Made a decision--going to 14U

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Oct 27, 2009
41
0
Looks like we've decided to move up to 14U. Now we have a new problem! Which 14U team to choose? My DD has multiple teams recruiting her. There are 2 teams she is considering, she has friends on both teams with whom she has played with before.
For the sake of discussion I'll call them team A and team B. Team A has a sponser that is paying for everything except for travel and they may cover some of that. We've been to one of their practices and were very impressed with their organization and quality of the instruction. With in 5 minutes of being in the batting cage with their coaches and a few minor changes to her swing my DD was ripping the ball like never before! The only concern is the Head coach is an old baseball coach who has converted to softball and has a bit of reputation as being difficult. I did not see that at practice, but we were being recruited.
Team B has a lot of players on the team that she would play in highschool with and her future Highschool coach "helps" coach the team (unofficially of course). She is closer with the girls on team B because she has played middle school ball with them.
I believe that team A is the best choice because of the quality of instruction and I feel that team A would be the most competitive because of the quality of players.
Of course my DD is leaning towards team B because of her relationships with some of the girls.
What to do???????
 
Sep 6, 2009
393
0
State of Confusion
Well travel is usually 90% of the costs. Also many HS coaches arent worthy of the title. What about costs, how will they compare?

Depends on what you want. Is there a difference in their track records, how much they travel, how far they travel, how well they do at nationals, or do they just play regional tournaments, etc? Do they play fireworks or sparkler or ASA OKC or major Triple Crown or other ? Good 14U teams play junior showcases. The better teams will travel much farther, and more often to seek out competition. Weak teams dont need to go far to lose.

For instance, many average teams in our state are not what I would even call good. They think they are, but they are not. There are several very good ones that historically have a lot of sucess on the national level, then there is just all the rest. Of course the average teams are usually daddy coached teams. The average teams might travel 1-2 hrs to play in a local tournament, against the same localish teams, and only in summer.

After age 10, you dont want a daddy coach. You want a real coach. Daddy simply cannot have enough experience to be worth a darn by the time his daughter is 16, and if she has talent, he is doing her a disservice.

The better teams travel a lot. 4,6,10,12,24 hrs to play. (exception might be Southern Calif. where the top competition in the LA area is a significant portion of the top competition in the country at 14U level) Travel some in fall as well as summer. Travel in spring using pickup players if needed to keep the non-HS age girls playing and improving. Play in more selective prestigious tournaments hosted by long time elite organizations, not just anywhere you pay a fee and can enter.

Which brings up a point. During spring when HS girls on a 14U team are playing HS ball, and hopefully improving, what will your daughter be doing?

Will one team or both continue playing with borrowed players to keep her improving or will she lag due to non activity? Will one team or other be sending the girls to a softball camp as a team? The HS girls will also be lifting weights and getting stronger too. At 14&15 they begin to look lean and muscular. I remember my own DD was always looking at her biceps in the mirror, she thought it was so cool to have muscles.

Relationship with girls she already knows shouldnt be part of it. She isnt in it to socialize, she will make great new friendships anyway, in addition to those she already knows, which is a plus.

I recommend playing on the most elite team your DD can make, if you can handle the travel and $$$. Many cant. If you can answer the above questions an answer might be clear.
 
Oct 18, 2009
604
18
Assuming she can get similar play time for both teams, based on what you said above, I would go for Team "A". Financially and developmentally it seems like the better choice.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
What is your DD's goal?

If your DD's primary goal is "to play softball in college", then Team A is clearly the way to go. She should play for the team that will give her the best chance to play in college. Team A is that team--good coaching, nothing will be given to her, so she will have to fight and claw for playing time. (I.e., "intro to college softball")

BUT: If your DD has some specific goal as to where she wants to go to school or if she wishes to get a degree in some difficult area of study, then it is less likely that playing in college will be an option. So, she should consider Team B, because Team B will be more fun.
 

Cannonball

Ex "Expert"
Feb 25, 2009
4,854
113
Wow, I'm a former high school coach. 24 years of doing it. I'm also a baseball coach turned softball coach who coach my dd every year but this year. I'm also difficult. Some time us guys get a bad rap!:eek::D

My dd played on a team for a long time associated with the high school team. It was a type of development program for young girls. Then, she needed to play a tougher schedule and so, we were in your situation and dd made a couple of very good teams. Like your observation, one team very good. One team good but loaded with friends. She decided on friends. We played a decent level of ball and went somewhere in the area of winning 75% of our games playing "up." Now, she's 16 and we had to make the same decision again. This time, we've moved up to 18U Gold (Ok mostly gold but playing some 18U also) and the coach is a former college coach. This is a very serious team. None of this has hurt my dd's chances of playing in college since she is getting seen now AND there is a lot of unofficial interest. Unofficial since she is only a junior. She will play at a very good softball school in college. So, I guess I'm saying that we went the route that your dd wants to go and it all worked out. Either way, enjoy the ride.
 
Jun 6, 2009
240
0
Glad you have come to a decision. I hope it all works out as you would like. As others have said, enjoy the ride. As I look in the rear view mirror, it all went too fast.
 
Oct 27, 2009
41
0
When do our obligations end to her old team?

My DD was asked to go guest play with one of the 14U teams recruiting her in December and we accepted. Her current 12U team has their last scheduled tournament in November. I just found out they added an extra tournament on the same date as the guest playing opportunity. What is the right thing to do? Do we go play with the 12U team or take the opportunity to guest play?
 
May 12, 2008
2,214
0
Well hopefully you checked with your current team before making the other commitment? If so, they should understand your other commitment. OTOH, if this would put your current team in a bind, maybe the guest team could find another guest with little strain.
 
Oct 27, 2009
41
0
I didn't clear specific dates with them. I did tell them we were considering moving up and that she would be guest playing some. Their season was supose to end this coming up weekend so I thought it was safe to commit to the guest playing role for the 14u team in December.
 
Feb 8, 2009
272
18
I wish your daughter luck. Just a heads-up... this seems to be where the talk among the girls becomes more adult than you might like- one of the downsides to moving up early.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,468
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top