I prefer when leagues have tryouts and then draft players. It keeps the league more competitive. When teams become overloaded with talent in league then the better players goof off and don't learn anything any way. Form a "B" team from league players and go to a few tournaments. The girls in league will have the prestige of being on the "select" team and they will get great experience playing with other like minded girls/athletes on the weekends.
New League President Looking for Some Advice
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I prefer when leagues have tryouts and then draft players. It keeps the league more competitive. When teams become overloaded with talent in league then the better players goof off and don't learn anything any way. Form a "B" team from league players and go to a few tournaments. The girls in league will have the prestige of being on the "select" team and they will get great experience playing with other like minded girls/athletes on the weekends.
Typically we do a draft and create 2-3 teams per division for the rec league. Then at the end of the season there is supposed to be league wide 10u & 12u all stars open to any girl wanting to try out. At least this is what is supposed to happen, and what all of the towns agree on prior to the season, but this year like last year, one town is making their own all star team from within their own players, and everything tends to fall apart after that.
The biggest frustration I have had this year is working with the other towns. There is no sense of community within the group, and the only collaboration is for the purpose of getting games for their teams, which is frustrating. I started trying to get the other towns together to begin planning for the 2012 season as soon as I became league president in November of 2011. Our first meeting wasn't until the beginning of April for a season that started at the end of April. We were already two weeks into practicing while the other towns were still doing registrations or hadn't started.
Last year as an 8u coach we got four practices in prior to the season starting, and then we played 2 weeknight games per week, sometimes three, and had no opportunities to practice after the season started. I didn't understand why there wasn't more practice at the 8u level and it's one of the reasons that caused me to get involved. This year our 8u had 10-12 practices prior to the season starting, and practiced twice a week and played one game on Saturday mornings for the entire season. The other towns mostly played the way they did last year. We had two 8u teams, and we played each other four times, and those were the best games for our girls because they were busy on offense & defense. When we played the other town's 8u teams, our girls are board, which doesn't help our program. And next year we will contemplate changing the 10u & 12u as well. This year the 10u played games on M & W nights with a practice on Saturday, and the 12u played games on T & Th nights with a practice on Sunday. The other towns do not wish to change the schedule, and don't want the season to go longer than the school year which is alsofrustrating. After a 5-6 week season the girls are just starting to get it, and need the opportunity to play at that point because that's when they really start playing.
I love the idea of a weekend all star or competitive program because I agree that if we do not offer the higher level players something better, we will lose them, and I don't want to do that. There is travel ball around, but not a lot, and from what I am told, it's not always easy to find games close by. Has anyone every done an "A Team" that instead of playing in their own age bracket, played up a level? For example, take the best 10u players and make them a 12u team. I can't imagine they would dominate, and it's an outlet for the better players.
I like the idea of focusing on our program and making all of our teams "A Teams." Sorry for venting & thanks for listening.
The biggest frustration I have had this year is working with the other towns. There is no sense of community within the group, and the only collaboration is for the purpose of getting games for their teams, which is frustrating. I started trying to get the other towns together to begin planning for the 2012 season as soon as I became league president in November of 2011. Our first meeting wasn't until the beginning of April for a season that started at the end of April. We were already two weeks into practicing while the other towns were still doing registrations or hadn't started.
Last year as an 8u coach we got four practices in prior to the season starting, and then we played 2 weeknight games per week, sometimes three, and had no opportunities to practice after the season started. I didn't understand why there wasn't more practice at the 8u level and it's one of the reasons that caused me to get involved. This year our 8u had 10-12 practices prior to the season starting, and practiced twice a week and played one game on Saturday mornings for the entire season. The other towns mostly played the way they did last year. We had two 8u teams, and we played each other four times, and those were the best games for our girls because they were busy on offense & defense. When we played the other town's 8u teams, our girls are board, which doesn't help our program. And next year we will contemplate changing the 10u & 12u as well. This year the 10u played games on M & W nights with a practice on Saturday, and the 12u played games on T & Th nights with a practice on Sunday. The other towns do not wish to change the schedule, and don't want the season to go longer than the school year which is alsofrustrating. After a 5-6 week season the girls are just starting to get it, and need the opportunity to play at that point because that's when they really start playing.
