Tough Decision: March 31st cutoff date

A bit of background. My second year 12U DD started playing for a 14U travel team this past fall. When we joined the team we made it clear with the coaches that she would be returning to rec ball in the spring so she could compete under Socal ASA rules. The Socal ASA rules require that a player not be on a travel type team roster after March 31st. At the time the coaches were supportive as she was added to the team as the #3 pitcher. Fast forward to the present. She is now the #1 pitcher and is pitching the majority of the innings. The former #2 pitcher is doing well but we are simply not winning as consistently when she pitches. The former #2 pitcher left the team as she was not getting enough innings. Bottom line is the travel team will be left with 1 pitcher and getting another at this time of year is extremely difficult. On the other hand, if my DD returns to rec league (I registered her with the league at the beginning of the season and she has been playing weekday games to maintain eligibility) we will have a very good team that has a realistic chance at a state title. This type of opportunity does not present itself very often. While her 14U travel team is very competitive we don't have a shot a national title this year.

My DD is torn and came to me last night very upset about having to make a decision. I am posting this as I find this board full of insightful individuals and I am betting that some of you have been in a similar predicament in the past. Thoughts?

That's a tuff one there. We kinda had the same situation, but then a little different. We had a good Rec ball organization. ( Dixie Youth ) We started when we were 5, played until 11. It was a good setup because we could keep our travel team together and play in the rec. So that meant we got a practice field and practice time, and 2-3 games a week. Then travel ball on the weekend.

The old rules had no bearing on travel eligibility. We could do both. At 11 we won state undefeated ( gave up NO runs at state ) and went to the Dixie Youth World Series in Texas. Once we made it to the WS we realized other travel teams had done the same set up as us. We came in second. A good team out of Virginia beat us 4-3. But the experience was great, good times. After that we stuck to just travel. The next year I heard Dixie Youth changed the rules as pertaining to travel girls playing.

My point is it can be a good experience either way. It will have to be an individual choice.

You told the coach what the deal was. I wouldn't leave the rec coach hanging.

There are places where travel is weak, and places where rec is fairly strong. If your location is similar to your name, the travel should be quite strong.

I would want my daughter to play with and compete against the best players she could. She will grow and keep improving in that environment, even if not a winning team. Winning is fun, but only if its against the best competition you can compete against. Anything else is a hollow victory.

Thats the reason I find much of HS very un-exciting, lame, and boring, compared to elite travel ball. DD's team will go to state tourney, and I couldnt care less. I would prefer they didnt. I want the ridiculous HS season over so they can get back to real softball.

I kind of understand what you mean SoCalDad. We don't have the same rules you have here in the northeast but my DD played Little League Softball and club last summer. During the regular season for Little League we never miss a club game or tournament or even practice for a Little League game. But after the regular season ends in July the "all star" season begins with a chance to compete for a District/ Section and state title (at the 9-10 age; 11-12s can go to regionals and the LLWS as seen on ESPN). For our town and those girls that play on that team there is a level of pride in representing our town. The all star team had good pitching and a decent shot at going pretty far last summer so during our last club tournament in the finals; in extra innings; I had to pull my DD from that game crying to get her to her to her All Star district finals game. It sounds crazy but I knew we had a shot to win and since she was a key player if she wasn't there the all star team would probably lose and we'd let our town down. Her 9-10 all star team made it all the way to the state finals last summer and the girls had a summer and experience they will never forget.

At the time she didn't want to leave her club team in the middle of a game (a meaningless last minute entry tournament; not nationals or states or anything) and hated me for pulling her but now if you ask her she would have regretted not playing and wouldn't have traded that experience going to the state finals for anything.

Fast forward to today. She has since switched club teams (we would have probably done so anyway) to a team that fit us better. She is now best of friends with the girls she played on the All Star team and plan to play together again to try and win the state this year as 10-11s. In the end... we found another club team that fits us better anyway and my DD had an experience she will never forget with a greater love for playing softball than she has ever had.

While the level of competition is not as good as what she gets in travel she still likes to play with that team and has pride in representing our town. If her all star team sucked on the other hand (like my sons) and had no shot to win at a higher level I probably would just not have her play all stars and just keep her in club. I think she would agree as well.

