Moving up from 10u to 12u

[CRAZYFPDAD]

Hello All,
I wanted to get some advice on moving my DD up from 10u. She will be turning 11 in late Sept and we are challenged whether to move her up or play 10u for the fall. The 12u coach is a fantastic coach and will be coaching a very competitive team. The coach told us moving up that the young girls will be learning and will be possibly riding the bench a little while they grow into the new age group. My concerns are my DD is a pitcher and I feel she needs to have mound time to keep growing in the circle. Another concern of mine is the mental part how do you know if they are mentally ready to play in the older group? Part of me feels like I should let her keep growing at 10u and keep pitching and move her up in the spring. The other part of me does not want her to be behind the other girls that moved up ahead of her. Just looking for a little advice from the great group of people that frequent this website.

 

[CindyW109]

IMO it would benefit her more to keep her down. There is a huge difference between 10's and 12's and she would benefit from more playing time in 10's.

 

[ASA-CROSSFIRE-12U]

IMO move her up! I did this year with my daughter who just turned 11 last week! Coached a 12U TB team and it was one heck of a improvement on her game all the way around. Now she will stay on the 12U for another 2 to 3 years and be able to dominate. Same thing with a few other girls that where on my team that want/able to stay down with us on 12U we will have a great team next year. Looking at the "big picture" for future high school ball. Your DD might ride the bench but if she is with a great coach/team she will learn a ton rather than just sit down on 10U and be bored? Good luck and practice in the off season for her to be ready!

 

[Bucketrider]

The fall is the best time to move up. After all the alphabet states, most teams who are going to need to move up do so in the fall. It is unfortunate but I have seen many teams move up in September, only to return in Nov/Dec to win the $2 fall state tournaments. For that, I wish there was a rule against this type of trophy hunting in FL. As far as the mental part, we are all mostly mental and I have no idea how to fix it. Don't worry, in a year and a half, it will happen again, and again you will worry about moving up. It seems to by the cycle of life, as I know it, here in Planet Softball!

 

[marriard]

It depends... if she is going to sit on the bench and not pitch or play then don't move her up. You only get to play so long and sitting on the bench to 'become a better player' may happen - or it may not. Going out and playing is the major part of the fun and if that is not part of the move up then I would really hesitate. If the team she is moving up to already has 3 pitchers then she isn't going to pitch (no matter what the coach says) then perhaps that is not the right team for her.

I am not big on teams or players moving up to 12U when they have not done really well in 10U and truly outgrown the division. I am big on players who have done well in 10U moving up and I am more likely to recommend a pitcher move up as they do need to go to the bigger ball and 40' distance. However moving up to lose all the time or not play are solid reasons to stay in 10U for another few months.

Also what does your DD think? As much as everyone here has an opinion what are her thoughts?

 

[chinamigarden]

typically you play fall ball in the age group that you will be playing next summer. It gives the coaches a chance to put some structure in place and teach the girls what they expect. If it works correctly the girls who are aging up to 14u next year will be gone, as they have moved to their new team, and your dd will get pitching time because at least some of the pitchers have moved on.

 

[rdbass]

What chinamigarden said.Play up in the fall in the age group that you will be playing in the next summer.This way you will get a chance to see what to work on during the winter sessions.

 

[quincy]

10YOA played 12U this year so the beginning of the year she was 10 a couple players were 13. She did not have any social Issues. Same as any other Teams there was some players she was friends with, others not. If age was a factor I did not notice it. I am more worried about the next jump of DD being in MS playing with players in HS. Cross that bridge when we get to it, if DD is still playing sports.

DD is also a little small for her age and there were some players quite a bit bigger then her, after a couple of practices she stopped thinking about this part of it. Though she did get mad during OF practice when the taller players stole her balls.

There is a big difference between 10U and 12U. 12U type game, pitching distance and ball size, is pretty much the game your DD is going to play from here on out. If she is playing this in the Spring, I would move her up in the Fall to get use to the different game. Even if in the short-term it means less circle/ playing time.

She is going to notice when she hits the ball it does not go near as far, etc. There are a lot of things besides pitching to work on with the move to the bigger ball and bigger/better players.

 

[FrozenRope]

Hello All,
I wanted to get some advice on moving my DD up from 10u. She will be turning 11 in late Sept and we are challenged whether to move her up or play 10u for the fall. The 12u coach is a fantastic coach and will be coaching a very competitive team. The coach told us moving up that the young girls will be learning and will be possibly riding the bench a little while they grow into the new age group. My concerns are my DD is a pitcher and I feel she needs to have mound time to keep growing in the circle. Another concern of mine is the mental part how do you know if they are mentally ready to play in the older group? Part of me feels like I should let her keep growing at 10u and keep pitching and move her up in the spring. The other part of me does not want her to be behind the other girls that moved up ahead of her. Just looking for a little advice from the great group of people that frequent this website.

Well, this one is a tough one. If it were any position other than a pitcher we were talking about, the answer is easy. Move her up so she faces the better pitchers and is prepared for the spring. On the other hand, for a pitcher.... circle time is precious. I don't care if she's pitching 10U, 12U or 14U... she needs game time in the circle. If you don't have a solid commitment from the coach that your DD will see mound time, I would keep her back. Many will argue that she'll learn under the "better" coach, however; it's been my experience, time and time again, that a good coach is judged by the fact that they produce winning teams.... well, the other half of that conversation is that he wins because he plays his best players in the critical positions and doesn't leave much room for the developing players. There is no position on the diamond more critical than the mound. Find out what you're getting before you decide. If DD is determined to pitch, be sure she'll see significant circle time before you make the decision.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Our fall team has 5 pitchers, including 2 who are 10yo who chose to stay down this fall.

All will pitch. Our team is built to win, but we've also got a good opportunity to develop players while remaining very competitive against the teams on our schedule. We have 2 tournaments that we will be trying to win, but even then, all our girls will play significant innings. We also have league play where time will be shared.

Your area might be different, but out here, while there is still plenty of competition during fall, the majority of coaches are at least somewhat interested in development to find out what to work on - or recruit - during the winter months. So, the younger girls get plenty of opportunities to play during the fall, even on the stronger teams, to show what they can do.

Unless she's being told she will not even be given a chance to pitch, I'd have her move up.