Team Choices

[Proudmumof2]

Ever since we decided to leave my 10 year olds team, we have been trying to figure out where to place her. Her being so tiny has thrown a few coaches. All have said they would love her on their team next year when their older players move up. Since she weighs a good 50-75 lbs less than most those girls, I can see their worry. She is currently about 4'4" and 68lbs.

We have managed to narrow it down to three teams and I am hoping to get some advice on which one we should maybe pick. She really enjoyed playing with all the teams and liked the coaches when she went to her tryouts. She has been offered the head catcher position on all three teams. We do have another tryout on Sunday for a 10u A team. However until we meet them and see how she does, I don't want to factor them in just yet. If she stays in 10u, this will be her third year. If she moves to 12u, it will be her first year.

1st team is a first year 12u C team filled with newer players. It is close to home, less than 5 minutes away, and they don't really travel more than an hour away. Most of their games will be local, with a few tournaments.

2nd team is a 2nd year 10u team that is B rated. They travel and are about 20 minutes away. They will play 15 tournaments starting in the middle of March.

3rd team is a 2nd year 10u team that is also B rated. They are 35 minutes from our house. They travel also but will only be playing 3 tournaments a month.

 

[BobInMadison]

You have two choices.

Play up at 12U but a C team which doesn't play a lot of tournaments, or
play 10U and play a lot of tournaments.

People can debate as to whether the better team is worth more than the 12U team, but,

how many tournaments does your DD want to play? A little or a lot? Once you have that question answered, you have really narrowed down the choices quite a bit.

 

[Proudmumof2]

She would play every day if I would let her. Actually, she does basically play every day. When she doesn't have practice, she works with one of her friends who wants to be a pitcher.

I am thinking as nice as it would be to play on a team that is 5 minutes away, by the end of the season she may be frustrated with the skill level. She is a tad bit competitive and I don't see that team being as competitive for her as the other two.

 

[marriard]

1st team is a first year 12u C team filled with newer players. It is close to home, less than 5 minutes away, and they don't really travel more than an hour away. Most of their games will be local, with a few tournaments.

2nd team is a 2nd year 10u team that is B rated. They travel and are about 20 minutes away. They will play 15 tournaments starting in the middle of March.

3rd team is a 2nd year 10u team that is also B rated. They are 35 minutes from our house. They travel also but will only be playing 3 tournaments a month.

Sorry, but none of the above info would drive a decision to say yes (there is some info that would make me think 'no' though).

So first - red flags:

- 12U-C Why play up on a C team. That makes no sense. Play with kids her own age if that is the case.
- 15 tournaments and a fair amount of travel? Seriously? That is a HUGE amount of softball for 10U-B if you are putting in reasonable regular travel. We are a 14U-A team and we are only playing 10 or 11 plus some scrimmages.
- ONLY playing 3 tournaments a month? That is STILL a lot.

Decision Making Things
- What does your DD want? Without laying out YOUR reasons (i.e. I want her to choose this team or consider the following) ask outright "What team do you want to play for and why?"
- Coaching. It is 10U Softball. Who teaches skills best. Who runs the best practice. Who is going to make sure my DD is going to want to come back next year? What style coach are they? Do I want these people coaching my kid? These are IMPORTANT questions. Especially the coming back next season. There are a lot of HIGHLY SKILLED softball players who quit playing because of parents/coaches/not having fun
- Will my DD play in the top 9?
- How many players are there on the team? What has player turn over been like? What do people you respect think of these teams?
- Don't you have a second DD playing? How does this new teams schedule going to work with your other commitments?
- Parent groups. Have you seen the parents of all three teams behave at practice? At a game?

I can think of other questions - but these are the most important questions to me.

 

[Proudmumof2]

Honestly, she wants to play on the A team that she is trying out for on Sunday. While she is a great catcher, so far she hasn't played above B level and I don't know what the difference in play is. I need to ask her if she would rather stay head catcher and be on the B team or possibly be a back up catcher on the A team. The team 35 minutes from us and the A team both play almost the same tournaments as my oldest daughter's team. While I don't like missing either of their games, I do have the world's best parents who are always willing to help shuttle/photo/video if I have to miss a game.

