Struggling to make decision about next steps for 10U

[Annesdad]

1) You are not going to find the perfect TB team for your DD in her very first year playing TB. Once you get around TB and see how it works, you'll make a better decision. In other words: You will make a mistake in team selection. Everyone does.

2) If you are trying to develop your DD, then she has to play TB. At her age, you could wait another year before you "get serious". But, you have to understand that your DD is not progressing playing rec ball.

3) Except in SoCal, rec ball is not close to TB. It is very, very doubtful your rec team can be competitive at a TB tournament unless you played a very low level TB tournament. An A-level TB team would crush your rec team. So, you will probably get embarrassed playing a TB tournament.

An addendum to my first reply here is that she is seeing a pitching coach and hitting coach weekly. Keeping that going for a year and playing req at the higher age level may be the way to get another year with her LL team. Problem is that she needs more competitive at bats to really see results from her hitting and needs more mound time to see results from pitching.../facepalm

 

[sluggers]

after that happens a couple/few times how likely is it that the girls want to continue?

Kids start quitting sports at 12YOA, so playing in a travel tournament won't change the dynamic very much.

My problem is that the kids won't have any fun. The kids on the rec team "don't know what hit them" when they enter a TB tournament. They've never played teams that fast, and get eaten alive. The kids don't have any fun, the parents don't have any fun, and the coaches don't have any fun. The time would have been better spent at a "Wet Willy's Water Park".

What would be your feelings about your daughter playing as the oldest on a team like this?

Do you mean playing on a rec team that went to a TB tournament? I'm a lot more experienced about this than you...I had three kids play softball, with two kids playing at an advanced level.

I would not let my kid play a TB tournament if she only had been on a rec league team. The rec teams are murdered by any decent TB team. A kid would not be emotionally scarred by doing it...it is just a complete waste of time.

They go to the tournament, they lose every pool game 20-0, and then they play one game in the elimination round. Not exactly a great way to spend a weekend.

It sounds to me like your DD is a pretty good player and you see that she has talent for the game.

Either you want your child to develop into a player or you don't. If you want her to develop, she has to play TB.

I understand about having other children, a job, and other commitments. But, that doesn't change anything. Kids who play on TB teams are much better than teams that play rec ball. It is not even close.

 

[grcsftbll]

Well, my DD has more fun when she's being challenged. When we play a weaker tournament, she doesn't care about the trophy. Her first comment is always something like, "I don't want to play one of those again." My preference is playing at the highest level where she is competitive, without it being too insane.

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[Annesdad]

Kids start quitting sports at 12YOA, so playing in a travel tournament won't change the dynamic very much.

My problem is that the kids won't have any fun. The kids on the rec team "don't know what hit them" when they enter a TB tournament. They've never played teams that fast, and get eaten alive. The kids don't have any fun, the parents don't have any fun, and the coaches don't have any fun. The time would have been better spent at a "Wet Willy's Water Park".



Do you mean playing on a rec team that went to a TB tournament? I'm a lot more experienced about this than you...I had three kids play softball, with two kids playing at an advanced level.

I would not let my kid play a TB tournament if she only had been on a rec league team. The rec teams are murdered by any decent TB team. A kid would not be emotionally scarred by doing it...it is just a complete waste of time.

They go to the tournament, they lose every pool game 20-0, and then they play one game in the elimination round. Not exactly a great way to spend a weekend.

It sounds to me like your DD is a pretty good player and you see that she has talent for the game.

Either you want your child to develop into a player or you don't. If you want her to develop, she has to play TB.

I understand about having other children, a job, and other commitments. But, that doesn't change anything. Kids who play on TB teams are much better than teams that play rec ball. It is not even close.

Sorry that I'm not doing a good job explaining myself! I mean joining a travel team that has all younger players than her. She did play in a tournament with this travel team and she did well but it was against b or c level teams if I was to guess.

You don't have to sell me on the idea that travel teams are better than rec teams! It's not even close, that I know.

My daughter does have talent and my main goals are to allow her to develop as well as continue to have fun! I just don't know what the best next step is and it's not just falling in my lap. lol

 

[Eric F]

If you feel strongly (which you seem to) that it's time for your DD to play at a higher level, it's time to wrap up your commitment and feelings of loyalty to the rec team/org, and focus on what's best for your DD's development. Look into EVERY team that is within your area, and find the one that fits her needs best. The first two assessment factors are quality of coaching and playing time.

