10U Tryouts Around Madison/Beaver Dam WI Area

[BobInMadison]

In my opinion the Cyclones club will put together the best teams in the state of WI more consistently than any other. Ya every generation will have a super-dominant pitcher that will take a specific year of a no-name club and put them on the map for that moment,..but I am talking about organizations who are consistently strong 8u through 18U.

I believe it's the numbers game. Yes the Milwaukee region has a bunch of other teams but I believe that in these more dense populous areas teams like the Cyclones get a reputation and then the best just come flocking to their doors. Of course it helps being closer to the more SB-psycho (meant in a good way) state of IL and the Chicago area....

I would submit that all the rest of the clubs in WI are really sort of a rag-tag pull together of a wide geographic region and it's more difficult to put together the top WI team that way. This is why the Bandits are so special (in my mind and heart). To put together a competitive team based out of a town of 3,700 with farmlands surrounding!!!! Think about it.... They are doing something really right!

For 18U I am pretty sure the Cyclones won ASA state. We lost to them in extra innings in a very fun game to witness. That is the main goal => being able to compete with the best.

I added a bold and underline for the Bandits comment.

As far as the Bandits go, I have NOTHING bad to say about their organization. Not one word. I know kids in the Madison area who play for the Bandits. It is a first class organization.

The good AND bad thing about the Bandits are that they put together a great organization in the middle on nowhere. One can look at the rosters on the Bandits web site. Girls from Madison or Verona (a suburb of Madison) will be on the same team as girls from Green Bay, for example. The good side of it is the Bandits are special enough to attract kids from a wide area. The bad side? Travel times, gas costs, etc. really pile up. Finding a ride can be tricky. Bonding with team members outside of softball can be tricky. DD #3 is on a local team, and can see her friends on the team for social events, etc.

Please don't think I am criticizing the Bandits. One of these years DD #3 might try out for the team. I just wish there were an organization that strong a lot closer to Madison.

 

[MadtownMike]

One of Mustangs' problems was having too many cooks (at least at 12U)! It was difficult to say who the HC was and who the assistants were- even for the parents/players. We should have established our roles better- it was more like 3 HCs (yes, I was one of the "assistants"). That team had some very good athletes on it- several went on to play for Bandits. Still not sure if I coached your daughter in WMLL as all 3 of us coached there. My guess is no.

Having had two daughters who played in WMLL, one who still plays, I may know more about the teams that have sprung out of WMLL. OTOH, you very likely know more about the teams in other parts of Madison.

The HC for 16u Rolling Thunder (which may have disbanded now that HC's kid aged out, I will have to ask him) is a friend of mine, and coached DD #1 in rec ball. DD #1 was on the team briefly, until she quit SB (the first time). HC is DD #3's PC, and DD #3 used to practice with Thunder. HC and AC ran some free softball clinics this summer, and DD #3 went to almost all of them.

The girls who were on the defunct 14u Bam! team were mostly friends of DD #1, and she played with a lot of them, including HC's DD, on various rec league and HS teams. At one point in her freshman year, when DD #1 was torn between track and softball, one of the Bam! girls put her arm around DD #1's shoulder and marched her over to the softball team. So, DD #1 played softball that year.

Both of the coaches of the defunct 13u Mustangs team coached DD #1 in rec ball. One of them is the guy who sold us our house, and the other coach is DD #3's TB coach, and has coached DD #3 in rec ball as well. DD #1 played with a LOT of the girls on that team. (Interesting thing: DD #1's bedroom used to be DD #3's nursery. Before that, is was the nursery for the Mustang's AC's DD. So, the former Mustang's HC, has coached all three girls.)

As for the teams that still exist:

The coaches of the Tornadoes (12u last year, 13 u starting in the fall), coached DD #1 in rec ball once, and DD #3 in rec ball 3 times. I was "team rep" one of those times. DD #1 has played with a few of the girls on that team, DD #3 has played with and/or against every girl on the team in rec ball. Also, DD #3's TB team has played scrimmage and tournament games against the Madison Tornadoes (NOT to be confused with the Beaver Dam Tornadoes, which is a more established organization)

DD #3 plays on the Warriors (11u last year, 12 u starting in the fall).