I love the idea of a weekend all star or competitive program because I agree that if we do not offer the higher level players something better, we will lose them, and I don't want to do that. There is travel ball around, but not a lot, and from what I am told, it's not always easy to find games close by. Has anyone every done an "A Team" that instead of playing in their own age bracket, played up a level? For example, take the best 10u players and make them a 12u team. I can't imagine they would dominate, and it's an outlet for the better players.
I like the idea of focusing on our program and making all of our teams "A Teams." Sorry for venting & thanks for listening.
Last edited:
- Oct 19, 2009
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My hats to you for caring enough to want to provide a good experience for the players in your league. Looks like you’ve already received plenty of good advice, from some knowledgeable people here. 
I would try and get a coach or an instructor or even a HS or College player involved that is in your area have them put on clinics for players and coaches. A good HS coach should want to see the kids started out in the proper direction with their playing mechanics which would give him/her a better pool of quality players in years to come. My daughter 17YO got involved with the local rec teams and helped them with pitching and hitting this past year. In 2007 I attended a coaches clinic at U Alabama, there were HS coaches, college coaches , trave team coaches (which I was at that time) and parents there.
Someone asked Pat Murphy (Alabama head coach)why he was there giving away his methods and secrets.
His response was he felt that the South was behind at that time in softball to teams in other parts of the country, by teaching coaches and instructors what he had learned he hoped would in the future give him and other SEC teams a better selection of players from the south and which he hoped would lead to a title for the SEC in the future.
Fast forward 5 years and guess who is College Softball Champ!
I would try and get a coach or an instructor or even a HS or College player involved that is in your area have them put on clinics for players and coaches. A good HS coach should want to see the kids started out in the proper direction with their playing mechanics which would give him/her a better pool of quality players in years to come. My daughter 17YO got involved with the local rec teams and helped them with pitching and hitting this past year. In 2007 I attended a coaches clinic at U Alabama, there were HS coaches, college coaches , trave team coaches (which I was at that time) and parents there.
Someone asked Pat Murphy (Alabama head coach)why he was there giving away his methods and secrets.
His response was he felt that the South was behind at that time in softball to teams in other parts of the country, by teaching coaches and instructors what he had learned he hoped would in the future give him and other SEC teams a better selection of players from the south and which he hoped would lead to a title for the SEC in the future.
Fast forward 5 years and guess who is College Softball Champ!
We have two colleges in our area, both with softball programs. For our coaches clinic this year I had one of the college head coaches, the current varsity coach and the retired varsity coach working with our coaches. Each of the colleges did clinics as did the high school varsity team. All were super affordable with good turnouts, but we do need more pitching specific stuff going on because it is definitely a weakness of our program. I am hoping to get some winter clinics on the calendar that focus soley on pitching.
Having one stacked team in a Rec league is the quickest way to kill the league. Evaluating and having a draft to spread the talent promotes competitiveness and lifts player ability across the league. As many have suggested, having an all-star team the plays tournaments or friendlies against other all-star provides a higher level outlet for your best players and gives other players something to aspire to. You are always going to lose the elite players to travel ball and that's okay but a good all-star program helps you keep the in-between players who either aren't quite ready for travel or aren't interested in that lifestyle.
Exactly why I became involved with the league my DDs play in: our 1st year, my oldest's 8u team was made up of ten 1st year players and two experienced players. The other 8u team had 10 experienced players and two 1st year players. The HC was in over his head trying to teach 10 girls how to play the game all by himself. The president of the league had a daughter in 12u and his team was similarly stacked, so it was no surprise it was going on at all the levels. Basically, if you were a part of the "in-crowd" you got a stacked team. Since I've become involved, our drafts have become progressively better. Each year we get a couple of "hold-out" players demanding that they will only play on Coach So-and-So's team or they'll walk, and each year we get better at putting our foot down. This last year we only had 1 girl walk after not getting her (or rather, her parents' choice) of coach. She was the best available catcher on the board and he didn't pick her, thinking we, as a board, would cave to her demands. We didn't. Another team took her as their 1st pick. The vote to force the change was 4-1 against. He had to go to her parents (his best friends) and explain why he didn't pick her daughter with his 1st pick. Oh, and he's the president of the league. Guess who voted in favor of forcing the change...
