Travel Ball inquiry response vibe

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Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
DD could throw strikes and a CU in 10U, for lack of a better term she was recruited by a few TB teams. That is why rec is a mess around here anyways, if you can pitch OK someone is going to steal them out of rec. Settles down at older ages.
 
Nov 26, 2010
4,784
113
Michigan
8U (DD is actually 7 at the moment and will turn 8 in Sept) DD looking to play travel ball as local rec is horrible. Don't necessarily need a powerhouse team, nor one that associated with a large organization, just one that my DD doesn't have to worry about hurting somebody when she plays catch, have kids on her team who have similar love of softball and a team that plays against decent competition.

Anyway local softball board had a post about a team needing players and the specifics regarding timeline was good e.g. practices geared towards moving to 10U kid pitch in spring but Summer and Fall tourneys would still be machine pitch. This is what I thought would be best for my daughter as she has yet to play kid pitch and although Dad throws windmill to her I would like her to work on that some more before moving to kid pitch tourneys. Anyway, I sent a PM saying we were interested and then asked what this team had done in the Spring and Summer. Response to my inquiry was the following(redacted where necessary):


"My daughter played for *****(travel ball org in area) and league in *****. We left the *****(travel ball org) because of differences with the coach. Currently, we are starting over with the **** (new team name) and hoping to get enough girls that want to play in a positive environment. We are done with the coaches who kill the girls spirits because they want the trophy more than the girls do. We'd love to have you come to a practice, no tryouts, just girls who want to play ball and dedicated parents. We practice on Mondays and Wednesday at 6pm in ******. The practice field is behind the bus barns which is on the road just north of the high school all the way back into the bus maintenance entrance. My husbands name is ***, feel free to text him anytime with questions *******."

If I wanted to be cynical it sounds like the parents were unhappy with playing time and quit in order that their kid my playing time, which at 8U is perhaps understandable. My first thought is to not to commit to anything but have my DD go to a few practices and see for myself if the kids she will be playing with will be at least more competitive than her rec teammates.

Looking for some insight from parents with more experience than I with the travel ball scene.

Its hard to say without having witnessed the last team. At that age at least 60% of the teams started because someone's parent was unhappy with a previous team. Are they all wrong? Nope.

Sounds like a great opportunity, go to a couple of practices. No obligation to pay or play for them. See in person how the coaches and kids interact, how the practices are run, what sort of expectations the coaches have...
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Sounds like a great opportunity, go to a couple of practices. No obligation to pay or play for them. See in person how the coaches and kids interact, how the practices are run, what sort of expectations the coaches have...

That's the plan. Will be going to practice tonight.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
I am fine with that :p

a lot of this has to do with the parent/coach having a couple of buckets of balls, a tee, etc., plus spending more one on one time with their player outside of practice than the other kids get. I coached my DD in rec in coach pitch 2 yrs (basically 8u in our area, she was 5 and 6), and 10u for two years (she was 7 and 8), second year of 10u she was in top 3 players on team (where exactly depended on what you valued most), this last year of 10u (her 3rd), I was not HC, but she was easily one of two best players on team (again, depending on what you put more value on). I still moved her around a lot, even had her in outfield occassionally, or sitting, as it was rec. I moved her around more than her HC this year in fact (she either was P or C this season in rec, no other positions, she was #1 catcher, and #2 pitcher, no other pitchers on team really, so she pitched or caught). I do not think any of the parents had issue with the PT (including which position).

as far as scouting TB teams, beware, esp with brand new team/org, as there is no history to go on. I do think chasing trophies is junk at the age levels you are talking about. it is about development, getting better, and they absolutely up to say 12u should be moving around in the field. obviously, P and C are specialties, but they all should learn all positions in the field to some degree.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
a lot of this has to do with the parent/coach having a couple of buckets of balls, a tee, etc., plus spending more one on one time with their player outside of practice than the other kids get. \.

Agreed, although I think quincy's comment was somewhat tongue in cheek :p My father was my coach through little league and I played SS and pitched all 4 years 9-12 but I did so because we worked hard at it not
because he was coach. If you show you deserve it on the field then nobody should complain that the coach's kid is batting 3rd and playing SS/pitching. I try to take the same approach with my DD regarding working
hard and so far she is on board (not sure what will happen when puberty hits but we'll see ). The idea of working hard at something you want to be good at applies to all aspects of life and is one of the most
important things one gets out of sports IMO.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
Agreed, although I think quincy's comment was somewhat tongue in cheek :p My father was my coach through little league and I played SS and pitched all 4 years 9-12 but I did so because we worked hard at it not
because he was coach. If you show you deserve it on the field then nobody should complain that the coach's kid is batting 3rd and playing SS/pitching. I try to take the same approach with my DD regarding working
hard and so far she is on board (not sure what will happen when puberty hits but we'll see ). The idea of working hard at something you want to be good at applies to all aspects of life and is one of the most
important things one gets out of sports IMO.

exactly, the coaches kids are better generally at the younger ages because they have worked harder/more than the other kids. the coaches kids do get the benefit of having buckets of balls, tees, etc to, but there are drawbacks to being the coaches kid as well, such as never getting to say I do not feel like going to practice today, first there, last to leave, helping to schlep the gear more than other players, and also potentially getting slighted for position/PT somewhat (but not much) because coach/parent sometimes bend over backwards to not show favoritism (my DD sat on bench 1st inning on opening day 3 yrs in a row). coaches are generally also tougher on their own kids as well.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
back on topic, ask lots of questions, observe a lot, check which kids go to school, do other activities together (potential cliques), etc.

watch for how much time kids spend standing around waiting, how many ina drill at a time, etc. watching 10 other kids do a drill before you get your chance gets boring real quick.
 

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