For a bit of background. I have 5 kids - a 15 y/o football player, 12 & 7 y/o softball players, 4 y/o baseballer, and a 10 month old.
My youngest DD started softball at the age of 5. The oldest DD then decided she wanted to play as well. We started on a fall league 10U team. She liked it ok. The next year, we found her a team. After starting practices, we realized it was 12U. She could have still played 10U, but she liked the team so we stayed. That fall, we didn't play, but practiced. The team split into 2 - a 12U & 14U. She stayed down. We had a fun team this past spring. The girls had a lot of fun. We won some, we lost some. We played a few tourneys. At the end of the season, the coach eliminated a few players from the team. I think we went into the fall ball season with 6 of our original players. Picked up 3 more and was working well together for practices. We were moving up to 14U, since 2 of our girls had to move up.
1st tourney at 14U, we got killed! We couldn't get a runner on base, nothing. It was pretty bad. But we were also very inexperienced. After that tourney, our coach went to a friend of hers that owns a batting cage and talked to him. That set the wheels in motion for our team to join an academy.
The academy *seems* like the perfect direction to be going in. Lots of batting cage time, good instruction, etc.
Here's where I need some input:
My DD loves softball! She wants to play in college. She went from a girl who could barely throw at 11, to the starting catcher a year later. She works hard.
With the academy, all the practices are is batting. We have 2 1.5 hour practices a week, plus each girl needs to put in at least an additional hour on their own time at the cages. We have practiced non-stop since October. No break for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Very few fielding practices.
When we joined the academy, we had 8-9 girls going in. 1 left after the 1st meeting. 1 left after a lengthy discussion. 1 left for finacial reasons. 1 never came to any meeting or anything. That leaves us with 4 girls from the original team. My DD's team loyalties are fading fast.
Normally she is ready for practice 30 minutes early, bouncing up and down ready to go. Lately though, I have to tell her we need to leave in 15 minutes and she will go get dressed. She is losing her drive.
A co-worker of my DH has a 12U softball team. He has been asking her to come play for him since last spring.
Finacially, the academy is more than we can really handle. Plus I don't know that it is 100% fair to my other kids, when we are constantly doing things just for her.
To stay with the academy, she would move up to 14U. Play with 3 of her former teammates, and 2 of them she plays school ball with. To leave the team, she could go play on a 12U team, the practices are a bit out of the way (but the coach might be willing to meet me for p/u), she has played a tourney with these girls and has some friends on the team.
The academy's selling point that they use in their pitch is that they will get you noticed by college coaches, etc. This will increase your chance at playing at the next level......
She takes private catching and batting instructions from a coach that both of his kids recieved 100% full rides for ball.
So do we stay or do we go? What would you do?
I could care less if she got a scholarship or if she plays ball in college. BUT I do want her to love to play the game. Right now she is not loving it!
My youngest DD started softball at the age of 5. The oldest DD then decided she wanted to play as well. We started on a fall league 10U team. She liked it ok. The next year, we found her a team. After starting practices, we realized it was 12U. She could have still played 10U, but she liked the team so we stayed. That fall, we didn't play, but practiced. The team split into 2 - a 12U & 14U. She stayed down. We had a fun team this past spring. The girls had a lot of fun. We won some, we lost some. We played a few tourneys. At the end of the season, the coach eliminated a few players from the team. I think we went into the fall ball season with 6 of our original players. Picked up 3 more and was working well together for practices. We were moving up to 14U, since 2 of our girls had to move up.
1st tourney at 14U, we got killed! We couldn't get a runner on base, nothing. It was pretty bad. But we were also very inexperienced. After that tourney, our coach went to a friend of hers that owns a batting cage and talked to him. That set the wheels in motion for our team to join an academy.
The academy *seems* like the perfect direction to be going in. Lots of batting cage time, good instruction, etc.
Here's where I need some input:
My DD loves softball! She wants to play in college. She went from a girl who could barely throw at 11, to the starting catcher a year later. She works hard.
With the academy, all the practices are is batting. We have 2 1.5 hour practices a week, plus each girl needs to put in at least an additional hour on their own time at the cages. We have practiced non-stop since October. No break for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Very few fielding practices.
When we joined the academy, we had 8-9 girls going in. 1 left after the 1st meeting. 1 left after a lengthy discussion. 1 left for finacial reasons. 1 never came to any meeting or anything. That leaves us with 4 girls from the original team. My DD's team loyalties are fading fast.
Normally she is ready for practice 30 minutes early, bouncing up and down ready to go. Lately though, I have to tell her we need to leave in 15 minutes and she will go get dressed. She is losing her drive.
A co-worker of my DH has a 12U softball team. He has been asking her to come play for him since last spring.
Finacially, the academy is more than we can really handle. Plus I don't know that it is 100% fair to my other kids, when we are constantly doing things just for her.
To stay with the academy, she would move up to 14U. Play with 3 of her former teammates, and 2 of them she plays school ball with. To leave the team, she could go play on a 12U team, the practices are a bit out of the way (but the coach might be willing to meet me for p/u), she has played a tourney with these girls and has some friends on the team.
The academy's selling point that they use in their pitch is that they will get you noticed by college coaches, etc. This will increase your chance at playing at the next level......
She takes private catching and batting instructions from a coach that both of his kids recieved 100% full rides for ball.
So do we stay or do we go? What would you do?
I could care less if she got a scholarship or if she plays ball in college. BUT I do want her to love to play the game. Right now she is not loving it!
