Not all California Girls

[Kevin Merryman]

SD Dad, I know it. I haven't had practice in over a week because of rain, mud and slop. It's nuts. I lost a few winter practices this year to due to a foot of sleet (Yes..foot of sleet that people were ice skating on in their yards) and more snow than you can shake a stick at. My Season starts Sunday and I have only be outside practicing for maybe a month. Don't have the luxury of a domed area I have to use an old HS gym..but it works.

 

[FPMark]

I'll come in here and contribute since it was my original post that started all this madness.....sorry about that btw....

Here's my history with the sport to give you an idea....I've coached for about 8 years. Little sis played growing up, from rec to travel. Wife and all her current friends played travel from the age of 10. All grew up together and most of them played college ball. Been with wife since we were both 14. With that said, my dd has been around softball since she was born. my 14 month old....same thing. What do you think these kids are going to want to do growing up? They are going to want to play! Now there are parents that will stick to one thing and that's it but for the most part, there is a large population of hispanics in socal, most of them did not grow up playing softball. Me for example, my dd tried soccer and basketball (yes, i pushed her into that one). She didn't like either one. ended up with softball and that's what she stuck with. and LOVES it. That's all she wants to do! That and play the freaking guitar which forced me to have to learn.

What i'm getting at is that the kids around here do not have to get pushed into softball, the kids that are good, for the most part have older sisters playing travel ball and grew up at parks. Now if the kids love it that much, what's wrong with getting them some help to try to help them with something they love! Would we have this same discussion if my dd for example, was playing guitar 4 hours a day (she only does 45 min. daily) and we got her guitar lessons because she begged us for them? Doesn't seem like it.

Now, the crazy practices that are mentioned in the beginning of this thread seem to be taken out of context. Note that this was mentioned for ALL STARS ONLY. Does it seem crazy, maybe. Note that it's one more hour and one more day than regular rec ball. Regular rec ball around SoCal is 2 days out of the week for two hours with pitchers/catchers an extra half hour before or after practice. Then you have a third day in the week for batting cages....that is 2 cages running at the same time for 1.5 hours. double headers on saturdays. Now the cages and double headers might not be standard but many do that. The 2 hour x 2 a week is standard everywhere.

As far as other parts of the country catching up......no they are not!! They already have and have for some time now. Here in SoCal, we all know that and it's unbelievably great, only makes the sport we love that much better!!

FPMark, your assumption of a 6-8yr old superstar is totally incorrect. I can see why you would think that but at that age they are already playing 8u ball and half the team are really good. The gap between the good group is so small that the girls don't think about it. In all the years i've been around that division, one thing brings the biggest smile to their face and it's not all stars and it's not hits. It's a freaking change up for pitchers and sliding for everyone else!! I can't count how many times i've seen a girl on the mound literally jump smiling because her change up was not a strike or fooled the batter, just that she threw it correctly.
As far as superstars today growing into superstars in the future....who knows. What I can say is that the little superstars that i've grown up around have a deep deep love for the sport that can't even be explained. They don't fall off, they always have something to work on and work very hard at it.

Sorry for the long post, it just seems that there are a ton of misconceptions about SoCal fastpitch that i feel the need to jump in.

SD DAD, I think you might have misunderstood my post. I said that the girls wanted to play, forcing them to practice was not the issue. The issue was that the more time they spend in a structured SB envirement, the less time they have to explore and experience other things, to just be a kid. They are only 6-8 yrs old. They very well may be completely happy to play SB 24/7.

I'm talking about my expirience, not my assumptions. I have coached girls from 6U to 14U plus 4 yrs of middle school. I have known many girls that were unbelievable all stars at the young ages (6U, 8U) and were at the field all the time practicing with or without their team. They loved the game as much as anybody. But, as they get older, they start to see what they are missing by their total focus on one activity. As hard and quick as they fell in love with the game, they can fall in love with something else that they never had time to experience. I know nearly every girl on the local varsity and JV HS team, I even coached most of them, but to my knowledge, none were all stars at the 6-8 age level. In fact, alot, but not all, of the young all stars seem to disappear by, or during, HS.

The longer you try to focus on one thing, the more likely you are to get distracted. Look around first, see all your options, then when you turn your focus on something, it's easier to stay focused because you know what you're missing. I feel lucky my DD has picked SB,... so far.

 

[SD DAD]

You really are lucky FP, my daughter wants to play guitar...which means, i have to learn how to play guitar!!! I now see what you are saying, i did misunderstand and apologize. your past experiences are somewhat different from what i have seen around here. Around here it seems like the girls that start off good tend to stay that way and it shows. It's rare for a kid to jump into softball here in socal and be able to succeed. If they jump in at 12, they are already so far behind and it becomes impossible for them to catch up to others. I've seen this over and over again. In our cases from previous experience, it's rare if they burn out or just get tired of the game.