8U softball debate.... Your opinion please....

[WARRIORMIKE]

8u is waaaaaaay to old to be starting travel ball. You need to start them at 4 to have a chance of going to college, doing great in life, and to go on to be doctors.

Hope that sounded silly to you. If not then start 8U travel

Yes I am from Southern Cali as well, and I approve this message..........

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

Why on earth would a parent want to tell a 7 year old girl that she has to play softball a couple times per week and every other weekend? The argument that "that's what she wants" doesn't hold water with me, IMO a 7 year old may "want to play full time softball" today, but when her friends ask her why she couldn't come to the sleepover, or play basketball, or play soccer, or play barbies tomorrow THAT is what she will be wanting to do.

 

[teammom2]

Our older DD started playing TB the fall she was 7, turning 8 in October. She played on a 10U team that was brand new. Some of the players aged out that spring so it was a mixed team for sure. There were no tournaments, only league games once/week. Some winter practices, then spring league and a few tournaments that first summer. After that the teams reorganized by birth year and she started playing with girls her own age. Still a light schedule. They didn't play a 10 tournament schedule until she was 10. Softball is her sport. We've made sure to let her try new things, she played rec soccer, she plays indoor soccer as a fill in player in the winter on a travel soccer team, she was in dance class, she was able to participate in the HS musical one year. I think 8U is fine if it's not FULL ON SOFTBALL all the time. Starting light, low pressure. If my daughter had played just in the local rec program until she was 10, she wouldn't have learned as much as she did. But our local rec program is not softball. It's Tball with a bigger ball. No hard and fast softball rules, no expectations of learning much. We had the luxury of being part of a team with some older players that first year. Our DD wasn't expected to carry the weight she would have had she been on a team of all 8 yr olds.

 

[wildcat]

I've coached 8u tb the last 2 years. There is really no other way around here to do it. Not enough girls playing softball. We practice 2x a week and play in 6 tournaments a summer. Roughly 30games. We emphasize fundamentals and fun. We don't yell or get on them for mistakes. We explain what happen and what to do. We don't care win or lose, we get excited about good plays, putting the ball in play or good at bats. Pitching can be rough at times but you havetobe patient. Have played the 4 balls here comes coach to finish strikes( who really gets blasted if they strike her out, that's pressure!)

These are usually little sisters who are watching games and want to play. So we make it happen. They become good friends and have a blast. If you are looking for the win, i feel sorry for you. Your missing a great coaching experience.

 

[Lozza]

I believe six year olds should still be in Tball. Seven years old should be starting rec softball but I prefer coach pitch for that age. (Or no walks)

Travel ball for babies is for the adults who want to live vicariously through their kids.

I started playing Tball at 3 and was in modified softball at 7. I was one of those kids who kept begging to play. At two I was hanging off the net wanting to play with my mum (who played adult a grade) Was very disappointed when I discovered this team didn't go to the pub afterwards! I started modball because my parents thought I cold handle it. That was two games a week, so two and a bit hours.

 

[justanotherguy]

Ah, the good 'ole travel ball threads. At least it seems to be more civil on the softball site. LOL

I can add my 2 cents, for what little that's worth. My daughter started playing baseball at 7 (coach pitch). She ended up being pretty good at it. So, I did look for what levels were "higher". In the beginning I can say it was probably a little more for me. My girl LOVES playing the game, but it's the "play" that's important. Anyhow, she started playing 9u travel just before she turned 8. (I still don't understand how softball skips years and only plays even... 10, 12, 14, etc) She couldn't throw that hard back then, but she has a very natural knack for batting and an eagle eye, so she still had a very high OBP. She's still 9 now and we've kept her on 9u teams. At this point she's one of the more dominant players in travel and easily one of the best in rec. After the first season of travel ball, I realized it was a big commitment. So, I always asked her what she wanted to do. "Do you want to try out for this team or just play only rec instead?" I always did my best to be sure it was what she wanted. At this point, I don't care if she plays travel, rec, softball, baseball, kickball...tag. I just want her to have fun. With that in mind, I've made the decision to pull back from travel this season and go with our rec league select team next season. While she likes competing against kids at her skill level, she absolutely loves rec because she now knows most of the kids. She doesn't get all upset when low skill kids make bad plays. She's still having fun. However, she doesn't always enjoy 2 hours of practice for endless days when it comes to the travel teams. I realized that's becoming work for her, and that's when I decided it will be our last season of travel. Select is like "travel lite". They only play one game on Sunday (after church) and the occasional Sat or double header. It's basically what will be the rec all star teams. They tie in directly with rec league, so they schedule so that there's no overlap.

