Leap of Faith

[chinamigarden]

My dd, my wife and I have made a big decision on the future of softball for my dd. We are changing teams. Yeah to some people thats probably not a big deal, but for us its huge. DD is 15 and moving up next year, when she was 8 she tried out for the local 10u team and has played in the same organization since. The group is tied in with the HS coach and until this (just finished) season, he coached the 18u team. My dd played for the 14u team and the 18u team this (just finished)season.

Two of the ACs from my dds 14u team are forming their own team, they are breaking off from our group and making a 16u team they recruited my dd and several of her teammates and are picking up some other girls to form this new team. The previous HC his dd is going to play with them, neither of the ACs have a dd playing. Some girls who used to play for our organization are going to play on this team as well as some girls from a town or 2 over.

The group we played with became too dang political, the board wanted to do everything and started to meddle in things the coaches should be doing. I think it was all to set up things for their dds as they moved up. The thing that group did best was fund-raise. The last 3 years, due to working just a bit more at the fundraisers, my total fees for the past 3 seasons was $30. Total for 3 years, I am going to miss not paying. Not to mention all the sweatshirts, jackets and T shirts we own that are now out dated. But we are looking at a better team, doing better in better tourneys. Its a leap of faith.

how about you, any big changes in your softball futures?

 

[Pitching Dad]

DD is turning 11 in a couple weeks, We are also starting a new team. Our previous team required all TB girls to also play league. The league was good for DD this year just to give her a LOT of mound time but the league splits up the TB girls into seperate teams. Due to 3 league games a week it really took away from the quality time us coaches could work the TB team. When league was finally over we went to 2 TB practices a week and the girls took 2nd in state, the turnaround the girls showed being able to train together more was remarkable.

DD is struggling a little with 12in ball and the additional 5 feet but working every night to get her more comfortable with the changes.
It is coming along. She is the smallest 11yr old on the new team and I am REALLY hoping on a growth spurt this fall.

Starting a completely new team is tough, you really get attached to the girls and families you have developed a relationship with.
Looking forward to this fall and the new age bracket, the team new team has some very good talent now its up to us coaches to develop that and get them to gel as a team.

Good luck to everyone this fall!

 

[Greenmonsters]

Good luck to your DD, China. Sounds like you've thought it out thoroughly and are making the move for the right reasons.

 

[GTRH8R]

DD moves up to 16U with a team she just joined. First tournament of the fall is on Aug 28. We haven't even practiced with the whole team yet, so I have yet to meet some a majority of the new parents that I will be spending weekends with. DD seems to get along great with the new girls she has been practicing with and she likes her new coaches style a lot more so hopefully this will equate to a better experience than she had in the summer. I got to know some of those parents well (she played with several of the girls on another team before that one) so I will miss prowling the sidelines with them, but a move was in the best interest for all involved. Looking forward to seeing her play with the older girls in her new metal cleats...

 

[tghorley]

Decisions, decisions, decisions. DGD is a young 14u (missed staying down at 12u by 13 days), but accounted herself very well this year as a c/of. The players on her team of this year are going all sorts of ways and it would not surprise me if several of them quit softball. She has been invited to play (not even tryout) with two 16u teams and to tryout for an 18u team. The competition would definitely advance her skills more than playing 14u. In the mean time, her old team joined a strong organization this spring. By chance they played up at 14u and a couple of weeks ago and invited her to guess play as several of the members were on vacation. She had a blast playing with them. My son and DGD have kicked around which way to go for several weeks. They have talked to several coaches, other parents, her personal coach, and even her good friend, a D1 starting catcher. All have agreed that she could excel at 16u and would get plenty of playing time and advance her skills.

My son called last weekend and told me she had decided to play with her old team. It is a very strong organization and she would be able to play up when the 16u teams needed help (they do not go outside the organization to get players). She would be able to get plenty of playing time and game experience, although the competition would not be as strong. She likes the coaches and the girls. And hopefully she will be more comfortable so she can develop her leadership skills (being the youngest this year, she was more of a listener than a talker).

But the most important part, she was a part of all discussions. She would listen to what everyone was saying and interjecting her feelings along the way and ask questions. The final decision, she was the one who made it with no pressure from her parents. although her dad totally agreed with it.