High school softball without playing for travel team??

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Aug 5, 2018
3
0
Hello,

This is my first post to this forum. I have a 12 year old, 7th grader, who has only played one season of recreational softball. She wanted to tryout for the middle school JV team, so I found a hitting coach and she trained with the coach 4 times this summer and made the team this week.
She knows that it will be harder to make the high school team and she was interested in trying out for a travel team for 8th grade-most of the girls on her team are on a travel team. I looked into some local teams and found out she would have a conflict with her summer track team meets. The softball tournaments are on Sundays and her track meets are on Sundays. She doesn't want to quit track, because she loves it and almost qualified for the Junior Olympics this year in her event- (came in 6th place-only the top 5 finishers advanced) I am wondering if anyone thinks it would be possible for her to have a good chance to make the high school team continuing with recreational softball with private training. I'm thinking the high school coaches expect the girls that tryout to only play on travel teams.
sidenote-Her hitting coach did tell her she is a quick learner and wants her to learn slapping pretty early on because of her speed.
 
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
Keep working. And contact the head coach of some of the teams she is interested in and explain your situation. No, Most coaches dont like dual sport players because its hard to count on them but many coaches also like players with good attitude and capable of learning and being coached. Get her on a TB team that will help her get reps and grow as a player AND that will work around her schedule. It can be done.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
It depends. HS softball teams run the gamut talent-wise. There are some programs who are comprised of mostly travel level players. There are others who are mostly rostered with rec level kids. It all depends on what the level of the school softball program is at.

As for playing on a travel team. I would find it hard as a coach to take a player on the roster who will miss the important bracket games of a tournament on Sunday on a regular basis during the season. What would the track coach do if she missed for softball?

Maybe you can find a part time travel program in your area where she'll get the exposure to better competition with a decreased level of needed commitment.
 
Feb 26, 2015
12
1
I’d also add that it also depends on the numbers that tryout. Our high school coach always says he’s going to cut. They ask girls early in the school year how many are trying out and wayyyyyy more sign up than turn up at tryouts by spring. He said he was for sure cutting this year. Didn’t happen. he’s never cut as far back as I can remember. ~5 years or more. This year we won our state’s championship title. We had 3 seniors, 5 juniors (& one of those ended up quitting before the playoffs), 4 sophomores, and around a dozen freshmen. Not cuts on a team that ended up winning our state’s championship title.


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Last edited:
Aug 29, 2015
26
3
Midwest
Yea Sparky has it right, depends on how talented your high school team is. IMO that's a non issue as in our area the level of play for high school ball is sub par at best compared to travel. Also in our area softball/track are the same high school season so that creates a conflict here, but maybe not for you.
My DD tried/went out for track her 7th grade year and found out she loved it. She then wanted to do some travel track if she wasn't playing softball. What we found out was that a lot of times district qualifiers and regional qualifiers were on Saturdays so we could just miss 1 or 2 pool games if we were playing that weekend. In the past two years she has missed two pool games and one bracket game.
She has qualified for Jr. Olympics in multiple events the last two years and we haven't had a conflict yet with nationals as Jr. Olympics has been after our final softball tourney (PGF Premier may be a conflict depending on what level your planning to play).
Now I'm saying it could work, but not saying you don't need to have time off work, sometimes leave a day early and be ready to compete in track, then jump in a car and drive multiple hours to a softball complex in the next state or something. It isn't easy, but it can be done. We had both a track and softball coach that wanted to have her on their teams and worked together to make it happen.
One issue I have is when you said the schedules will conflict, but don't really know how you know they will conflict at this point. I don't think they've announced the dates for the regional and district track meets yet, and while I know a "plan" for next years travel ball schedule, it's not set in stone yet, as depending on the level your playing you have to qualify for some of those tourneys.

My advice would just be open and honest with coaches, and they know what to expect of you and you of them. My DD just navigated the tryout landscape for a national level team and before she accepted that teams offer we sat down and explained the track situation with them and they were fine with it.
 
Aug 5, 2018
3
0
Thanks for the replies. Her track coach is fine with her missing some meets. I will look at other teams in the area. I only looked at a schedule for one team that is located close to us, and they pretty much played every weekend until about mid July. I did see a few team websites that had listed B/AA/AAA/Future level teams and I couldn't figure out the difference. I'm guessing one type of team doesn't travel as much? At this point, I'm not looking for her to be on a high level team-I just want her to play on a team with a coach that will work with us during the summer months.
Her district/regional qualifying meets are Sat/Sunday, but her event is usually done by noon, so we could definitely make it to afternoon softball games.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Her chances of making the HS team depend on how many girls the coaches have to choose from, but SPEED does not slump and if your DD is fast most coaches would keep her on the team as a pinch runner.
 
Nov 26, 2010
4,784
113
Michigan
Is she going to run track in HS? In my state the HS softball and track seasons are at the same time. What are the school rules for athletes participating in 2 sports during the same season?
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
Her district/regional qualifying meets are Sat/Sunday, but her event is usually done by noon, so we could definitely make it to afternoon softball games.

At tournaments, bracket play usually begins Saturday around noon or so depending on where the team is seeded. The team may have played a couple of pool games before that in the morning. On Sunday, by noon there will be many teams eliminated from the tournament. You DD's team may not make it to late games on Sunday. You'll be leaving one venue at noon, driving, and then trying to get to another venue at a reasonable time. It'll be hard to do.

When kids are young they want to do everything. Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a day. It becomes especially hard when an athlete wants to participate in two travel level sports which are in season together. Too many times I've seen kids who are so over-committed to different activities, not necessarily multiple sports, everything suffers from the lack of available time to dedicate to the activities.
 
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
-Her hitting coach did tell her she is a quick learner and wants her to learn slapping pretty early on because of her speed.

^^^^ This is the first thing I thought when I read your comment about JO qualifying ^^^^

Softball teams always need speed. If she wants to make the HS team, work on bunting and slapping; and they will find a spot for her if she can put the ball in play and get on base. It sounds like track is her sport, so I wouldn't recommend missing meets to play softball.
You may be able to find a travel softball coach who will allow her to join as a "practice" player. Attend as many practices as possible and tourneys, knowing that she may see limited playing time. The growth will come from having regular practices for the most part anyway.

But come HS tryouts, bring that speed!!
 

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