Now, this is also the first season my daughter is playing softball. She's playing 12u rec. There's not enough to make 10u and 12u separate, so they're combined. Her best friend (she met while playing basketball) is playing and I nudged her to go to a practice with her friend. (She's been adamant that she doesn't want to play softball in the past.) After getting to play with girls and friends, she loves it too. I'm quite surprised at the difference in skill level between rec softball and rec baseball, but it doesn't bother her. SOooo, now she's playing rec softball, baseball, and travel baseball. Her softball team knows baseball is the priority, so she does miss the occasional game, but she's an "add on" player so it's not that big of a deal. The point in all of this, is that she is doing a lot, but it's all play to her. Every day she happily asks, "Do we have a game or practice tonight?" As long as she jumps for joy every time I say yes, then I have no problems with it. I know she'll love select next season, as she'll be playing a higher level but with all solid friends. Playing with the boys isn't an issue anymore, she's effectively broken the ice and changed their minds on "girls". While the other teams may not love striking out to the girl *giggle*, her teammates love her and easily treat her no different than any of the other kids. As mentioned, she also plays basketball (winter sport) and I'm going to look into volleyball when the season comes around. She was in competitive dance, but didn't like it because it lost all the fun. It was so structured and practice was so harsh, she didn't care for it anymore. That's what I feel travel is becoming like.

So with all that said, if you can keep it all about fun and NOT about winning, then it can be a great experience. Thing is, I've seen it several times now... coaches get win hungry. They see that "if little Johnny or Susie could have just made that play, we would have won", and it's all downhill from there. More practices, more drills, less fun, more anger, more frustration, less fun. We've walked from 3 travel teams now. Her current travel team doesn't practice but once a week, but the games are still serious. My daughter is a solid catcher, but wants to play other positions. The coach will usually play her a whole game per day as catcher. Since she's good at it, she gets stuck there since the focus is on competition instead of fun. She loves rec so much more because she'll only be catching for 1 or 2 innings. She does like catching, but she likes other things too. I simply say that point out that it needs to be fun. This is one family that will be stepping back from ultra competitive to bring some fun back into the game.

 

[MTR]

(I still don't understand how softball skips years and only plays even... 10, 12, 14, etc) .

I don't see why there is anything, but a couple of maximum age limits, odd or even is irrelevant. The player plays at their ability level and that is all softball has done, just they have more maximum age levels. I can only assume it is a product of the carrot-chasing crowd that insists on a step-factor in competition and believe it is age-associated. Not saying that it isn't, but just addressing the statement.

 

[chinamigarden]

Anyhow, she started playing 9u travel just before she turned 8. (I still don't understand how softball skips years and only plays even... 10, 12, 14, etc)

Now, this is also the first season my daughter is playing softball. She's playing 12u rec. There's not enough to make 10u and 12u separate, so they're combined.

Perhaps you answered your own question here. If there aren't enough players to have a 10U and a separate 12U team, how can you have 9u 10u 11u and 12u teams?

Some of your bigger orgs have odd numbered teams but the 11u team is pretty much forced into playing 12u tourneys. Maybe I have been out of baseball for too long but it seems to me that there are more odd year teams and tournaments for those teams but there are less organizations then softball. for instance for 11 and 12 year olds you have 25 orgs (each with 2 teams) so you have 50 teams trying to pull the baseball players in the same area where there are 50 softball orgs trying to pull girls for 50 teams.

 

[justanotherguy]

Perhaps you answered your own question here. If there aren't enough players to have a 10U and a separate 12U team, how can you have 9u 10u 11u and 12u teams?

Some of your bigger orgs have odd numbered teams but the 11u team is pretty much forced into playing 12u tourneys. Maybe I have been out of baseball for too long but it seems to me that there are more odd year teams and tournaments for those teams but there are less organizations then softball. for instance for 11 and 12 year olds you have 25 orgs (each with 2 teams) so you have 50 teams trying to pull the baseball players in the same area where there are 50 softball orgs trying to pull girls for 50 teams.

I was referring to rec for the 12u comment. I would call it LL Majors in baseball, but don't know what they call it in softball. In travel though, I'd think you'd have enough teams to properly separate them into true age categories. I know in baseball, each step is a big one. 9u to 10u is a big step, and on and on. I'd think it'd be the same in softball. This is me just voicing out loud my thoughts, not being critical. I've only been around a 10u softball travel team, not any full tournaments. I've seen some team lists for a tournament weekend though, and I'd think there'd be enough to split by a closer age. It would seem a team made up of '02 kids would be at a bigger advantage than a team of '03 kids, yet still playing in the same age bracket. Obviously this is me looking from the outside in just not understanding it. I don't have any intentions of moving to softball travel until 12u at the earliest.

 

[NVfishing]

My DD is playing one more year of U8 TB. She could go be a starter for a lot of 10u teams in our area as a pitcher but she wants to be around her friends and with the team she started playing for. She would have been borderline to make our 10u team this year. She is good at pitching and fielding and getting much better at hitting. Our 10 u team is 5 deep on pitching. My DD would probably be #3. Get little pitching time and wouldn't be up to bat. By staying down another year she gets lots of pitching time. Can work more on her fielding and batting fundamentals. The atmosphere isn't as intense as 10u and that will help with the mental part of the game. The top 2 pitchers on our 10 u team age up after this year. There are 2 more that will be quite good next year. My DD will need to really work her butt off to be the top pitcher for the 10u next year. If she was just starting rec this year she would have zero chance to pitch on the 10u team next year.