12U Rec. 1st Complaint this Season – Team Size

[JAD]

Is this a rec ball team with equal playing time? 15 would be tough for a competitive travel ball team, although I have seen some of the high profile A teams do it just because parents want to say their DD is on that team. What they fail to mention is that their DD never plays. I actually spoke with one of these dads at a tournament. Their team was scheduled to play 20 tournaments in Spring/Summer, most with overnight stays. His DD was brough in as a 'pinch runner' when needed. Otherwise she did not play. Unbelievable!

At 16U and 18U teams will carry 14-16 girls just because the older girls always have more conflicts, so the coach is lucky to get 11-12 girls at any one tournament.

 

[KCM]

We have 15 on our JV team this year, last year we had only 10. I figured one or two would have quit by now but this bunch of girls are eager to learn and are not failures. I like more than less, it gets hard to get them all some play time but we manage. I start 2 subs at the first inning and switch out 2 per inning, if one of subs play hard they get to stay in or replace one of the starters that are slacking.

 

[redhotcoach]

If it's anything like the rec teams I have experienced, you'll be lucky to have 9 of the 15 available at game time.

 

[quincy]

If it's anything like the rec teams I have experienced, you'll be lucky to have 9 of the 15 available at game time.

All the players will be there, they want to play. We will see.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I have a great deal of admiration for those of you who take on these huge rec teams, as those in your organizations have to balance giving a little softball to a few more, while taking softball from the others as far as playing time and individualized coaching are concerned.

Our 12u program here had 42 signups, and at the time of the draft, there were only 2 coaches. So, the league drafted a 3rd team and all 3 teams were pretty well-balanced. There were no real stud pitchers in the bunch, but each team had a player or 2 who could do the job.

A 3rd coach did finally step up to take the team, but 14 girls per teams is too many at 12u if you really want to cultivate these kids' interest in softball.

I'm not saying to quit the team you're a part of, but I would suggest that your DD join another team as well. Think about how hard she's been working to prepare for a FUN season. She deserves that chance, from where I'm sitting and judging.

If we had 42 sign up, we would have 4 teams. No thought would be given to having 3 teams of 14. Teams are encouraged to find another player or two to fill out the roster, and teams are allowed to borrow from other teams to ensure they have 9 at each game. But every league is different. What one league thinks is perfectly fine might be totally unacceptable in another because of the history and tradition of that league.

 

[MagicDad]

You think 15 is a lot. My DD's team has 18 on it's roster. Our rec. program for softball is bad. Baseball on the other hand is treated like it's the best thing in the world. We play in a local league that is made up of 6 or 7 towns. Some of the towns field as many as 5 baseball teams including the one I live in. But when it comes to softball we have only one. The sad thing is the town next to ours only had 6 players sign up and they asked our town if they can join up with us. My town said no thanks, I think it's all about control.

Every year I ask my 11 year old DD if she wants to sign up. She says yes, just to play with her friends. I picked her up from practice yesterday and it was the first time I ever saw her without a smile on a ball field. I tried to ask her what was wrong and all she said was she was bored. Hopefully it won't always be that bad. I have a feeling some of the girls might not show up for the games, but if they do it'll be 2 innings in the field and maybe 1 or 2 at bats. The coach already said he was going to take the last batter in the order and make her the first batter the next game and so on.

Luckily for her she plays on a club team and will she a lot of field time. They have a pretty good schedule this year and practice twice a week. We also got to hitting once a week so she'll be busy this season.

 

[marriard]

You think 15 is a lot. My DD's team has 18 on it's roster. Our rec. program for softball is bad. Baseball on the other hand is treated like it's the best thing in the world. We play in a local league that is made up of 6 or 7 towns. Some of the towns field as many as 5 baseball teams including the one I live in. But when it comes to softball we have only one. The sad thing is the town next to ours only had 6 players sign up and they asked our town if they can join up with us. My town said no thanks, I think it's all about control.

18 is CLEARLY 2 teams - especially if you have an offer of an extra 6 girls to make 24. That sucks.

The only way to solve this is to get involved directly yourself. We are a Little League org and because they mainly 'love' baseball so much they were only too happy to let me run softball basically independently. 3 years on and softball is up 30% in registrations and baseball is down about 15%.

Even if they wont let you officially run it (because it is the job of some town appointed recreational sports employee), if you present a fully laid out plan and offer to do the work around it there is a pretty good chance they'll let you run with it especially if you have the backing of other parents involved in the program.

 

[coachtucc]

Remember this...injuries happen.
I had 15..one girl ( my 3rd catcher) was out with a shoulder problem for 4 weeks...one girl the dislocated her finger...out for 4 weeks..then in a tournament, my starting catcher sprained her finger (out for the tournament)!! Then I had 12 and one couldn't be there the 2nd day of the tournament!! Then I was down to 11!!

 

[Sweet Lou]

If it's anything like the rec teams I have experienced, you'll be lucky to have 9 of the 15 available at game time.

My experiences has been mixed and it varies by year. Some years I get darn near close to 100% participation. Some years it is like pulling teeth to field a team or get a decent practice in.

 

[ScottBev]

My experiences has been mixed and it varies by year. Some years I get darn near close to 100% participation. Some years it is like pulling teeth to field a team or get a decent practice in.

Same here our rec team has 16 players on roster. All of the players are getting play time during the regular season, but the travel girls are sitting out a large number of innings. We normally have 13 girls show up to each game. For the rest of the season, we'll have a schedule for the girls as to which group of 12 will be playing in each game. Against highly competitive teams, we'll play our best 12. For most games it will be a mixture of the girls.

In previous years, I've coached with "15" girls on roster and had to beg, borrow and steal to have 9 players on the field.

Good luck.