I have a situation in which I need assistance:
First, let me put this piece of information out there: In my town, a girl can start playing high school softball the summer after her 8th grade year. It's a general expectation that if you are going to play high school ball, you start on the 9th grade team (we've had some start on varsity right after 8th grade, they were amazing) as soon as you graduate 8th grade.
My organization's 12U team from last year has come out to try out for the 12U division again. Age-wise, they still qualify. However, they are all 7th graders. My concern is that by staying at the 12U level this year, they would be expected to play both 14U AND high school ball next summer. To me, that's quite a leap with little preparation. I think it would be best to put them on a 14U team and send them to 14 B/C tournaments in order to prepare them.
However, this same 12U team struggled last summer. Their coach described them as "emotional" and "giving up as soon as things got bad". My organization's concern with me putting them on a 14U team is that this team will not have the confidence to continue softball after another bad season. They would like to keep them on the 12A level and let them win some in order to raise their confidence in their abilities.
I'm still worried about their lack of preparation for the next summer. As we are getting all new coaches, they will not have the same coach as last year.
What do you think? Keep them on the 12U level, or bring them up to a B/C 14U level? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!
First, let me put this piece of information out there: In my town, a girl can start playing high school softball the summer after her 8th grade year. It's a general expectation that if you are going to play high school ball, you start on the 9th grade team (we've had some start on varsity right after 8th grade, they were amazing) as soon as you graduate 8th grade.
My organization's 12U team from last year has come out to try out for the 12U division again. Age-wise, they still qualify. However, they are all 7th graders. My concern is that by staying at the 12U level this year, they would be expected to play both 14U AND high school ball next summer. To me, that's quite a leap with little preparation. I think it would be best to put them on a 14U team and send them to 14 B/C tournaments in order to prepare them.
However, this same 12U team struggled last summer. Their coach described them as "emotional" and "giving up as soon as things got bad". My organization's concern with me putting them on a 14U team is that this team will not have the confidence to continue softball after another bad season. They would like to keep them on the 12A level and let them win some in order to raise their confidence in their abilities.
I'm still worried about their lack of preparation for the next summer. As we are getting all new coaches, they will not have the same coach as last year.
What do you think? Keep them on the 12U level, or bring them up to a B/C 14U level? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!