JJsqueeze
Dad, Husband....legend
I am facing a bit of a conundrum. My older daughter is a 2002 pitcher, she started playing travel last year and took her lumps as a first year. We had a bit of drama just before the end of the season with her coach being fired by the org and half the team leaving, she was in the half that left in support of the coach.
So with the travel and the time and drama, I got pretty soured on TB for a while. She was invited to play up to 14s with a local team of 2001 all stars in a fall ball league and the plan was to then take them to 14U TB at the end of the season. I didn't commit to the spring because I wasn't sure about giving up that second year of 12s and going right back into lump taking mode as 2002 playing up. Right after we made that commitment, her old coach from last winter called us up and asked her to join his org with another pitcher to try to get a 2002 squad going and in the meantime play up with his 14U squad. So I talked to both coaches and they both agreed there was no problem with her playing on both in the fall since one had games on Saturdays and one on Sundays.
The season has gone well and is nearing the end now, she has solidified herself as a top two hitter on the local team and she shares the #2 pitching duties with another pitcher. The coaches are good, but the team is mediocre and they are carrying a few girls that are not quite ready for TB. They are going to have a tough season of growth ahead of them once they come out of this fall league and go out into the wilderness.
The other team meanwhile is winning the vast majority of their games and beating good teams that are filled with 2000 and some 1999 players. They are a really good squad. DD is pitching in a #2/#3 role and bats low in the order and gets a few innings here and there at 1st. Mostly riding the bench when not pitching.
I just found out that decision time has come, I have to get back to the local coach and let them know if DD will be continuing with them by November so they can plan tryouts in Dec. to fill any holes made by players that are not going to continue.
I thought that the TB coaches initial offer was to have her join for the fall while we try to get the 2002s going, and if we didn't then come spring we would be on our own, but I talked to him yesterday to see what he thought the chances were of getting the team going and he said that he still thinks they are good during the Dec tryout season, but that even if they don't get a full squad, she and the other 2002 pitcher have proven that they can hang with the 14U squad and are invited to join that squad permanently.
Both are good options and have their benefits, but both have the same drawback, namely that DD will face another year of lump taking and not get to have a year of being more dominant as a second year 12U.
DD wants to continue with the good team at 14s, she doesn't like sitting so much but she thinks there are a 3-4 girls she can beat out for more time and moving up the order when not pitching. She like the coaches on the other team but there is a little click of 5 girls on that team that she feels excludes her and the other players. On the good team she says there are no clicks, all the girls are just there to win and they all joke around in the dugout.
I tried to boil this down to three basic options since I am a simpleton... assuming the 2002 squad does not materialize
1) Find another 2002 squad to let her be a #1 pitcher-gets to build confidence-unknown drama situation
2) Stay with local 14U squad-Lots of playing time- the team will get hammered pretty good and is clicky
3) Stay with the good team 14U-Not a lot of PT outside of the circle-team will be competing well and she will be surrounded by college bound players.
Looking for some advice from those a little further down the road who may have faced a similar choice.
So with the travel and the time and drama, I got pretty soured on TB for a while. She was invited to play up to 14s with a local team of 2001 all stars in a fall ball league and the plan was to then take them to 14U TB at the end of the season. I didn't commit to the spring because I wasn't sure about giving up that second year of 12s and going right back into lump taking mode as 2002 playing up. Right after we made that commitment, her old coach from last winter called us up and asked her to join his org with another pitcher to try to get a 2002 squad going and in the meantime play up with his 14U squad. So I talked to both coaches and they both agreed there was no problem with her playing on both in the fall since one had games on Saturdays and one on Sundays.
The season has gone well and is nearing the end now, she has solidified herself as a top two hitter on the local team and she shares the #2 pitching duties with another pitcher. The coaches are good, but the team is mediocre and they are carrying a few girls that are not quite ready for TB. They are going to have a tough season of growth ahead of them once they come out of this fall league and go out into the wilderness.
The other team meanwhile is winning the vast majority of their games and beating good teams that are filled with 2000 and some 1999 players. They are a really good squad. DD is pitching in a #2/#3 role and bats low in the order and gets a few innings here and there at 1st. Mostly riding the bench when not pitching.
I just found out that decision time has come, I have to get back to the local coach and let them know if DD will be continuing with them by November so they can plan tryouts in Dec. to fill any holes made by players that are not going to continue.
I thought that the TB coaches initial offer was to have her join for the fall while we try to get the 2002s going, and if we didn't then come spring we would be on our own, but I talked to him yesterday to see what he thought the chances were of getting the team going and he said that he still thinks they are good during the Dec tryout season, but that even if they don't get a full squad, she and the other 2002 pitcher have proven that they can hang with the 14U squad and are invited to join that squad permanently.
Both are good options and have their benefits, but both have the same drawback, namely that DD will face another year of lump taking and not get to have a year of being more dominant as a second year 12U.
DD wants to continue with the good team at 14s, she doesn't like sitting so much but she thinks there are a 3-4 girls she can beat out for more time and moving up the order when not pitching. She like the coaches on the other team but there is a little click of 5 girls on that team that she feels excludes her and the other players. On the good team she says there are no clicks, all the girls are just there to win and they all joke around in the dugout.
I tried to boil this down to three basic options since I am a simpleton... assuming the 2002 squad does not materialize
1) Find another 2002 squad to let her be a #1 pitcher-gets to build confidence-unknown drama situation
2) Stay with local 14U squad-Lots of playing time- the team will get hammered pretty good and is clicky
3) Stay with the good team 14U-Not a lot of PT outside of the circle-team will be competing well and she will be surrounded by college bound players.
Looking for some advice from those a little further down the road who may have faced a similar choice.