Yet another commish question

[BuckeyeGuy]

I had to spend a lot more time reminding the 4's not to throw dirt, and to watch the batter, but other than that, it was fine.

Another reason (already raised) to be vigilant in how I do this.

What I finally decided to do:

Cutoff date has been moved to Apr 30 for all divisions with the exception of the youngest girls. Their cutoff is now Jul 31 - they must turn 5 on or before that date. This is in line with our previous rule, and with other local leagues.

 

[MacLobo]

PONY now allows for 3 year olds to sign up for T-Ball. Crazy.

http://www.pony.org/Assets/Corporate+Assets/FAQs/League+Age+Keys/2016+Baseball+League+Age+Key.pdf

Ya, my boy will play next year when he's 4, but I'm really not interested in messing with that at 3! I'm not sure what they'd really get out of it, except for constantly being told not to do something that 3 year-olds are supposed to be doing (rolling in the grass, digging in the dirt, running in random circles).
We're sticking with soccer this spring!

 

[finalcloud]

oh god you said the "s" word......soccer.

 

[MacLobo]

oh god you said the "s" word......soccer.

LOL! I will say this about soccer: It's a great option for just getting those little ones out there and running! No substitute for that!

 

[bmakj]

my $0.02

if you are worried about having kids not be able to play with classmates, why not use same cut off date as your local school system?

That being said, I think there are times when exceptions are warranted, and times they are not. My DD played Tball when she was LA3 and 4 for softball (but LA 4 and 5 for baseball, different cutoff dates, which is what tball uses). when I went to move her to coach pitch softball (basically a 8U division), she was LA 5, but 6 prior to opening day. softball Admin hemmed and hawed, they finally agreed to let her play if I would manage a team. She did fine, abillity wise I would say she was near top of the bottom half of my team (6-8 yr olds). she would have been bored to tears in tball, and I would have gone nuts. fast forward one year (she is LA6, 7 prior to OD), I get two "Board Approved" 5 yr olds on my team. One spent all her time putting sand in all the girls helmets, the other was allright, just not very interested, and had real trouble hitting . but their parents insisted they had to play softball, because baseball (ie tball) is for boys. fast forward two years (2015 spring season), DD and I move up to 9-10s (she is LA7), she does just fine. Probably about the bottom of the top half of team ability wise. This year she is LA8, will most likely be in top third of team ability wise (based on what I know is coming back in the division, small, only three teams)

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

my $0.02

if you are worried about having kids not be able to play with classmates, why not use same cut off date as your local school system?

That one is even weirder - Sep 30 is the cutoff, but school starts in Aug. And I'm not worried about them playing with classmates - in fact, I'm sort of against the idea. JMO, but I feel that kids (around here anyway) are too insulated from "change" and "different" and need exposure to new and weird experiences. It's an uphill battle, for sure.