- Aug 6, 2013
- 392
- 63
At what age do girls start to specialize in certain positions? What time do most coaches start playing one or two girls exclusively in a position all the time?
On DD's current 12U team the coach has her set players on the infield with only 2nd base being a position that rotates with outfield. Then she has set girls that only play outfield. I am wondering if this is pretty standard at this age? Tryouts are starting and DD has historically been a pitcher, however, she is taking a break from pitching and wants to focus more on infield. The current team she is on already has a set infield and DD was never included in that so we have told her current coach we will be exploring other options that might have an infield opportunity for her. FYI - coach understands and has been playing DD more at 1B and DD is doing really awesome.
However when I emailed a coach that had posted that he would have a couple of open positions on his team with a core group of girls, I indicated that DD was a strong infielder and I asked if the positions he would have open were infield and if so she would like to tryout if possible. He sent me an email back saying all girls play all positions and it is not about the individual on his team.....
So is dd's team an anomaly? Honestly DD has played outfield and she is not good. She still wears a facemask in the outfield and has caught crap from other outfielders on her team about it. DH was an outfielder in college and he has tried to work with her and he is now pretty positive that she is not outfield material. She is hesitant and not aggressive out there which is crazy because she is super aggressive on the infield. She is pretty fearless on that dirt but put her back in the grass and she is a different player.
My main issue is that if a team only has a couple open spots and it is a team that is a 45+ minute drive away from us (without traffic), then I would like to make sure we are using our time wisely based on what positions he might have available. Is that unreasonable at this age?
On DD's current 12U team the coach has her set players on the infield with only 2nd base being a position that rotates with outfield. Then she has set girls that only play outfield. I am wondering if this is pretty standard at this age? Tryouts are starting and DD has historically been a pitcher, however, she is taking a break from pitching and wants to focus more on infield. The current team she is on already has a set infield and DD was never included in that so we have told her current coach we will be exploring other options that might have an infield opportunity for her. FYI - coach understands and has been playing DD more at 1B and DD is doing really awesome.
However when I emailed a coach that had posted that he would have a couple of open positions on his team with a core group of girls, I indicated that DD was a strong infielder and I asked if the positions he would have open were infield and if so she would like to tryout if possible. He sent me an email back saying all girls play all positions and it is not about the individual on his team.....
So is dd's team an anomaly? Honestly DD has played outfield and she is not good. She still wears a facemask in the outfield and has caught crap from other outfielders on her team about it. DH was an outfielder in college and he has tried to work with her and he is now pretty positive that she is not outfield material. She is hesitant and not aggressive out there which is crazy because she is super aggressive on the infield. She is pretty fearless on that dirt but put her back in the grass and she is a different player.
My main issue is that if a team only has a couple open spots and it is a team that is a 45+ minute drive away from us (without traffic), then I would like to make sure we are using our time wisely based on what positions he might have available. Is that unreasonable at this age?