Explosion of new teams

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Apr 28, 2014
2,316
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I know that the trend of new teams popping up has been going on for a while but this year in our area it's seemed to really explode. Tryout boards littered with teams that no one has heard of looking for almost full teams (with the exception of the coaches kid). Can I ask what is it that people are after? I get that the coaches or founders of these new teams are looking for a place to get their DD the playing time that she "deserves" but what motivates the parents that fill out the rest of the team?

DD has been with our current org for 3 going on 4 seasons. We have had our share of highs and lows but all in all it's been a great experience. Have there been times when we felt like leaving would make DD happier, sure. But those feelings were temporary and we were able to see the big picture. What I don't understand is why parents would move their kid year after year. I am not involved in the recruiting process too deep as of yet but I can't think that it would help to say that Sally has been on 5 teams in 5 years.

Not to mention the obvious that there just aren't enough pitchers or catchers to fill these teams. That's why the guest player boards are littered with requests for help. To the guys and gals that have been around this game longer than 10 years has this been the norm or was there a time when there were limited numbers of teams and girls who didn't make a team had to work all season and try to make it the next year?
 
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Feb 3, 2016
502
43
I really don't like large organizations as it's about the $ and not the game or growth of the kids. Nothing is more fun than putting it on large organizations with people spending twice as much as you do. As I see it if my kid is worthy to play this game competitively when 16 or 18 I'm good with that. also
Nobody is going to pay 1000 to 2000 to see a kid ride the pine or be the 3rd pitcher or 3rd catcher on a team. Instant gratification and mediocrity are the norms now.
 
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Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
People with kids who are pitchers and catchers have the best chance of starting a viable team. I know an independent team where the HC has two DDs who are pitchers, and the AC's DD is a catcher. They've been around for a while, maintain a stable roster, and do well against anyone.
 
Apr 20, 2017
152
28
It kills me the number of teams people try to start without a pitcher and catcher. I swear some people believe pitchers just fall out of the sky daily to fill teams rosters. Some coaches have even been around with a team for a few years and never develop pitching. For anyone reading this that is thinking about starting a team. You CAN NOT win games without quality pitching. And just posting that you have a great group of girls and just need that one great pitcher to be complete will not get you a great pitcher. Either plan on taking your lumps and developing whatever pitching you can get over time or go find a team that is the right fit.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
There is an organization by me who is paying for the name of a large and nationally known organization. They have tryout ads with a lot of the older teams still looking for pitching even after having multiple "Workouts", private tryouts and open tryouts. Pretty much every team posting ads are looking for pitching. It's insane.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
It's really bad here. Usually it seems like it's a dad (or occasionally a mom) who either can't stand to let someone else run the show, or is concerned about his kid's playing time and wants to build a team around her. The trend here seems to be for the big orgs to acquire every possible team they can. It's mostly the second tier organizations doing it, but I've noticed one of the big 3 seems to be adding teams more indiscriminately than I might have expected (though not as indiscriminately as some of the other orgs). These orgs are the ones who want to be one of the big names, but don't seem to realize they do that by building strength, not numbers. I mean, unless you want to be like the Firecrackers are now, where any team can just buy the name & there are so many of them and none of them (here anyway) are really stand outs. I suppose that's one option.

After a year of DH coaching neither of us can really understand why so many people are set on doing this. It was a lot of work and a lot of stress. We turned it over this year and the relief is palpable for both of us.
 
Feb 26, 2018
328
28
I've seen the explosion of new teams here in SE Michigan as well. We started out 3 years ago in one of those new orgs. It was basically the all stars from our local rec program. We had no idea what competitive travel ball was like. We got slaughtered. The following year we left for another new org, but the coaching was considerably better and my DD learned a lot, we won a decent amount of games, went to local B Nationals and B NSA World Series. We had every intention of staying as a 2nd year 12U, but were underwhelmed by the girls who came to tryouts. Half the team moved up, so we had a lot of spots to fill. My DD wanted to move up with her friends and play 13U, did awesome at tryouts, but her coach held her back because he wanted her on 12U. This really upset my DD, so we attended tryouts at a big name org in the area that has been around for 20+ years and ended up making one of their A teams. I don't like bouncing around and want my DD to find a long term home.

