Middle School/Travel Ball

[SoGASoftball]

The rules jump all over the place and yes they apply to MS.

DD had some players that played both, I think is was illegal, but on one care.

DD did not, MS kept her pretty busy.

Not in GA. The only rule mention in GA that pertains to any MS player is... No 6, 7 or 8th grade student can compete in a varsity sport. Otherwise, there are no rules which pertain to MS.

 

[grcsftbll]

In my county, in GA, they have "metro ball" for 5th through 8th graders. Mine missed being old enough by 9 days this year (9/1 cut off date) so we're just bored while half the rest of our team plays metro and we can't even practice as a team. Very sad. From what I can tell from watching her friend's team scrimmage, it's a step above rec and several large steps below travel ball.

 

[sbmom19]

Also I can't imagine the same rule would even apply to HS.

In our state it is not allowed. The HS Activities Association specifically addresses it in the rules, stating that no HS athlete can play on another team of the same sport during the HS season. The HS season is defined as the first official day of practice (tryout day) through the state tournament. I personally know of one player in another sport that was caught and removed from the HS team. No such rules for MS players though - probably because MS players aren't permitted to play HS sports here.

 

[CoogansBluff]

In my county, in GA, they have "metro ball" for 5th through 8th graders. Mine missed being old enough by 9 days this year (9/1 cut off date) so we're just bored while half the rest of our team plays metro and we can't even practice as a team. Very sad. From what I can tell from watching her friend's team scrimmage, it's a step above rec and several large steps below travel ball.

My DD played in that league years ago. It's a strong area of the state for softball. There are gold and silver divisions. The silver is between rec and travel. But the gold is equal to travel. And if you're a 6th grader in gold, then it will be stronger than travel because she will be up against older girls.

Here's a Ripley's Believe it or not --

Six years ago, Kelly Barnhill (as in U.S. National Team, University of Florida) played in the metro league that you are talking about. She was in the 8th grade. She was throwing about 64 mph at the time. In the fall of her 8th grade year. That is a frightening speed to any middle schooler that is not an advanced TB player. The starting lineup for this team had six future D-I players (either currently playing, or committed).

So how do you think they did?

How about 2-10! Barnhill pitched about half the time and never won a game.

Most all the teams in the league had starting lineups that were entirely TB players and almost all were 8th graders. Age means a lot in middle school. Barnhill's team had 5th and 6th graders in the starting lineup, some that would become pretty good, but they were overmatched at the time. And KB was a little wild then. She'd walk a few, hit a few, and most of all, it's hard to find middle schoolers who can catch 64 mph. One thing would lead to another, and you'd lose 3-2.

 

[grcsftbll]

My DD played in that league years ago. It's a strong area of the state for softball. There are gold and silver divisions. The silver is between rec and travel. But the gold is equal to travel. And if you're a 6th grader in gold, then it will be stronger than travel because she will be up against older girls.

Here's a Ripley's Believe it or not --

Six years ago, Kelly Barnhill (as in U.S. National Team, University of Florida) played in the metro league that you are talking about. She was in the 8th grade. She was throwing about 64 mph at the time. In the fall of her 8th grade year. That is a frightening speed to any middle schooler that is not an advanced TB player. The starting lineup for this team had six future D-I players (either currently playing, or committed).

So how do you think they did?

How about 2-10! Barnhill pitched about half the time and never won a game.

Most all the teams in the league had starting lineups that were entirely TB players and almost all were 8th graders. Age means a lot in middle school. Barnhill's team had 5th and 6th graders in the starting lineup, some that would become pretty good, but they were overmatched at the time. And KB was a little wild then. She'd walk a few, hit a few, and most of all, it's hard to find middle schoolers who can catch 64 mph. One thing would lead to another, and you'd lose 3-2.

Wow! That's pretty crazy. Mine will be 5th grade next year. I hope she makes the gold, we'll see. I know some school districts only have 1 team but ours has gold and silver. The game we watched was silver teams.

 

[Rambler34]

In Georgia (and probably every state), the state high school association has no jurisdiction over the middle schools. They can do what they want.

Also in Georgia, most school districts don't sponsor sports. I know that DeKalb County does, but most don't. When we lived in metro ATL, there was a feeder league for middle school students, but it wasn't officially affiliated with the middle schools or the school systems. It was something organized by people (including high school coaches) who thought it would be a good idea to have a league that prepares kids for school ball. So, for example, you'd have a team of players who lived in a particular high school district. They might even play at that high school's field and call themselves the Etowah Junior Eagles, but those schools weren't running it in any official capacity.

Any feeder league like that, or any true middle school league, is free to make up its own rules. There is no statewide rule.

In Alabama all students from 7-12 fall under the AHSAA rules. The official rule is they cannot participate with their travel team from the date of the first contest until they are eliminated from competition. For MS students that runs from February until the end of March or early April while HS continues until May. Our MS kids are allowed to play varsity in any sport for the HS they will feed into.

Last season my DD who was in 7th grade rode the bus from the MS to the HS for practice and games. If they had an away game they picked her and a couple of others up at the MS on the way. We had a couple of girls that ran track and a girl that played soccer that did the same thing.

 

[Mom_Coach_Fan]

I had done a search on Middle School SB and saw some threads where you cannot play Travel Ball AND for your Middle School?

Is this only for MS teams that are actually affiliated with the MS? DD's MS team is not technically affiliated with the MS but they have to be a student at her MS. I ask because we have two teams and the second team is made up pretty much entirely of travel ball players. Our team is the non travel ball team - 1 have one new girl who plays TB though.

Also I can't imagine the same rule would even apply to HS.

Thanks for any info..

Nixxy - mind if I ask in which county your DD plays MS ball? We also have lots of metro ATL folks here that can share experiences for both MS and HS.

 

[CoogansBluff]

In Alabama all students from 7-12 fall under the AHSAA rules.

Thanks. Didn't know that. In Georgia, the GHSA doesn't govern any middle schools, middle schoolers or middle school sports.

 

[Mangler II]

Not all states have the same rules.

Thank goodness...

 

[nixxy311]

Nixxy - mind if I ask in which county your DD plays MS ball? We also have lots of metro ATL folks here that can share experiences for both MS and HS.

Gwinnett County - from what I'm reading we do our Middle School a little differently in that we only play about 10 games - all double-headers on Sundays - so you are a lot less busy. You have to be a student at the middle school but it's not affiliated with the middle school. There can be multiple teams but it's all based off the high school you're feeding into. There are also 3 divisions where a pre-tournament can decide which one your team will play in.

I know a majority of the girls in the higher division for sure play Travel but wasn't sure if that rule applied or mattered since MS play will end right before October when TB is probably starting their tournaments.