Rec ball took a crummy turn

[DefiantGray]

In the same boat with my 9yr old on this situation. DD plays on a 10u travel team, she has a cannon for an arm which is why she plays CF/3rd in travel. DD has been taken pitching lessons since Oct and it's not at the travel ball pitching level but wanted her to get some time in the circle to build her confidence. After reading this thread yesterday and her playing rec last night(pitching), i began to recall some items from this thread: bad habits, throwing speed down a little etc. last night she took a simple bunt down the 3rd base line and roped it to 1st base, 1st baseman got scared of the throw and sailed off her glove. it would have been an easy catch in travel. When she was batting(lefty), the other team had their 2nd baseman nearly in the outfield against her. She never hits to the right side, in travel she consistently hits oppo to middle and is the travel team's slapper. thats another thing...no slapping at 10u rec or show bunt-pull back and swing away.

Oh well, she had fun with her neighborhood/school friends in the game. She had 2 hits, 4 RBIs (6 runs scored by the team), had 8 strikeouts, 6 BBs and gave up only one hit....lol and still lost the game. However, this is the last and only season i will do this with rec ball. Sticking with travel and saying No Thanks to the parents who ask...."can your daughter play this season in rec ball?"

 

[JAD]

I guess im a tad puzzled from what I am reading here. It sounds like its viewed as a sin to play to win if the game is rec.Why does player development have to be in conflict with playing to win? While certainly one can teeter too far either way, it seems to me that a balance can be arrived at between the two all the while teaching the concept of being part of a team.

There is a difference between "playing to win" and "managing to win". No one has a problem with teams "playing to win", it is "managing to win" in REC ball that most people have a problem with. If a coach wants to "manage to win" they need to be coaching TB.

 

[Jojo]

If your DD is playing 10u travel ball, she should be playing 12u rec. It would be a better fit for her, especially since she's a bigger size.

 

[Dadto#7]

In our area you are not allowed to play both tb and rec ball. You can guest play up to 3 tb tournaments a season or play 3 tb tournaments as a rec team. Past that you lose you rec eligibility. OP have you talked to your dd? One night coming home from a rec game I asked my dd if she was having fun. She told me no, that she was bored and actually felt bad for the girls she was pitching against. That was her last season of rec. Maybe you could find another tb team in your area that plays more than 6 tournaments a season?

 

[Rocketech1]

There is a difference between "playing to win" and "managing to win". No one has a problem with teams "playing to win", it is "managing to win" in REC ball that most people have a problem with. If a coach wants to "manage to win" they need to be coaching TB.

Ok explain the difference? Unless you are coaching a team where you rotate the positions equally among all players and let every player bat in all positions in the lineup, then you are "managing to win". Just because it's rec league doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to field a competitive team each game. Some kids, even in rec, put in extra work away from team practice and their effort should be rewarded with things like more playing time, playing key positions and batting higher in the lineup.

When I coached rec, my goals each season were a) teach softball fundamentals, b) field a competitive team (but not necessarily a winning team) and c) make sure the girls have fun. In fact the more I think about it, those three goals could apply to travel ball as well...

 

[quandofloo]

Ok explain the difference? Unless you are coaching a team where you rotate the positions equally among all players and let every player bat in all positions in the lineup, then you are "managing to win". Just because it's rec league doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to field a competitive team each game. Some kids, even in rec, put in extra work away from team practice and their effort should be rewarded with things like more playing time, playing key positions and batting higher in the lineup.

When I coached rec, my goals each season were a) teach softball fundamentals, b) field a competitive team (but not necessarily a winning team) and c) make sure the girls have fun. In fact the more I think about it, those three goals could apply to travel ball as well...

I won't assume to speak for them, but I will answer the question for how I coach my 10U rec team. I explain to my parents and my kids at the first practice and before our first game that there are only three positions that will be "restricted" on my team. Pitcher, Catcher, and First Base. Those will be assigned to players who I feel are safe at those positions. It is not an ability issue as much as it is a player safety issue. I make sure to explain to all of them that if the girls want to learn those positions that I will gladly work with them during practices or after when we have time, but I will not put them in harms way during a game.

Every other position I rotate every two innings because most of our games only make it four innings. This is rec so I feel it is my responsibility to not only teach the girls the rules of the game, but to also give them an opportunity to experience the different aspects of the game. I have had the "bad" players blossom and begin to understand how to field ground balls at second after seeing what they really look like coming off of a bat for a few games and having a coach show a little confidence in them can be all it takes to convince some of them that they are actually good enough to be out there. Plus, my best players need to understand that they are going to have to learn how to play in the outfield eventually since infield spots are going to get scarce as they move up.

It is all too easy to forget that we are dealing with fragile psyches. Sometimes all a 9 year old girl needs is for an authority figure to show the slightest bit of confidence in them for them to suddenly develop their own sense of confidence.

 

[BT3100]

DD played he first REC game on Monday.
She was happy as she is at an age where she is about the same age as the other girls (11). DD pitches and she's improved a great deal since last year. Our league holds assessments and she was in the top 3 out of the 65 girls
In all fairness about 80% of the other girls don't play softball seriously and about 10% are on travel teams.
We only had 3 practices before our first game as the weather in the NE has been awful.
It was so bad that we did not have anyone catch DD during practice.
Our first game was Monday at 6:00 PM. We suited up a girl to catch at 5:50 PM. This girl has never caught before, let along a girl tossing 51-52 with a change that, lets just say is not 100% to snuff yet, but the catcher did AWESOME!
She was the bright spot of the day!!!
DD pitched 4 innings (max) and struck out 10. She gave up 2 runs and walked 2. A good line but against REC talent...
The problem was that other team had a great pitcher and 4 innings went by quickly... so now were in the 5th and they have a good #2.. and we have, no #2.. so the game was over. It became a walk fest and we lost.
It was sad but I will be helping the girls on the team who want to pitch. We have some nice talent, they just need some work.
The learning for me was that the commitment that DD made to pitch with a coach 2X a week over the winter paid off as our other pitcher was close to DD last summer but did not pitch over the winter. It's amazing how fast it can be lost.

 

[csmda5]

There's some definite truth in people saying things will change skill wise. They develop a hesitation before plays and throws that make all the difference in higher level playing. They also start to throw softer and run slower trying not to hurt anyone.

My daughter could have played for majors in Little League this season. My first reason to pass is the fact that she's already 5'10" and still growing, I don't know why but parents have a big issue with that. The 2nd issue is that none of the girls could catch her pitches and I don't think they'd do much better catching her overhand throws either. It's hard because Travel ball takes all the girls. If all our local girls played LL this year we could go pretty far with all stars at the end of the season. But she has middle school and travel ball so she isn't missing out. It's just sad how our LL program fell apart a few years ago.