

Gags said:

I've seen a decent amount of references to 6U teams. 6U = Kindergarten and 1st Grade, no? I know they grow things bigger down there in Texas - but unless we're talking about a super-talented, both parents are Olympic athletes kind of gene pool, how many 5 or 6 year olds would be expected to compete equally with an average 3rd grader? Maybe 5 out of a 100? I've heard of 6U travel teams, which I still can't quite get my head around - maybe it's just that softball is the big sport for girls in the south? (even here in soccer-obsessed NoVa, they don't start travel until U9) Is it that common for K or 1st Graders to play up with 2nd or 3rd Graders?

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You obviously haven't seen the DFP Diamond Elite U6 team dominate the 18U PGF gold girls. I think next up on the schedule is a fundraiser/exhibition game vs. the Longhaul Bombers that ESPN may pick up.

Gags said:

I've seen a decent amount of references to 6U teams. 6U = Kindergarten and 1st Grade, no? I know they grow things bigger down there in Texas - but unless we're talking about a super-talented, both parents are Olympic athletes kind of gene pool, how many 5 or 6 year olds would be expected to compete equally with an average 3rd grader? Maybe 5 out of a 100? I've heard of 6U travel teams, which I still can't quite get my head around - maybe it's just that softball is the big sport for girls in the south? (even here in soccer-obsessed NoVa, they don't start travel until U9) Is it that common for K or 1st Graders to play up with 2nd or 3rd Graders?

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So, you're saying that you WOULDN'T want to travel to watch some legit T-Ball???

I would, but my work schedule conflicts with their early bed times.

"your daughter isn't softball player material."

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back to OP:
When my DD was a 9yo, her rec coach was looking for girls who wanted to pitch.
She excitedly went to bullpen with 2 other girls but came back 10 minutes later
in tears. Coach told her 'you don't have the right body type to pitch'

Fast forward-this incident compelled me to become a coach as this guy didn't know his
knee from his elbow. DD started taking pitching lessons, excelled at the sport and is now
pitching in college. Who in their right mind can tell a little girl she does not have what it takes
to pplay softball, dance, play tennis etc. Some dads should never coach.........

Coach JV said:

back to OP:
When my DD was a 9yo, her rec coach was looking for girls who wanted to pitch.
She excitedly went to bullpen with 2 other girls but came back 10 minutes later
in tears. Coach told her 'you don't have the right body type to pitch'

Fast forward-this incident compelled me to become a coach as this guy didn't know his
knee from his elbow. DD started taking pitching lessons, excelled at the sport and is now
pitching in college. Who in their right mind can tell a little girl she does not have what it takes
to pplay softball, dance, play tennis etc. Some dads should never coach.........

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Congrats to you and your daughter on the softball career.

Your post proves that there are two ways to handle poor feedback from a coach. You did it the right way, and chose to work your but off and get pitching lessons, which led to your daughter pitching in college. In a roundabout/rear backwards way that coach might have done you a favor.

Those stories make me so angry. I'm glad your DD was able to rise above what that idiot coach told her, JV.

Saugus junior pitcher Mariah Lopez might have made a verbal commitment to Oklahoma, (now a Fr. at OK) but she admitted her early pitching days at age 10 were a little rough.

“I was terrible,” Lopez admitted. “I hit like eight batters in the head.”

The hard-throwing Lopez said she started reining it in with daily backyard pitching sessions with her mother and father. In fact, Lopez said she can still hear a familiar refrain from her mother when she found herself struggling.

“She would say, ‘OK, come on, Mariah.’ She said it all the time,” Lopez said.

Lopez said her mother did not attend Thursday’s nonleague game against visiting Westlake. So when Westlake put runners at second and third with no outs in the first inning, the refrain popped into Lopez’s head.

“She wasn’t even here, but I heard it,” Lopez said, laughing. “I’m pretty good at blocking things out, but she’s the person I hear the most.”

Sure enough, Lopez dug in and bore down. She struck out No. 3 hitter Morgan Melito, got cleanup hitter Sarah Ho on a called third strike and froze No. 5 hitter Sophia Casalenuovo on another called third strike to extricate herself from the jam and set the tone in an 8-1 win (watch the sequence here).

“I was struggling today. I just had to regroup and step back,” Lopez said (watch her interview here). “I just went back to basics, working my spins and working ahead of the batters. Just like when I was 10.”

Lopez threw a two-hitter with eight strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters (see the photo gallery from Westklake-Saugus game here).

Not bad for a so-called “off game.”