Do they really play down to the level of the team?

[Coach Hig]

As a rec league coach, I tend to believe that mixing TB and rec is a bad idea for a couple of reasons. One being, more often than not, there is conflicting schedules and to whomever the loyalty is given, the other suffers. Secondly, it has been my experience that a fair amount of TB coaches criticize the work (or often time, lack thereof) of the rec league - and I concur with an earlier comment, rec is a lot about socializing and "just" having fun. Finally and often times a significant practice issue, I have found that a lot of TB players are very egotistical and tend to try and be just enough of a rec team participant to make it through to All Stars. This happens a lot around my neck of the woods and I feel that it is totally wrong. I am also floored by some of the attitudes. TB and rec, in my opinion, should be separate.

HC

 

[Coachw01]

I don't mind the idea of of kid doing both depending on the situation. My 10 year old fourth grader plays Tb and rec but she plays up with the 11-12 year olds and I coach the team. You will find there are very few differences between the drills that I run and the drills we do at TB practice. We live in a small town without a lot of TB players so by coaching my hopes are to give the girls as much experience playing softball as I can. I have 19 games scheduled plus a tournament. At some point DD is going to play with this group when she gets to HS and if someone is not helping develop them then why would I or anyone else ever expect much from them. Through both softball and basketball at the rec level DD has developed a great relationship with this group of older girls so I would say that red sports have been a positive for my DD. Having said all of this, if she had to choose one she would choose TB but she loves the fact that she gets to do both.

 

[Jquick823]

Personally I think rec is good for TB players of 2 positions. P and C. REPS REPS REPS. A TB SS has no place in REC IMO unless they are playing up age groups as most rec players are rec for a reason. But P and C need all the work they can get pitching to live batters and receiving live pitching in game situations.

 

[teammom2]

We have a rec program in our town and before TB started it was the only option for girls to play. We live in a small town and didn't want the travel program to hurt the rec ball program numbers wise so the girls were required to play both. That lasted one summer. After that the strictly rec ball parents voiced concerns over the travel girls playing in rec league due to their experience and skills. "she shouldn't be pitching, she throws to hard/too fast, etc. A few players still play rec for fun with their non-TB friends. They do play down their abilities to some extent.

 

[Jojo]

I think if you are going to play a rec player in league for whatever reason, you should play them up.

I played my 12yr old up in 14u rec, and still there was a huge difference in athletic talent. But it ended up good for her, and good for them as well.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Both of my girls have played both at some point, I can't say it had any ill effect at all on ether of them, other than further convincing them that that they have no desire to play rec after that one season doing both. Lil DD did regress last spring when she chose all stars over TB and stopped playing TB from April to July though.

I think there is a point in every TB players journey where they are a top level rec player and an average to good TB player and playing rec through this point is a good thing IMO, it lets them be a role model to their lower level rec teammates and gets them exposed to being in that role and then lets them realize they are also just one of many talented girls when they play with an entire team that is just as good as them. So they get the confidence of being "that girl" with a dose of humility in knowing that there are a whole lotta "that girls" out there in the larger landscape.

It also tells the parents what kind of kid they have. I was a little concerned that my lil one would get frustrated with her rec teammates and show it, she is a little competitive and not the most patient person, but she has not blinked once at any of the mistakes and is always there with a high 5 and a smile for her teammates.

 

[guero_gordo]

Personally I think rec is good for TB players of 2 positions. P and C. REPS REPS REPS. A TB SS has no place in REC IMO unless they are playing up age groups as most rec players are rec for a reason. But P and C need all the work they can get pitching to live batters and receiving live pitching in game situations.

Respectfully disagree about C unless you can guarantee an infield that can handle throwdowns.
C will get tentative after a series of throws go through into the OF, or worse, injuring someone at the corners, regardless of how supportive coach may be that it was the right throw.

 

[Eric F]

Respectfully disagree about C unless you can guarantee an infield that can handle throwdowns.
C will get tentative after a series of throws go through into the OF, or worse, injuring someone at the corners, regardless of how supportive coach may be that it was the right throw.

Valid point, guero.