Disappointed....need advice on 12u tourney team

[skreed]

Bit of a lurker. ..but now I need advice. DD is 11 turns 12 in September and she is on a 12u tournement team. Last year she was on a 10u rec. Team so this is very new to both of us. She tried out and made the team just after her 11 b'day and practiced all fall and winter. They are now playing tourneys. She is a very good well rounded player, she shares pitching and first base duties with another higher skill level girl on her team. My problem comes after seeing her teams first outdoor tournament appearance. Her team as a whole is simply not ready or skilled enough to even compete with C class teams. As individuals some of the girls are very decent but as a team they are getting absolutely picked apart in the tournaments. This is simply due to the fact that they only practice once a week three hours on Sunday. The practices are decent and intense but there is simply not enough time to cover everything they need to learn. I was under the impression that practices would pick up eventually but they never have and was told they never will. My biggest concern is actually for the teams safety, the HC has entered them into a few open tourneys and the played high ranked b teams and got hammered so hard I felt horrible for them. My DD is holding her own so well and im proud but would rather her be on a more skilled team..not for wins but to gain more experience. Not only that but she is pitching so many pitches because the field just can convert outs sometimes and will get stuck inan inning and go thru the batting rrotation. To throw another wrench in...an AC got fusterated with the whole thing and left and now they asked me to AC and to be honest I am overwhelmed with the amount of work this team needs and the resistance im getting from the HC.

Over all I am ok with starting my DD off slow and working into things but I did not realize she and her team was going to be thrown to the wolves. If she is going to play at this level she needs more help and better coaching...i work with her 3 to 4 times a week pitching and hitting but can do only so much. And now she is on a rec team to get some practice but she is so far ahead in skill level its not helping much.

Sorry for the novel length post...any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jquick823]

Skreed, A team i AC played a team just like your DD's this past weekend. We had played them before and a similar result. 12-0 this weekend and could have been worse. The thing i noticed from the other team was this, they made plays not a ton and never back to back but they made plays, plays they didn't make earlier in the year or last fall. You will be amazed at how good they become by playing up and if your DD is on the field for the entire tournament remember the grass insn't greener. My DD's team is registered C but will be playing 10 open/B tournaments this season as we chased trophies last year as a first year 12U and made it to 4 title games. Your team sounds like a first year 12U C or 12U All Star team filled with first year TB players. It's to be expected that you won't win a bunch but the girls will fight all season trying to win that 1 elimination game. As for the HC issues, good luck. It's hard to find decent coaches to help, never the less one that is a HC. Best of luck.

P.S. What area are you in?

 

[CoachBroker]

Screed, last summer was my daughters first time to play travel ball. We got invited to a practice because I had asked the coach if his pitcher would pitch to my daughter. My daughter was coming out of coach pitch and I wanted to start her on live pitching. Anyhow, she got an invite to join the team. This was a 10u team and my daughter was the youngest. We had 2 practices and went into our first tournament. We lost our 2 pool games and then our two tournament games so we were done. It looked like we were way out of our league. We had 2 more practices and went into our second tournament. I was shocked that the coach would take this team back to another tournament without more practice. We lost our two pool games and we lost game 1 of tournament play 18-2. Then something happened. We won game two! It started to click and we won game 3. Game 4 was against the team that beat us 18-2, we won 24-4 ! We continued winning but ended up getting beat in the championship game.
My point is, let the girls play and don't give up on them. You will quickly learn that the best teams can be beat and the worst teams can win games. The team that peaks at the right time and builds momentum can win championships even if it's not the best team in the tournament.

 

[fastpitch]

It isn't uncommon for 1st year 12u teams to get beat up a little especially when playing older teams. Maturity level varies greatly at this age group.

It also isn't uncommon to have practice 1x week for a travel ball team, especially if kids aren't from the same town or area. People work, kids play rec, other sports, its a tough schedule. Its expected that players work on their game outside regular TB practice. Coaches can only do so much in the amount of time they have.

Fun is important. If she isn't having fun and feels she is more dedicated than the other players or the coaching isn't what you expect, then maybe after the season you find a team that more matches your DD's goals. Good luck! Welcome to the forums...