Now, I've seen a lot of orgs around here struggling for players the past week. A couple have folded, but more new ones are popping up. Probably a quarter to half of these girls don't belong on a travel team, but because there are so many, they end up making it. The talent pool at the B level is so diluted it's ridiculous. I get A up north is not the same as A down south. A teams up north get murdered by A teams down south, and would probably have a tough time against some B teams from down south. The landscape is different everywhere. Some orgs around here I wish I could say "Just give it up", but they're hanging on by a thread, taking the parents money, and not competing for anything. Don't call yourselves a B team or talk about being competitive when you aren't playing sanctioned tournaments and don't have your eye on at least going to States. I'm all for growing the sport, but eventually there's going to be a tipping point, a lot of orgs are going to fold, and a lot of girls are going to end up on the outside looking in.
 
Feb 13, 2018
162
28
I am starting a 10u team for my girls who were in rec ball. Our rec ball league doesn't let us practice after games start and also before game start you only have a couple weeks to get in practices which are limited to 1 hour only. I feel like many girls are so far behind at all levels. Softball in general in our area is pretty far behind. So we are trying to seek out more competition....some girls should be playing at the next level probably, others definitely not. We may get slaughtered.....but our options to gain experience and improve aren't available through our local rec dept. Also, who knows how long we will be able to keep it together....
 
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Jan 31, 2015
249
43
I'm sure everyone's experiences and goals are different, but at least in our case, DD has been on 4 teams in 4 years, but we finally felt we found the *right* team to meet her objective of developing into the D1 player she wants to be, which we wish we had found 4 years ago.

Each time was a different reason for leaving.

1st team she played for 2 years of 10U and 1year of 12U, but after 3 years, we got tired of daddy ball and struggling to field more than 8 players despite actually winning more than losing with 8 players. Upside was everyone played every inning, but it got old, esp. for DD who is a pitcher.

2nd team was a major money suck (who needs 7 different uniforms!?), and they didn't let anyone play up, so since DD has a January birthday, DD had already played 12U 2 years, we moved on.

3rd team was more mommy/daddy ball (3 coaches whose DDs played every inning of every game despite their number of Es and Ks), and lots of drama.

In general, there's just too many 1) teams, 2) daddy/mommy ball coaches, and 3) drama.

Of course, YMMV. ;-)

I know that the trend of new teams popping up has been going on for a while but this year in our area it's seemed to really explode. Tryout boards littered with teams that no one has heard of looking for almost full teams (with the exception of the coaches kid). Can I ask what is it that people are after? I get that the coaches or founders of these new teams are looking for a place to get their DD the playing time that she "deserves" but what motivates the parents that fill out the rest of the team?

DD has been with our current org for 3 going on 4 seasons. We have had our share of highs and lows but all in all it's been a great experience. Have there been times when we felt like leaving would make DD happier, sure. But those feelings were temporary and we were able to see the big picture. What I don't understand is why parents would move their kid year after year. I am not involved in the recruiting process too deep as of yet but I can't think that it would help to say that Sally has been on 5 teams in 5 years.

Not to mention the obvious that there just aren't enough pitchers or catchers to fill these teams. That's why the guest player boards are littered with requests for help. To the guys and gals that have been around this game longer than 10 years has this been the norm or was there a time when there were limited numbers of teams and girls who didn't make a team had to work all season and try to make it the next year?
 
Aug 13, 2013
344
28
Sayville
1) The best is that a day after the last tryout an organization advertises that they need just one more pitcher to complete the team! I mean come on...either you have enough for a team or don't have a team.
2) I have seen so many teams pop up on Long Island I cant even keep track
 

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