Is my Softball Commissioner Nuts?

[Sweet Lou]

Our rec league allows kids to play up in age; but only if they go to a tryout evaluation and request to play up.

But like sluggers says it is tough to accomodate all the individual request that may be made in a rec league. We had around 500 girls in our rec program last year.

 

[Eric F]

It seems to me these things really need to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. There are certainly lots of situations where playing up makes the most sense for the girl's development.

From my own experience, one of the youngest girls on my DD's 8U All-Star team was also the best all-around player (great pitcher, powerful hitter, best arm and glove in the infield), but her age qualifies her to play 8U for another full year. IMO, this would be a huge mistake for her development, and she would be much better served moving up to 10U with 10 of her 12 All-Star teammates. For her, playing another season of 8U rec ball would be a tremendous waste of time without a lot of upside.

 

[Jackel2168]

Especially at the younger ages, if you get a kid who is an absolute monster, especially with a bat or throws that hard, it is terrifying to the other players. I would say on a case by case basis move them around.

 

[sluggers]

It seems to me these things really need to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. There are certainly lots of situations where playing up makes the most sense for the girl's development.

One of my friends was a teacher. He was promoted to principal. He said the longest walk he ever took was around to the other side of the desk. When you start managing lots of people, nothing is easy.

When you have 40 teams, 120 coaches, 500 kids, and 1000 parents, things aren't simple and obvious.

Do you have mass tryouts for kids who want to move up? Do you let the parents put the kid anywhere they want? Do you let the coaches decide which kids can move up? No matter what you do, there will be at least one coach looking for an angle so he can get little Suzy and "win the league championship".

 

[Eric F]

Valid point, sluggers. Our league is fairly small.

 

[JJsqueeze]

there will be at least one coach looking for an angle so he can get little Suzy

Why do we all use Suzy as the generic girl name in posts- I do it too, but really, I've never had a Suzy on a team. Lots of Sierra and Haley's but not one Suzy. I think this dates us. Is this off topic? long day.

 

[left turn]

One of my friends was a teacher. He was promoted to principal. He said the longest walk he ever took was around to the other side of the desk. When you start managing lots of people, nothing is easy.

When you have 40 teams, 120 coaches, 500 kids, and 1000 parents, things aren't simple and obvious.

Do you have mass tryouts for kids who want to move up? Do you let the parents put the kid anywhere they want? Do you let the coaches decide which kids can move up? No matter what you do, there will be at least one coach looking for an angle so he can get little Suzy and "win the league championship".

Sluggers, this is absolutely true. The big problems are where do you draw the line and what is the process that players are evaluated to move up. Trying to be fair to 500 players is a different question.

In our town, some parents take their complaints to the mayor and town council. We moved from grade play in rec to age play several years ago and activist parents got the mayor and town council to withhold field permits until the rule change was reversed. It was amazing that elected officials got that involved in rec ball.

I mentioned the activist parents to make the point that boards with big enrollments will tend to make decisions to avoid parent flare-ups. Special rulings and conditions, even for exceptional athletes, can be punished by the parent community.