As for playing on a younger team, I tend to advise against it, unless it's a short-term situation and there aren't any other reasonable options.

 

[Fastpitch_Dad]

Honestly I would worry about the skill level and not the age. Just make sure she isn't the best on the team and let her get TB exposure and evaluate it again in August. Being forced to age up after one year might be a good thing to make sure you pick the right team for her skill level because she will likely improve a lot!

Good luck and make sure she agrees with the plan.

 

[Snotbubbles]

If your DD is capable, move to TB. If your DD is a pitcher, make sure she will get circle time. Not much of a decision IMO.

 

[GoCaboNow]

Hey. My '06 10U daughter is at that point where I think she's ready to make the jump to a travel/tournament team from Little League. She's has one full year (Spring and Fall) left in minor (10U) in LL but over the past 3 seasons it's become clear that she needs to make a change for more competition/development. The team she is on (which I have been an assistant coach for the past 3+ years) has won the league championship every season since we added teams. We have decided to move the team up to the Majors even though we have a year left at this level.

We are kicking around the possibility of putting this team in some 10U tournaments even though we are playing in a 12U rec league but none of us has ever done much with travel/tournaments. My concern here is that this will fizzle out and we'll just be stuck playing LL again. (I honestly don't think I can do both unless it's in this type of situation. Practicing with two different teams will be impossible as I have other kids in other sports.)

During this season I have exposed my daughter to a couple of travel teams and one asked her to join but we didn't want to abandon our LL team. That team is a younger team (07 and 08) and I'm concerned that a) the level of play is going to be below her age after she adjusts to the differences between TB and Rec and b) she'll have to age up to 12U and start the team finding process all over again in a year.

I think the best situation would be to find a team with players who are mostly 06s so she can grow with a team. The problem with this is I haven't been able to find "That team". The other option is to just play LL at this 12U level for a season and make a change later. I think going travel sooner rather than later is best but I really don't know.

Has anyone been in this situation before? Anyone have suggestions? Thanks in advance!

DD was in a similar position last year. She is a 2005 and after years of rec we thought there had to be something more challenging. We finally started looking into some competitive teams and did tryouts early last year. DD was offered everywhere she tried out but we got cold feet because it was hard to tell the nature of the teams just from tryouts. Like Sluggers says we probably would have picked the "wrong" team - lol. About that time our rec league combined with another to make a competitive team to play tournaments on the weekend and rec during the week. We looked at it as a nice way to dip our toes into competitive softball and dd got to play with some kids and coaches she knew. DD made that team and has played rec league and competitive tournaments the last two years. This year, as a 10yo, she played Majors, and 12u travel since her team is a 2004.

DD wouldn't change a thing. She really likes her teammates and she pitches a lot on her rec and travel team. She gets the same hitting and pitching instruction as she would if she played on a full time comp team. Our rec district was pretty strong for majors this year. About half the teams had travel kids or had a separate tournament team affiliated with their league team so they played both. That said, if I had it to do all over again, and I had to make a decision of rec only or comp only...It would be a huge no brainer to go competitive. Maybe the first team works. Maybe you learn a little more where your daughter might fit better and you find a better team for her.

 

[Annesdad]

DD was in a similar position last year. She is a 2005 and after years of rec we thought there had to be something more challenging. We finally started looking into some competitive teams and did tryouts early last year. DD was offered everywhere she tried out but we got cold feet because it was hard to tell the nature of the teams just from tryouts. Like Sluggers says we probably would have picked the "wrong" team - lol. About that time our rec league combined with another to make a competitive team to play tournaments on the weekend and rec during the week. We looked at it as a nice way to dip our toes into competitive softball and dd got to play with some kids and coaches she knew. DD made that team and has played rec league and competitive tournaments the last two years. This year, as a 10yo, she played Majors, and 12u travel since her team is a 2004.

DD wouldn't change a thing. She really likes her teammates and she pitches a lot on her rec and travel team. She gets the same hitting and pitching instruction as she would if she played on a full time comp team. Our rec district was pretty strong for majors this year. About half the teams had travel kids or had a separate tournament team affiliated with their league team so they played both. That said, if I had it to do all over again, and I had to make a decision of rec only or comp only...It would be a huge no brainer to go competitive. Maybe the first team works. Maybe you learn a little more where your daughter might fit better and you find a better team for her.

This sounds like a very likely scenario for my daughter. Not sure it's the best thing for her but I don't know what other options I have.