Pass on 2nd year 12U eligibility to play 14U? which team?

[Eric F]

IMO, this largely comes down to what feeds your DD's personality best. Does she thrive when battling to keep up with the rest of the team, or when she's a leader and one of the better players?

 

[SyndreSoftball]

My oldest DD is a first year 14, and I must say the diffrence in maturity and size of these older 14's is very obvious. I would go with option #1 let her be dominant, let her build her confidence. Let her be the older girl, this also helps build leaderhisp skills, she will probaly be one of the best players on a 2002 team, go play with a top 2002 team. I always feel that there is nothing that can compare to game experience. She is not getting much of that with the good 14U team. Leave option 2 alone, you took your lumps last year as a younger 12, you have options now as an older good player, find a good 2002 team.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

I like option 1

I concur............

 

[JJsqueeze]

Good feedback gents. Thanks.

 

[Dave619]

Getting quality innings where she can develop is paramount. If that means staying in 12U and not facing good hitters, then it is up to you to raise the bar on her performance regardless of the quality of the opposition. Had to do that more than once with my DD.

JJ, if the main goal for DD is to develop as a pitcher I have to go with RB on this one. Most people do refer to the teams pitchers as #1 pitcher, #2 pitcher, etc. and it is understandable where those terms come from. I would certainly talk to each coach to find out his thoughts on pitching and developing pitchers. On our TB team we do not use the terms #1 pitcher, etc. and the parents do not either. We approach it that we have 3 bracket pitchers and they are different from each other. We have two that have exceptional speed that throw more screws and curves...then we have my DD that has good speed (about 5 mph less than other 2) and is primarily a drop ball pitcher. My DD was put on the mound to face some very stiff competition this year and big hitting teams. She is not our fastest and throws the fewest number of pitches, but she is different from the other two we have. We beat what I consider to be one of the best teams in our state this year because they had difficulty with her drop and changing speeds. She is not our most powerful pitcher, but the HC likes to put her in against some of the big hitting teams because he thinks she is a better match up.

I guess what I am getting at is what type of pitcher is your DD developing into? Are the other pitchers on the team basically the same as her or is she different. If she is different, does the coach view pitching like I describe above or does he think his "#1 pitcher" is always the best no matter who you are playing against?

These decisions are always tough!!!

Hope that makes sense...just trying to look at it from a different perspective.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Go find a good '02 team. The quantity (and quality) of 12U ball in the area is astonishing. She should be able to find a team that she'd be anywhere from the #1 pitcher and one of the top-tier players to teams she can't even make.

If she wants to be challenged, I am more than certain there are several 12U teams around that would be a far tougher challenge for her than playing on the "better" 14U team she's with now. You can also find a 12U team where she would be close to the same place she is with the better 14U team .... having to fight for more PT and field time and climbing up the order. You can also find 12U teams where she'll be an everyday starter from day one.

Talk to her. Involve her in the decision. Lay out pros and cons and have her analyze them carefully. Have her figure out what is important to her and what she's willing to give up. Then do some homework and find a few 12U teams that fit the bill and figure out a way to get her in front of them.

I wouldn't worry about moving her up to 14U. She'll have plenty of time later in her life (like, four years) to play with high school girls. She doesn't need to do that now.

 

[riseball]

Getting quality innings where she can develop is paramount. If that means staying in 12U and not facing good hitters, then it is up to you to raise the bar on her performance regardless of the quality of the opposition. Had to do that more than once with my DD.

could you elaborate a little RB?

I kept my DD honest. She always threw very hard and at times it was easy for her blow the ball by and get a ton of K's. I would not have it. Regardless of the competition we worked pitches and sequences. We had a game plan and executed it. More than once I pulled her even though she was dominant because she was just throwing heat and not being productive. Now in college she has thanked me for it, as her high 60's pitches easily leave the park if they do not move or she misses a location.

 

[JJsqueeze]

JJ, if the main goal for DD is to develop as a pitcher I have to go with RB on this one. Most people do refer to the teams pitchers as #1 pitcher, #2 pitcher, etc. and it is understandable where those terms come from. I would certainly talk to each coach to find out his thoughts on pitching and developing pitchers. On our TB team we do not use the terms #1 pitcher, etc. and the parents do not either. We approach it that we have 3 bracket pitchers and they are different from each other. We have two that have exceptional speed that throw more screws and curves...then we have my DD that has good speed (about 5 mph less than other 2) and is primarily a drop ball pitcher. My DD was put on the mound to face some very stiff competition this year and big hitting teams. She is not our fastest and throws the fewest number of pitches, but she is different from the other two we have. We beat what I consider to be one of the best teams in our state this year because they had difficulty with her drop and changing speeds. She is not our most powerful pitcher, but the HC likes to put her in against some of the big hitting teams because he thinks she is a better match up.

I guess what I am getting at is what type of pitcher is your DD developing into? Are the other pitchers on the team basically the same as her or is she different. If she is different, does the coach view pitching like I describe above or does he think his "#1 pitcher" is always the best no matter who you are playing against?

These decisions are always tough!!!

Hope that makes sense...just trying to look at it from a different perspective.

These are really good questions. I would have to say that he views things from an individual strength and weakness standpoint and has a big focus on development. So he views things by the situation and not by pre-conceived opinions on who is better, he knows that pitchers can get in a groove and also can go cold and has no problem giving the go to pitcher the hook if she is getting hammered too much.

As for how she is developing, I really don't know, I think this year will tell a lot. She tacked on a good 5 mph from the spring so she is low 50s, if she can tack on another 5 in by next summer then she will be on the faster side of what we see out there. I wouldn't expect it, but she just keeps growing and may be 5-10 by summer.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Thanks again all. The big part of the reluctance to go find a 12U team is the drama we saw last season all other things being equal, I trust the coaching staff of both of these teams and when you go shopping you never know what you are going to get. I think we will go play some guest spots for some 12U teams and feel it out and see what is out there fit wise. If we find the magic fit then awesome and if not then go with the 14U good team.

DD gets the final say on where she plays in general, only if she were to make a really dumb decision would I dissuade her, my job is just to scope things out and advise her on pros and cons, once she has decided she has to live with the good the bad and the ugly. She has been saying for a while that she wants to continue on with the 14s with the good team, I am the one kind of balking and wondering if it makes sense.

 

[CPEM]

DD wants to continue with the good team at 14s, she doesn't like sitting so much but she thinks there are a 3-4 girls she can beat out for more time and moving up the order when not pitching.

There's your answer. Your daughter has identified a challenge and wants to take it on.

If there's one thing I've learned from my years of lurking on this website, is that you want your daughter to be challenged on whichever team she's on. Otherwise, she may plateau. It looks to me like she wants the challenge.