 

[T Red]

If the HC is developing players thru practices and games hang in there. OTOH if there's no player development happening I suggest moving on. Nothing is worse than loosing a whole season not learning anything.

There are many ways to help that I would think a HC would be open to. If not, that's a problem.

 

[sticknstring]

Coming from a rec team to a tournament team is a learning experience. I would do just that, learn all you can. Use this season for your daughter to learn about the game and develop her skills. It's tough, but don't focus on the wins and losses. Your daughter is getting a lot of experience even in bad losses. If the other teams are that much better, she will notice it and see what good teams do. Jumping to another team now is most likely a bad idea, unless there are other issues other than just not being a very good team. Use the rest of this year to watch other local teams at tournaments. See how they play, see how the coaches behave during games. See which teams might be a good fit for your daughter next year. I've seen a lot of people blindly jump to a different team only to find it was a worse situation than the previous one.

Your daughter is a first year 12U player. You have a lot of softball ahead of you. This season wont determine if your daughter signs with a major D1 school or not. Sit back and learn and enjoy as much as you can this year.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Coming from a rec team to a tournament team is a huge learning experience. I would do just that, learn all you can. Use this season for your daughter to learn about the game and develop her skills. It's tough, but don't focus on the wins and losses. Your daughter is getting a lot of experience even in bad losses. If the other teams are that much better, she will notice it and see what good teams do. Jumping to another team now is most likely a bad idea, unless there are other issues other than just not being a very good team. Use the rest of this year to watch other local teams at tournaments. See how they play, see how the coaches behave during games. See which teams might be a good fit for your daughter next year. I've seen a lot of people blindly jump to a different team only to find it was a worse situation than the previous one.

Your daughter is a first year 12U player. You have a lot of softball ahead of you.

I pretty much agree with all that is said above. I've added emphasis where I think the points made are especially good.

Making your TB debut at first-year 12U is tough. Your DD's team is likely playing against girls with at least two full years of TB experience, perhaps even three. Regardless of talent, first-year players are simply not going to be competitive at first with experienced teams because they need to learn how to play a completely different game than what they played in rec ball. It takes time, and the only way to learn the new game is to play it and take your lumps. Her team will get better, but they won't get better results simply by practicing. They must play and learn what good teams do and how the TB game is played. They need in-game experience, however painful that may be.

If you look past the losses and the frustration, you will see the girls' wheels turning every time they play. They will have learned something the previous game, and they will apply it. If the coach is good, he will use the approach of "our opponents teach us what we need to work on" and he'll cover things that got them into trouble in the previous tournament. If he doesn't, then make your own notes and suggest covering those items at practice.

Playing lots of games and addressing areas of opportunity learned in the process is what an entire first-year TB season is all about. Think of it in this manner every time she plays, and you may just realize DD is right where she needs to be. If not, checking out other teams will tell you all you need to know about what she needs to do next year.

 

[skreed]

All good advice ...I'm pleasantly surprised to see all the hang in there type comments. All the girls are straight from rec ball with the exception of the other pitcher she is 13 and plays school ball... The others are all 11 or just 12... So everyone is young also. I didn't look at it in the way that many of you mentioned. She is learning and improving allot. She probably would not get as much playing time on a more experienced team and not gain the experience.

I'm def not looking for wins just small Victories. It is good to hear other s have been in the same situation and pulled thru. I feel good about our team everyone gets along and it's not super high pressure. I just hate to see the girls get beat up on, but I need to start looking at it as more of a learning tool and stop feeling sorry.

BTW jquick im in eastern PA

 

[Rocketech1]

IMO, 1st year 12U is the biggest transition year of all of them. They are using a real 12inch softball, the pitching distances are 5 feet farther back, some of the 2nd year 12U players are big, strong girls who can hit and throw the ball very hard. Continue to stay positive, work of the fundamental skills, and before you know it, your DD will be that 2nd yr 12U player that beat up on her team this year.

 

[Jquick823]

Skreed, i'm guessing PONY for most of your tournaments? That's going to be tough for an experienced team much less a team like yours. The experience will be invaluable though. I'm in Central DE so it's possible we will cross the same path this season. I would suggest a few USSSA C level tournaments, while their are teams in there that are good quality the majority of teams are learning and young. Good luck this year and maybe we will see each other out there.