The coaches for the Mavericks (10u last year, I hope they continue as 11u this fall) coached DD #3 in rec ball last spring. Of course, she has played with some of the girls in rec ball, and against most or all of the other girls.

As for the teams in other parts of Madison, and Dane County, I am often a bit clueless. I do know girls on some of the Cougars and Crush teams, and DD #3's 11u TB team played against the 11u Crush team 3 times: Lost 10-9, won 10-9, and tied 9-9. Pretty evenly matched.

I don't know much about Mad City Kaos. DD #3 was on a rec league all-star team that played against Kaos in a Sun Prairie tournament. Kaos won 11-0 in 5 innings. DD #3 was pitching, and expected to be pulled after 2 or 3 innings, but they kept her in the entire game. It turns out, that was the best game DD #3 ever pitched. It's just that her team was completely overmatched.

 

[BobInMadison]

One of Mustangs' problems was having too many cooks (at least at 12U)! It was difficult to say who the HC was and who the assistants were- even for the parents/players. We should have established our roles better- it was more like 3 HCs (yes, I was one of the "assistants"). That team had some very good athletes on it- several went on to play for Bandits. Still not sure if I coached your daughter in WMLL as all 3 of us coached there. My guess is no.

Well, there is an easy way to see if you coached one of my daughters. I have 1 son and 3 daughters. My kids are a mix of three races, about half Asian, almost half white, and part Native American. My oldest DD played softball at WMLL about 2 1/2 years. VERY fast runner. She didn't start until 7th grade. Eventually played freshman ball at JMM. Led the team in HR and SB, and, I think hits as well. The initials of coaches she has had at WMLL include JF, BC and KP, MM and JZ, DY, and I forget the last one, started with a J.

My middle DD never played softball. She doesn't want to be compared to her sisters.

Youngest DD starting playing 4th grade. She plays all the positions. Possibly the best base runner I've seen for 12u, but not sure if she is as fast as her sister was. She will almost certainly be the fastest pitcher in fall ball. The coaches she has had include (might be more) LM and RC, MM and JZ, MM and JZ, MM and JZ, BC and SH, CM and RS, now TK.

I don't recall either girl ever having a coach named Mike.


I really hope the Warriors don't go the way of the Mustangs. DD #1 once played in a double header against the Mustangs in fall ball, at McGaw Park, for the WMLL team. DD #1 was 3B. Mustangs won both games, but that was probably after the best player on the WMLL team, SY (DY's DD), broke her hand. One interesting thing. One of the pitchers for the Mustangs, BM, was also pitching 12u at WMLL that fall. In that same week, she managed to strike out DD#1 in 14u and DD#3 in 12u. I still remember when DD #3 finally learned to hit off of BM, late the next spring. DD #3 was really happy.

 

[MadtownMike]

I do remember playing the WMLL team at McGaw Park and I remember SY was hurt- the only thing that is throwing me is the Mustangs' pitcher's initials! BM? It wasn't EG or MV? I do know who DD#1 is though- she went to Spring Harbor, correct? Fun playing this guessing game!

 

[BobInMadison]

Yes. Of course, the year DD #1 was a freshman, about half of the freshman team at JMM was from SHMS. Since she went to SHMS, that allowed DD #2 and DD#3 to go as well, instead of suffering through the lottery.

OF course, mentioning a half-Asian girl who was a base-stealing whiz and played 3B narrows things down quite a bit. There were only 2 half-Asian girls in that game: my DD #1 and BM.

 

[C.K]

At 10u it's just about the fundamentals, I would try to get her with the bandits, Xplosion, FirePro. The problem in WI is very few org's do anything for the kids once they get older recruitment wise.