The parents on the second team seemed to be the more friendlier group. I am a little shy though so I didn't go introduce myself and try to fit in with them. Luckily my youngest is Little Miss Sunshine and talks to everyone. I have met the coach for the A team and really like her. Since she called me about my DD, I don't know if she is just trying to be nice to get her on her team or if she is actually that nice. We met for coffee on Tuesday and watched some video of DD playing, plus browsed thru a ton of pictures and looked at her stats that have been recorded. While I am a shy person, I try to believe that everyone is good so hopefully it doesn't bite me in the rear.

Those were great questions that I had not thought about asking myself or my daughter. Thank you!

 

[grcsftbll]

This is JMO but with her size I would be inclined to not play up. Bigger ball, farther distances. All for a C team which is probably going to not face the kind of competition it sounds like she wants (mine is the same way, wants to have to work for it and be challenged). I don't think I'd even be considering this option.

I think 3 tourneys a month sounds about right. Even the kids that want to play all the time still have developing bodies and the rest is pretty important. I'm one to talk right now (we're picking up the next 4 weekends, because we want to find a home) but I think every other weekend with maybe 2 in a row here and there is good for 10U. This is also JMO but kind of not, because there is some pretty good evidence that the intensity of some of the sports participation we're seeing in very young kids is doing damage, physically.

Marriard's points are all great. I would put a HEAVY emphasis on the coaching and talk to the coaches a LOT before you decide. I'm at the point where I don't think I'll choose any team unless we play at least one tournament with them first. A bad coach or even just the wrong type of coach for your daughter can be a very difficult experience as I have recently learned.

I'll share our plan, in case it helps. Take it for what it's worth, as we are also 10U & it's only our second year of travel. But we plan to practice with and pick up with at least 3 teams. We aren't even talking to her much about it. We told her we'll go play with them all, have a great time, then she can decide which team she likes best. She's only 9, of course we will help guide her decision but our #1 priority right now is that she be happy where she ends up. For her that will likely mean playing tough teams, pitching often, and not too much sitting, in addition to liking the coaches and girls. It may be something different that will appeal to yours. I think while they are still little, their input can be pretty important.

 

[BobInMadison]

You may notice something if you look at threads where someone is asking about team choices -- and there are a LOT of threads, and far more people who have that dilemma. There is something that pops up over and over again:

What does your DD want?

Remember, these are kids. They might have a ton of talent but not want to work hard, or no talent and are willing to work really hard. And that could change from year to year or even month to month or day to day.

Or, softball may be a social thing. It was for my DD 1. When her friends were playing softball, she played. When most of her friends quit, she quit. Other parents might blame my DD 1 for being a bad influence on THEIR kids, because a lot of it was a group of girls all deciding to play together, and later all deciding NOT to play anymore. It was frustrating for coaches when some talented kids hung up their cleats, but that is life. At one point she was really into softball, then she wasn't, then she quit her TB team and hung up her cleats, then she came back to play HS ball, then she quit again, then she debated whether to play again...

I've seen all sorts of things. I once saw a HS game where there were 4 girls who had been pitchers, but quit pitching (3 on one team, 1 on the other). Some of the girls even quit playing for a while, but came back after quitting pitching. One for a few months, another for a few years. I've seen games where the starting pitcher was a girl who had quit pitching, but later decided to try it again. I've known of cases where the relationship between parents and kids was greatly damaged when the kid really didn't want to play (softball, or baseball for boys) anymore. I've known of long, long friendships between coaches that were strained or even ended because of stuff that happened on a TB team.

With all the advice you will see, you will notice that the happiest girls are the ones who control their fate. And, the strongest relationships between parents and their DDs.

 

[grcsftbll]

With all the advice you will see, you will notice that the happiest girls are the ones who control their fate. And, the strongest relationships between parents and their DDs.

Love this. I totally agree

 

[Rambler34]

Other than just the individual team see what the organization offers as well. My DD played for one that had weekly organizational practices. They would put the 8U-12U together and the 14U-16U together to run drills. It offered so much more than just what they get from normal practice and lessons. You may find one of the teams she likes offers more than the others.