After all I've said, our dilemma was not as difficult as yours because we are allowed to play both club and little league. I don't know if I'd risk losing a travel season to only play Little League and All stars. In your case I think I may leave it up to DD to decide what she wants to do and what is important to her at this age. Travel teams are always looking for players; this chance for a state title may only come around once... I'm sure if your DD doesn't play; it will be a domino effect and all the other travel level girls on that team will start to leave as well (my sons team fell apart like that; he wasn't one of those travel level players).

mudbug said:

Isnt being the best rec team, kind of like being the smartest kid with down's syndrome?

No offense, just asking. There are places where travel is weak, and places where rec is fairly strong. If your location is similar to your name, the travel should be quite strong.

I would want my daughter to play with and compete against the best players she could. She will grow and keep improving in that environment, even if not a winning team. Winning is fun, but only if its against the best competition you can compete against. Anything else is a hollow victory.

Thats the reason I find much of HS very un-exciting, lame, and boring, compared to elite travel ball. DD's team will go to state tourney, and I couldnt care less. I would prefer they didnt. I want the ridiculous HS season over so they can get back to real softball.

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Mud, I know your no fan of HS ball. And that's ok. I just wondered why it is so bad in your area. Do none of the travel girls play HS? It's hard for me to believe even at the state level that the teams are not 75% or above travel girls. Because even at our local level we have a 75% travel ratio.

I enjoy our HS season. But we live in a largely populated area, so our top travel girls play for different schools. Makes it exciting to see them try to lead their HS and beat their fellow travel teammates.

But I do agree that I love the travel season once it starts.

Just wondering.

Theres a couple of good teams, theres a few really good teamsl. But the majority arent, and many are pretty bad, a few are horriible even by rec ball standards.

A good fraction of the 30 ish games you play may be against these poor teams where you 15 run-rule them. Thats no fun, its just a waste of time that I must leave work early to watch.

Often coaching is poor too. In other words, most of the season can be unchallenging and actually detrimental to good players. Practice is often a joke. Poor coaches let them get away with poor form, develop bad habits, etc that their travel coaches have worked hard to prevent or eliminate. Sometimes try to teach them outright wrong things. Saw a game last week where the coach didnt even know the rules about substituting players, had to ask the ump.

Winning really mainly depends on how many travel players attend a given HS. This mostly defines what kind of team they can field. Even a very poor coach will do well with 10 travel girls, while possibly hurting them along the way. The best coach will still do poorly by comparison with only 1 or 2 travel caliber girls. A school might have 10 travel players, but no experienced pitcher, then they will be very poor too. Throw in the idiot parents that often think their rec ball daughter is a real player, gripe about her not playing , complain constantly , etc and its just a poor overall experience overall to me.

If you are fortunate enough to be on a very good team lots of high level travel players, and have other very good teams to play , it might be more fun. That is the case for a few teams no doubt, the ones that are consistently best in state very year.

I understand what your saying, and agree. I feel we are in one of those 'fortunate' situations. Good team, good coach, good district and region to play in. But we do have 4-5 teams that are poor at best. Those are the ones I'm in no hurry to watch, or I will volunteer to work the concession stand.

Yes we have a few idiot parents too. I sure love to hear them run their mouth. Gives me something to laugh at.

We are very lucky, the whole infield are 'A' level travel players. No Golds. We have 2 freshmen pitchers that are the real deal starting Varsity. ( a righty and lefty travel pitchers both with very different styles ) I can't wait til about their Jr year. They should be extremely tuff.

Update: First off, thank you for your feedback and insight. Both my DD and I appreciate you taking time to share your life experiences with us. My DD has decided to play on the 12U Rec Tournament team. A few factors contributed to her decision.

First, next year the majority of the girls on the 14U travel team will be playing High School ball during the spring season. My DD was going to have to move onto another travel team at the end of this season. She joined the team to learn and grow as a player. That she became their #1 pitcher is a testament to how hard she practiced.

Second, the rec league voted and agreed to field a 12U team only if my DD returned. The rec league is a C division and has only one other 12U pitcher capable of pitching at the tournament level. The girls on this team are her friends and it really bothered her that if she changed her original commitment to return than a team would not be formed.

Finally the coaches, players and parents on her travel team support her decision. Everyone knew the conditions when she joined the team. While they will miss her for the next 2 -3 months they made sure she knew she would be welcome back once the tournament season was over.

Mud, your analogy about rec ball and Down's Syndrome is so offensive I'm shocked the site administrator allowed it to be posted and still allows it to be on the site...if your family has been fortunate enough not to have go through the sometimes daily grind that is aiding the disabled or mentally challenged to have as normal a life as is possible, consider yourself very lucky...