Evaluating 8U players for travel ball

[quandofloo]

I have been reading for the last few days and have already found tons of very helpful posts. I am hoping I can get some direct advice on a situation I am in.

I will start at the beginning for clarity. My DD is 9 but plays in 8U due to USSSA birthday rules. I coach her travel basketball team and have coached all of her rec league softball teams so far. I have also coached my 14 year old son's baseball teams until he reached school ball. I am not a softball/baseball expert by any means, but I am good with the kids and I made a promise to myself that I would never let my children be in a negative sports environment.

Last year, after her first year in coach pitch rec ball, my DD made the all star team. She played decent, not great but she was not a dead weight. That got the fires really burning for her. We worked hard during all of her available time between basketball and softball season to get her where she wanted to go. This season she went 25/27, never struck out, and played very well at 3rd base for me. However, the coach that was asked to handle the all star team and I do not see eye-to-eye on coaching technique so she was left off of the roster this year. I was involved in the voting process, so I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the reason was our differing personalities and not ability. This devastated my DD.

My DW and I have decided to start a travel ball team comprised of players from our immediate area to avoid any more of the issues that arise from rec league drama. This brings me to my question.

At this age group, what are the primary qualities that I should be looking for in a TB player?

Most of these girls are just getting started on their athletic journeys, so I don't want to judge any of them too harshly. On my basketball team I usually decide on players based on personality first, pure athletic ability second, and basketball specific skills third. I can teach a jump shot but I can't teach a willingness to work. Should I use similar criteria for TB?

My plan is to stay in the 8U coach pitch bracket for the fall season and then take the same team up to play in 10U next spring since none of the girls have any experience pitching yet. I know that it will be rough in the beginning but I know that we can learn together and build a successful team. I have a few really great parents that are willing to help so I know the coaches will all have the right attitude. I just want to make sure that I don't set any of the kids up for disappointment by getting them in over their heads.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

A group that I work with is starting a new 12U team. I was asked to come and speak to the parents. I stressed 2 things to them - commitment of time and commitment of money. I also told them that gossiping and negative comments can and will kill a team and that they have to learn to be quiet. Then, I told them that they have to be able to help their daughter with softball every day.

So, I would think if you can get a group of parents with the time, right attitude and enough money, that would be a good place to start.

It is going to be awfully hard to evaluate 8 yo girls, who haven't had much instruction, before.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

When we started travel at 8u we looked for girls with natural abilities. Girls who are already hitting the ball well, we can build on that. Girls who already throw the ball well, we can build on that. Girls who already know where the play is, we can build on that. Girls who will go the extra mile to make a play or stop the ball ( diving, laying out, body blocking ), we can build on that. Girls who listen and are coachable. Girls who hustle. Girls with extraordinary speed.

What really helps is if you can find a girl with MORE than one of these traits.

The tricky part is the parents. Some will have talented DD's, even though the parents may have never experienced travel sports. You will have to "coach" the mom and dad just as much as the child.

Maybe we weren't lucky, but at 8u we didn't put a team together by positional needs. Meaning we grabbed girls who could handle the ball, and rotated positions for a good while before they started settling into their more primary spots thru trial and error and evaluating natural tendencies. We call it "the glove", because the angle of play on positions is different. Some will be right/left dominate. As example a L motion dominate defensive player would play 3b, because of the majority of angled plays. R dominate, 1b. Those who posses the "ambidextrous" glove, middle infield.

Hitting is the most important to me, 8u games are usually high scoring games. Looking back, some of the best hitters at 8u are still some of the best in TB/HS. At 8u we see the natural hand/eye quardination, and if they continue to "work" over the years it increases the natural abilities.

I believe with your coaching experience, you'll know what you need.......when you see it. Good luck and have fun.

 

[oregonfp]

What do you look for in a 8u player? GOOD PARENTS. This is the key. Parents can make or break a team. I have seen stud girls at the 8u/10u level never get any better and girls who couldn't throw the ball across the diamond become A level catchers. Good kids and good parents are the key.