 

[BobInMadison]

I'm not trying to be argumentative or sarcastic, just asking an honest question. Do ANY of the organizations do ANYTHING for recruiting? That is, over the past few years, very few players in the entire state have ever gotten scholarships to D1 schools, and very, very, very few have gone to one of the major conferences. (Although the 3B who just graduated from Wisconsin was a Sconnie. The 5 freshman girls given scholarship $ by Wisconsin for this coming fall are all from the big softball powerhouse teams in SoCal, AZ, Texas and Florida).

EDIT to add: Although I do know a couple of girls playing D-III ball, and their organizations may have helped them some.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

I'm not trying to be argumentative or sarcastic, just asking an honest question. Do ANY of the organizations do ANYTHING for recruiting? That is, over the past few years, very few players in the entire state have ever gotten scholarships to D1 schools, and very, very, very few have gone to one of the major conferences. (Although the 3B who just graduated from Wisconsin was a Sconnie. The 5 freshman girls given scholarship $ by Wisconsin for this coming fall are all from the big softball powerhouse teams in SoCal, AZ, Texas and Florida).

EDIT to add: Although I do know a couple of girls playing D-III ball, and their organizations may have helped them some.

I think all the badger players that are "Sconnies" are walk-ons. At least the ones from my area here in the fox cities. So the Big10 badgers at least opens up the door to walk-ons from within the state.

So the Bandits organization leader (you can find his name all over their site) has some good connections. I am not going to fib and say that the Bandits were able to get my DD's D1 spot for her but if that didn't happen I am quite confident that DD would have been playing smaller D1/D2 via scholarship in another state down south.

WI is a bit unique (I believe) in that it has the big badgers and then the smaller green bay D1 team but after that there is ONLY ONE D2 school and all the rest are D3. So most good players targeting scholarship in WI need to set their focus on out-of-state as I believe also that sizable scholarship $ to indigenous WI players just aint gonna happen (very unfortunate - recognizing it's a business - recognizing there are allot of great warm-weather-state softball players out there....)

 

[C.K]

I'm not trying to be argumentative or sarcastic, just asking an honest question. Do ANY of the organizations do ANYTHING for recruiting? That is, over the past few years, very few players in the entire state have ever gotten scholarships to D1 schools, and very, very, very few have gone to one of the major conferences. (Although the 3B who just graduated from Wisconsin was a Sconnie. The 5 freshman girls given scholarship $ by Wisconsin for this coming fall are all from the big softball powerhouse teams in SoCal, AZ, Texas and Florida).



EDIT to add: Although I do know a couple of girls playing D-III ball, and their organizations may have helped them some.

Yes, One in the state does a very good job of it, tons of connections. There are two other Out of state Big name Orgs trying to get started up in WI now that do a good job of getting kids recruited(1 is a go the other is questionable as of now). I say come on in frankly I'm sick of seeing Most of the top level kids going to IL, WI just lost another pitcher to the Beverly Bandits. Some of the problem is they don't have the right connections to get into the premier show cases (invites). I feel some were good at it in the past and never came around to the way colleges are recruiting now, which is sad as some kids that are good enough to play college ball will be left behind. The way colleges are recruiting now all you have to do is look at their tournament schedule and you can see who is targeting coaches and who is after trophy's. I can give very specific examples of WI organizations doing this but will not in a open forum out of respect for their programs.

 

[jadpgs]

Hey guys,

My family will be relocating this spring from Nevada to the Madison or the Appleton area not sure which yet still weighing job opportunities but my DD doesnt want to miss a season. My Daughter 04 has a year left in 10U, thanks for the Madison team info you guy wrote about. Does anyone have the same type of team info for the Appleton or fox valley area?

When does the season start in Wisco and how long. Out here we play spring, all stars and a shorter fall ball season. Are the try outs in spring and fall in Wisco?. If I wanted to start and coach a team is it possible? any advice? out here you need to assist in our league a season first? Is the level of play the same in Madison vs Appleton or is one better?

thanks in advance