Adding 14U players to 12U team for a few months. Right or wrong?

[SoCal_Dad]

It's bad enough having 4 players foisted upon them, but having to play up in 14U on top of that is too much. I thought it was kind of crappy years ago when 3 8th graders from our 2nd-year 14U team played with our 1st-year 14u team years ago, but at least that was another 14U team and one of our players decided to focus on rehabbing an injury instead.

Some temporary 'dark' teams form for the HS season. Did they look for one?

The different pitching distance is a real issue that shouldn't be underestimated. If your pitchers haven't already been working at 43', they aren't prepared. If your 12U team doesn't play in the spring qualifiers, they may have trouble in the June qualifier(s) adjusting back to 40'. It's not just the pitchers, the hitters will have to adjust too. In fact, our hitters had more trouble adjusting back to 40' than our pitchers.

 

[daddiox2]

I agree with Momo's dad.

 

[PA SB Dad]

If the 12U team already has tournaments scheduled for the Spring, how will that be handled? Will they withdraw from those and play 14U? Or will they play the 12U tournaments and then on their off weeks play 14U tournaments with the older players? That would probably keep the 12U players and parents satisfied, especially if you give them the "option" to opt out of the 14U tournaments.

I have a team with 9 ninth graders and the rest are in MS. I have already told my MS players we will not be playing tournaments during the HS season, but we will be playing friendlies on Sundays. Is that not an option for the 14U girls in this organization? Or just let them pick up with teams in the spring?

 

[coachbob]

Someone in your area tried to put together a 2001 team last week, and only got 4 tryouts. Your 14's are good enough that they wont lose those 8th graders, most likely. I could use one or two of them though, so give them a tip-off to my team, eh?
I assume you are already qualified for all of your summer events? Maybe they feel PGF isn't in the cards? If so, the 14U experience will be good for the kids, IMO. I think it will go by pretty fast.

 

[Rocketech1]

Someone in your area tried to put together a 2001 team last week, and only got 4 tryouts. Your 14's are good enough that they wont lose those 8th graders, most likely. I could use one or two of them though, so give them a tip-off to my team, eh?
I assume you are already qualified for all of your summer events? Maybe they feel PGF isn't in the cards? If so, the 14U experience will be good for the kids, IMO. I think it will go by pretty fast.

CoachBob - I need to tread lightly with referring 14U players to your team since its a small softball community but if the older girls impact my DDs playing time, I may think about it

The experience may be good for the 12U team, time will tell. So far we have only qualified for USSSA/TCS World Series and will be playing in some PGF qualifiers March, May , June in attempt to get to PGF Nats.

 

[Jojo]

We have this problem here with the local league teams.
Some leagues cannot gather up enough 12 & 14u's to turn out a team and they combine them for 14u.

I really hate my 11yr olds playing 14u, especially my pitchers, even if it's just league play. They get pushed aside and lose valuable playing time and generally don't have much fun. My 11yr olds do struggle at 43' especially those just learning.

I wish the best for all the kids, hopefully the coach will be able to keep it enjoyable and fair to all the players.

 

[coachbob]

CoachBob - I need to tread lightly with referring 14U players to your team since its a small softball community but if the older girls impact my DDs playing time, I may think about it

The experience may be good for the 12U team, time will tell. So far we have only qualified for USSSA/TCS World Series and will be playing in some PGF qualifiers March, May , June in attempt to get to PGF Nats.

I wouldn't think they'll make you play 14's to qualify for PGF unless they have an ace pitcher in that group. HS will be done by the time you play the second one, maybe even the first.

I get it on referring players. Just thought I'd ask. 

 

[quincy]

I am assuming that your DD plans to stay with this organization and will be on the “guest” player side so she can take advantage of what they are doing next year or the year after.

The 43’ does not worry me. DD plays in a state were MS players jump up and down and the jump down seems fine.

Playing time would worry me a little bit and I would like them to have a plan.

For pitchers, my DD worked her butt off all off-season and it is her Team, she gets the first crack. She is pitching the first 2 weeks then you are allowed to shut her down for 2 weeks to give someone else a chance while she works some more. The she might pitch an inning or two doesn’t work, I would rather her be shutdown. JMO

Kind of the same with batting and fielding, batting once a game doesn’t work. Rotate the players around tourneys or games were some know they are the designated bench warms. Heck they do not even need come to the games, they will though.

DD’s safety would be my concern. If she able to play 14U, she would be playing 14U. If the best players are playing HS ball and DD will not face them fine but I have no interest with DD being on the field with stud 14 Yos.

 

[quincy]

Do you think they even mention or foresee this at tryouts? Another reason I guess for buyer beware.

It doesn’t sound like it but it happens every year.

The 12u should stand alone, and it should be the 14u that requests some top 12us to come up, for extra work. They have it backwards it seems.

IDK, that is the entire Issue. The players that do not tryout for their school team can watch TV until the school season is done. I would like the players that did tryout but did not make the team or are not able to tryout to have a place to play games. The number of alternate solutions in this thread indicates to me this is an Issue a lot of us are facing.


(This thread has to do with playing for an origination not an individual Team. If you were playing for Quincy’s Team this would never happen, if you were playing for Quincy’s organization it might. You need to make some compromises to make the entire origination better.)

 

[JJS]

Here's my $0.02. Your head coach has a responsibility to HIS/HER players first, not the organization first. It is the 14U HC's responsibility to find spots for their girls, not your HC's. To me this is a MAJOR red flag. I would be okay with this move if it was bringing you up to 12 players, but 18...no way. Why should your players sit for another team's players for 3 months of your DD season? This would not fly on the team I coach. Below is a list of questions that I would expect to be asked if I ever allowed something like this.

1. Are my DD fees going to be adjusted/credited since we effectively have 18 girls for 1/4-1/2 of our season?

2. Is our team getting anything from the organization in exchange for the inconvenience?

3. How many of these girls play my DD position?

4. Will the girls practice and play time take away from our girls gelling, and their playing time?

5. How many of these girls are pitchers? If there is a pitcher, how often does she expect to pitch? If there is more than one pitcher, are you freaking crazy!?

6. Have you checked with the "powers that be" at PGF, Triple Crown, ASA and USSSA about our girls registering up? If we play more than 3 tournaments at 14U will we be reclassified for the season at that level even after these girls leave(distinct possibility).

- I would also like to point out that there is a huge difference from 12U to 14U. 12U is a pitcher's division. The A level pitchers at 12U dominate a game. At 14U, there is more time for a batters reaction. A great pitcher can still dominate, but it is not just a fast pitcher throwing it by them like at 12U. Your hitters will struggle when/if they move back to 12U.

- The 18 players is a recipe for disaster. This could sour your team, and girls could quit leaving you with not enough to field a team once these girls leave.

- Moving to 14U if the girls can handle the competition is not a bad idea. What if they aren't ready? Only you and the other parents and coaches know that. The runners at 14U are much faster. The game is faster. A 15 year old(some will be) is much bigger than an 11 or 12 year old. If your girls can't hit the spin pitches they see at 14U, they may lose their confidence. If your pitchers get knocked around by some 15 year olds they may lose their confidence. Once it starts to crumble it can crumble fast.

- My advice to you would be to talk one on one with your coach. Have 5-10 questions written down, and make sure that they cover all of them. If you have any reservations at all, ask for your money back and go find another team. I'm sure your DD can play pick up for a team with less than 18 players.