Moving to a competitive team or staying with friends on local team? Advice please!

[Softballislife008]

This is absolutely 100% grown people that quit speaking to you, grown people that will wish for your child to fail. Coaches that will kick you off the team if you tell them you are moving to a better team/organization next season. You have to worry about what is best for your child, and not really worry about the fall out.

Thank you for the support!! That is what I keep telling myself!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Softballislife008]

The rule of thumb for moving teams:

If you write more than two paragraphs or 100 words about why the team isn't a good fit, you should change teams.

You wrote 6 paragraphs and 550 words. Change teams ASAP.

Never thought of it that way!! I really have tried to outweigh the good benefits from the bad, but I’m not coming out with many positive benefits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Softballislife008]

Is there a Summer Allstar option through the league?? This is the best of both worlds. 5-6 summer tournaments and done. We did 5 summers of this which allowed for other sports and DD played a couple of fall seasons at an adjacent league. There were always a few parents that wanted to keep going. When DD finished her 5th Summer Allstar season(after 7th grade), I told the parents it's time for my DD fly out of the nest and go full on TB. A handful also did the same. My kid had a nice college career. She says. I don't miss softball. I miss being around my teammates.

No need to go full bore at such a young age. That's a recipe for burnout.

She currently plays other sports. Most are these are little league sports (basketball, soccer, volleyball) through out the year. She somehow managed to do it all and juggle full time SB but those usually only last 1-2 months each.

She doesn’t complain about how much softball plays. She has been complaining about how little we play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sparky Guy]

Holding a player back from..what? at 8u. Kids activities, especially sports, so often put kids on this grind it out path towards some goal 12 years in the future and it's hard not to feel like they're missing exposure to any number of other things they might also enjoy.

I'd be wary of the idea that friends should take a back seat to a 9 or 10 year old towards some drive some sort of imagined future.

I guess I should have been clearer. I am not saying abandoning her friends. What I'm saying is making the distinction between teammates/friends opposed to her school/hangout/non-softball friends. Once the girl/family has that sorted out then making what the family feels is the best softball decision and proceed from there.

My DD has played with kids who've done exactly what the OP is posting about. I watched a girl who was playing 14U high level travel at 12 years old and competed well against the older kids, eventually become a DI WCWS Champ and MVP as a freshman. My DD played with and against her as well as other girls who've played in the WCWS. There was a 12U girl from an organizational I coached for in the past who pitched in the WCWS this year. The girl was very committed at that age. She knew at 12 years old which team she wanted to play for in college, and she did.

Many of the players on my DD's travel teams came from long distances to play on the teams. They were softball "friends" when she was playing. She had many of them over the years, all the way through college. Her true friends are just that. True friends. They are a group of kids who've stayed in close contact with each other since they were teenagers thru becoming adults with families of their own. This group of friends includes only 1 softball player my DD played with/against over the years.

So, yes, there are kids out there who do know what they want at an early age. OP's DD is lucky she has a parent who can recognize it and is looking for the best way to help her DD reach her reach her full potential for as long as her DD wants to play. Hopefully, her mom will let her DD drive the journey and just guide her along the way.

I've seen many kids stop playing after 14U. At that point a high-level player needs to do it for themselves and no one else due to the commitment involved. I've seen kids stop playing softball to pursue other sports. I've seen kids who've quit playing for a myriad of other reasons. There is no guarantee how long she'll play. The only thing guaranteed is asking "What if?" if you didn't give your child the chance to succeed/stop/fail on their terms. Each player has their own path.

 

[earlg3]

I guess I should have been clearer. I am not saying abandoning her friends. What I'm saying is making the distinction between teammates/friends opposed to her school/hangout/non-softball friends. Once the girl/family has that sorted out then making what the family feels is the best softball decision and proceed from there.

My DD has played with kids who've done exactly what the OP is posting about. I watched a girl who was playing 14U high level travel at 12 years old and competed well against the older kids, eventually become a DI WCWS Champ and MVP as a freshman. My DD played with and against her as well as other girls who've played in the WCWS. There was a 12U girl from an organizational I coached for in the past who pitched in the WCWS this year. The girl was very committed at that age. She knew at 12 years old which team she wanted to play for in college, and she did.

Many of the players on my DD's travel teams came from long distances to play on the teams. They were softball "friends" when she was playing. She had many of them over the years, all the way through college. Her true friends are just that. True friends. They are a group of kids who've stayed in close contact with each other since they were teenagers thru becoming adults with families of their own. This group of friends includes only 1 softball player my DD played with/against over the years.

So, yes, there are kids out there who do know what they want at an early age. OP's DD is lucky she has a parent who can recognize it and is looking for the best way to help her DD reach her reach her full potential for as long as her DD wants to play. Hopefully, her mom will let her DD drive the journey and just guide her along the way.

I've seen many kids stop playing after 14U. At that point a high-level player needs to do it for themselves and no one else due to the commitment involved. I've seen kids stop playing softball to pursue other sports. I've seen kids who've quit playing for a myriad of other reasons. There is no guarantee how long she'll play. The only thing guaranteed is asking "What if?" if you didn't give your child the chance to succeed/stop/fail on their terms. Each player has their own path.

I'm not disagreeing with your premise, but the kid is currently in a version of softball where it's someone's dad on the field throwing them meatballs to hit. Maybe a little early to tell if her current softball friends are good or bad.

Maybe you could infer more from the parents at this point, but anyone spending their weekends watching their kid play travel coach-pitch is more committed than most.

Sounds like the coaching isn't matching expectations, though, so still seems like plenty of justification to bail, of course. I agree with the person that said if you're worried enough to post a thread about whether or not to leave them that it's time to leave (amicably).