13 year old positions ?

[bigblue]

hello

Just looking for some views on this topic ? I was asked by a parent should a 13 year old be locked into one position.
Should a kid have a primary and secondary position? Do travel teams lock in their players at this age? I guess I would exclude pitching from this discussion ?

Lets hear it !!!!!

Thanks
BigBlue

 

[Ken Krause]

By 13 years, I would normally have a primary and secondary position for a player. It's too hard to try to learn every single position. You do your best to fit players to where they can succeed, i.e. don't play a short, slow girl at shortstop or a girl who can't judge a fly ball to save her life in the outfield. Not saying the positions have to be set in stone -- you should always be open to learning new things about your players -- but you don't want to be moving them all over either, in my opinion. That's not fair to anyone, including the player.

 

[Coach JV]

My pitchers all play OF, Catchers 1B/3B.
Some players have a primary position and all play at
least 2 positions. I have a couple that are like 'utility'
players, they are adequate in several places but not excellent
at any. These are the gems on my 14U travel team.

The girls need to be diverse due to illness, vacation, injury etc.
All this needs to be taken into account. Roster is 11 with a part-time sub
for a total of 11.5 girls to fill 9 positions 10 slots batting at most tournaments.
I have a 1st and 2nd string IF that we rotate in practice. 1st string gets
60-65% of practice reps, 2nd string gets the balance

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

IMO, by age 13 a player should be starting to specialize in one position and have at least one "backup" position.

My pitchers are generally 1st baseman as their secondary.

 

[Tangy-Mike]

I agree with both Ken and Coach, if you built your team through the tryout selection process, then chances are you had a pretty good idea of what you were looking for and how your mix of players would layout on the team. If you are playing a competitive travel schedule at 13u, I don't think you should feel any obligation to move players into a wide variety of positions unless they are truly that versatile. If players want that level of play they should probably consider playing at a lower level.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I was the coach and DD had to learn to play where ever I needed her. In HS, she actually saw a few innings at every position, except catcher. After her shoulder problem, she was very happy that she could play 1st base and OF.

Not every coach has the luxury of moving your kid around, though.

From another point of view, moving my son around didn't do him much good, because he never had a position, in HS. I mean he wasn't a catcher or he wasn't known as a SS, for example.

 

[mudbug]

No.

Often the position played depends on where they best fit into the team they are on currently. They will be practiced at at least 2 positions they can contribute at on that particular team. It may change year to year as teams change and the roster of teams change. Most girls will end up playing different positions on their HS team vs travel anyway.

I promise you that you are foolish if you select team members based on the positions they play, and not overall athletic ability and hitting ability. Pitchers and maybe catchers excluded. You can teach a girl any other position easily, probably including catchertoo without much trouble. That is what colleges do. A high percentage of their recruits are SS, because they are often the best all around fielder on the team.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I see girls (mostly SS) that are recruited at U of Az. and are given a position that they have never played.

 

[amanda_cake]

I think it is important to know how to play many, many positions. Not know how to play them well, but if in a pinch you can be thrown there. Having one or two spots that you can play is definitely a plus.

 

[Coach JV]

To chime in a second time. The older the girls get playing competitive ball,
the better they understand the game. With a good understanding of the game
and experience, it is pretty easy to teach them secondary positions. In need of a catcher
last spring (12U) I asked a girl who had been playing SS if she wanted to learn to catch.
Much to my disbelief, she filled in more than adequate and likes it. She is a good SS,
but now wants to catch as much as possible. I thought the age was a little late to develop as
catcher but I found out that desire trumps all