Travel and Rec

Greenmonsters · Nov 18, 2016

Sometimes there are valid reasons or underlying circumstances that truly justify other's actions, which may not make apparent sense to us. Regardless, why waste the time and energy worrying about others' actions and motivations when that time could be spent much more productively focussing on ourselves and the things that we can control?

Eric F · Nov 18, 2016

Greenmonsters said:
Sometimes there are valid reasons or underlying circumstances that truly justify other's actions, which may not make apparent sense to us. Regardless, why waste the time and energy worrying about others' actions and motivations when that time could be spent much more productively focussing on ourselves and the things that we can control?

I though this was the place to worry/vent/complain about how crappy our kid is getting treated by her team/coach/teammates.

let it be fun · Nov 18, 2016

Eric F said:
Teams generally count on some level of commitment from their players. When a team's success is hinged around one outstanding player (per the OP's description), and her priority is elsewhere, it can easily lead to some not-so-nice feelings.

Another possibility...A pitcher on the rec team is working her tail off to improve her game and earn time in the circle. She's committed to the team, attends every practice and game, and does all the extra workout time her coach asks of her, but when the TB girl happens to show up, she gets kicked down the ladder without a thought.

That "rec" girl is learning a valuable lesson. She is working her butt off and so is another girl who happens to be better and also plays on a travel team. That other girl isn't always there at practice, but she is practicing probably several more times a week with her TB team and all winter long including fall ball. That girl is loyal to her hometown and her friends from school and chooses to play on their rec team. She wants to help them win. The coach took her knowing that she would have to miss some practices and games because of her TB team where she is facing better competition that will help her be a better player. The "rec" girl plays a valuable role and it is a good thing she is pitching and getting time in the circle when "travel" girl isn't there.. When the girls all get to high school, "travel" girl will most likely be the varsity #1 but having "rec" girl around as a solid #2 will certainly help the team out.

BobInMadison · Nov 18, 2016

Every situation is different

In Madison it used to be expected for TB players to continue to play in the local LL through 14u or even 16u.
For DD 3 it was a big deal that she played through 12u

90210 · Nov 19, 2016

Eric F said:
Teams generally count on some level of commitment from their players. When a team's success is hinged around one outstanding player (per the OP's description), and her priority is elsewhere, it can easily lead to some not-so-nice feelings.

Another possibility...A pitcher on the rec team is working her tail off to improve her game and earn time in the circle. She's committed to the team, attends every practice and game, and does all the extra workout time her coach asks of her, but when the TB girl happens to show up, she gets kicked down the ladder without a thought.

The hard working rec girl is still getting a fair bit of circle time here though, no? And she wouldn't be better off if the TB girl decided to "commit" to the rec team. And the TB girl is presumably working hard outside of rec practice. And her team dues are possibly lower b/c of the TB girl. I see zero problem.

Rocketech1 said:
To your point. Two weeks ago we played in a local 14U tournament with most of the teams with similar talent. However, one of the teams brought their 18U Gold pitcher (14U age eligible) ace to pitch most of the games. Needless to say they cleaned our clock and every other team in the tournament when she pitched. She is an awesome pitcher for her age (2020) but had no business pitching against average 14U travel ball teams. I don't think it was fair to her teammates (especially the other pitchers on that team). At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself what was the point of having her pitch?

I mean, life isn't fair unfortunately. Again, this 14 y/o has probably worked pretty freaking hard at pitching, wanted some circle time, and played. The other pitchers can pitch the other tournaments when this stud is pitching 18U gold. The fact that she's pitching 18U gold in the first place is already a favor to the other pitchers.

Rocketech1 · Nov 19, 2016

90210 said:
I mean, life isn't fair unfortunately. Again, this 14 y/o has probably worked pretty freaking hard at pitching, wanted some circle time, and played. The other pitchers can pitch the other tournaments when this stud is pitching 18U gold. The fact that she's pitching 18U gold in the first place is already a favor to the other pitchers.

No doubt this pitcher worked very hard to be at the competitive level of 18u Gold as a 14yo but I disagree with the premise that she wanted to get some circle time and that should be against very average 14u travel ball teams. What benefit to her pitching does she get by striking out 18 of 23 batters? Said another way, if it's my DD there is no way she plays that far down in competition. By the way, this particular org has a reputation of bringing in "ringers" from their gold teams to tournaments who are not regular members of their average teams so they can advertise on their website that they finished high at nationals, whether it's TCS, USSSA, ASA, etc. There is right way to run a TB organization, unfortunately most have ulterior motives that are not in the best interest of the kids.

Eric F · Nov 20, 2016

let it be fun said:
That "rec" girl is learning a valuable lesson. She is working her butt off and so is another girl who happens to be better and also plays on a travel team. That other girl isn't always there at practice, but she is practicing probably several more times a week with her TB team and all winter long including fall ball. That girl is loyal to her hometown and her friends from school and chooses to play on their rec team. She wants to help them win. The coach took her knowing that she would have to miss some practices and games because of her TB team where she is facing better competition that will help her be a better player. The "rec" girl plays a valuable role and it is a good thing she is pitching and getting time in the circle when "travel" girl isn't there.. When the girls all get to high school, "travel" girl will most likely be the varsity #1 but having "rec" girl around as a solid #2 will certainly help the team out.

You make a valid point, and your viewpoint probably nails the intent of the players and the coach. My previous post was probably more in line with "rec" pitcher girl's parents viewpoint.

mikfish711 · Nov 21, 2016

Last Spring I signed up to coach DDs rec team. Shortly after that she was offered a spot on a TB team. Because I had already signed up to coach the rec team we honored that commitment as well as played on the TB team. She was originally the #3 pitcher on the TB team but became #1 mid season. All the additional circle time was the greatest benefit she could have had, rep, after rep, after rep. Playing both made her a better pitcher and improved her softball IQ.

SoGASoftball · Nov 21, 2016

nixxy311 said:
But my question is this - why would you play both TB and rec that long. I can see it for one season maybe but to do it multiple seasons? Especially when you're having to miss rec games. It doesn't seem fair to your rec team IMO. Especially if you don't have another decent pitcher.

Could be because the kids likes to play with her friends and feel community spirit that follows rec teams and even high school teams. Nothing wrong with it, especially if it's the kids' decision.

BB875 · Nov 21, 2016

SoGASoftball said:
Could be because the kids likes to play with her friends and feel community spirit that follows rec teams and even high school teams. Nothing wrong with it, especially if it's the kids' decision.

After reading all of the posts, I agree that three are lots of reasons including playing ball with your friends. Kids need to have fun and feel their accomplishments. If a talented kid has worked hard and competes at a high level, she gets a lot of satisfaction (parents too) seeing how she fits in skill wise with her peers. By playing high level TB, she is also improving herself as a pitcher too. I had a pitcher from my TB team play rec ball at 12U level. She dominated the league. Opposing parents were not happy & some used the word "unfair". What is unfair in this situation? The kid worked hard to get to that level. She put in the time and made pitching a commitment. All high level pitchers have put in the time and committed to pitching when their friends are doing other things.

Travel and Rec

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