 

[Wheels]

What do you look for in a 8u player? GOOD PARENTS. This is the key. Parents can make or break a team. I have seen stud girls at the 8u/10u level never get any better and girls who couldn't throw the ball across the diamond become A level catchers. Good kids and good parents are the key.

I agree, at this age recruit parents with kids who show the most interest.

 

[Jdaddy]

All of the above, plus I would recommend beginning pitching lessons NOW. You probably have your eye on two or three girls now for pitchers. Go ahead and talk to their parents about beginning lessons. You will know by the end of fall which ones are committed enough to continue into spring.

It wouldn't hurt to look for a second year 10U for spring with some pitching experience who may not be getting enough mound time with her current team.

Good luck and keep it fun!

 

[maksoftball]

Another thing to look for and it will stand out, believe me...work ethic. You may or may not see that one girl who is obviously pushing her own limits just to get better at the skill. She may not throw the ball as well as the others but you will see that she literally improves on one skill or another within a short period.

Just had to put that out there...this was my DD...she wasn't even close to a lot of the girls in TB, but when a coach saw her worth ethic, he snagged her and helped her on the side. Her work ethic got her to where she is today. Without it, we would not be in this softball world (and I might even be richer for it! LOLOL!!)...

 

[CoogansBluff]

What do you look for in a 8u player? GOOD PARENTS.

I coached an 8U all-star team that essentially evolved into a travel team. It's been 5 years now. No more than three of them still play on the same team. However, among those 12 ...

6 are good travel players in 14U. All six have supportive parents who will work with them outside of practice and give them the resources and positive feedback that they need to be successful, without burning them out or putting too much pressure on them. Four of those six have fathers who have coached and who work with their daughters essentially as their private coaches. All six have parents who play significant roles on their travel teams such as team mom, travel secretary, scorekeeper, etc.

3 had the same supportive parents, but chose to be good at another sport or activity. They didn't like the grind of playing all-day. Very understandable.

1 had very supportive parents but just wasn't athletic enough to keep up. Now she's in the band.

1 was very talented but had a negative parent who in turn made the child negative and cynical. She later quit softball after being the MVP on the 10U team.

1 was fairly talented but also had a negative parent. She was ousted from the team and now bounces around teams that are very desperate.

As for picking players based on athleticism, I can't argue against that because I do think you need a certain amount of athleticism to be a good travel player, but of those 12 girls I mentioned, the #2 hitter today is a girl who struck out more than half the time in her first season of 8U. She was very likely the worst hitter her age in the whole league. A year and half later when we picked 8U all-stars, she was still only adequate and made it largely because of having played so many seasons of rec ball (some coaches did her a favor and kept it fun) and the fact that it was a small league. In sum, it's hard to know who is going to work very hard and grow into her body.

 

[CoogansBluff]

One other thought - Work ethic is great, but don't underrate their enjoyment of the game. I coached one girl who from age 7 to 12 didn't work hard, was immature, goofed around, but she was very talented and enjoyed every minute of the game itself. (Alan Iverson, if you will.) She was good enough to get away with it. Now, she's a beast of a hitter and catcher, and she's beginning to get serious about getting better. I wouldn't snuff out a girl's enthusiasm for playing the game just because she's not the most mature, hardest worker at 8U. If she's got talent.

 

[quandofloo]

All of the above, plus I would recommend beginning pitching lessons NOW. You probably have your eye on two or three girls now for pitchers. Go ahead and talk to their parents about beginning lessons. You will know by the end of fall which ones are committed enough to continue into spring.

It wouldn't hurt to look for a second year 10U for spring with some pitching experience who may not be getting enough mound time with her current team.

Good luck and keep it fun!

My DD and a girl that I have coached for the last two years are both taking pitching lessons right now with the same coach. There are probably two others that I think have the right mentality for it right now that I would definitely encourage and my standing policy is always to allow kids to work on positions in practice even if they are not ready to try them in game situations yet, so I am hopeful that at least one more would pop up. Great advice though about looking for a second year 10U pitcher.