One girl - 3 teams

[absdad]

The pressure of the gold team, combined with the new academic situation would be alot of new found burden all at once, IMO. I'd finish this year at 14u, then make the jump next season after she's adjusted and set herself in school. Academics first. If she could no longer pitch tomorrow, what would she be left with?
There were a "who's who" of elite D1 college coaches in Moline Ill for 14u nationals this past season. The exposure is there.

 

[Screwball]

14u. As said, showcasing and recruiting now happens at 16u. Get ready for that year now. As also said, the schools are going to 14u and 16u gold, nationals, etc.

Also, 18u's don't socialize with 14u's so the young players can feel left out.

 

[mad hornet]

That 18U team will still be there next year. I think you honor the commitment you already made.

 

[FPMark]

It is up to you to raise your DD however you want, but leaving a team after qualifying for nationals would not happen for mine. She has had better oportunities after making a commitment before, but I feel it is important to honor your commitments. I have always let her make any and all decisions regarding sports but when you decide, you have to be willing to stick by your decision.

Also, there will be coaches and scouts at the nationals. If she is as good as you say, she will be noticed, especialy if she wants to send letters to colleges she may be interested in attending.

As far as 18U, it seems a little early to be worried about 'missing out' by not playing up right now. I also get the feeling that being a dominant player in 16U showcases would probably be just as good as being an average player in 18U. JMO though.

Good Luck! sounds like fun times ahead!

 

[SoftSocDad]

First of all, congratulations to your daughter on her admission to school.

It sounds like your daughter and her parents have made a lot of the right decisions up to this point, and there is no reason to change that now.

Have her stay with the team she's currently on, as practice and travel won't take much away from her primary school commitments. You certainly should invite her input, but at 14, this is ultimately YOUR decision, not hers. SHE made the choice to compete for admission to the advanced school, so until she has demonstrated an ability to handle the increased workload for the next year or so, then she has to accept that certain things - in this case, playing for an elite softball team - must be sacrificed.

If she's good enough for 18u gold at age 14, then she'll be good enough for 18u gold at age 15.

I can imagine it's tough being in the situation and wanting your child to have it all, but from the outside, this is a no-brainer, because it's clear from your post that you've raised your kid with the sort of values we need in this country. You've got your priorities straight and as a result, so does she. Here's to you for the job you've done so far.

 

[rowdy]

I have a close friend who has a daughter who is a sophmore in HS this year and is the featured pitcher on one of the top 18U gold teams in the country. Here are the issues associated with having your younger daughter play at his leve. 1st the level of commitment is very high and the level of fun for the game is secondary. 2nd many of your daughters friends will be leaving the club leaving her behind to regroup with the kids she would be playing with anyway. 3rd your daughter is exposed to a lot of things she really doesn't need to be doing at 14 while traveling with a bunch of adults.

The team she plays on places all players at division 1 schools with very good programs. At 15 his daughter tells him she isn't sure she wants to play softball any more because all of her friends at college are telling her horror stories about college softball. In the end I would let her do what she wants but would suggest she plays at her age level until she has complete her sophmore year.

 

[changeupskill]

Hi Wallly. While reading your post, I thought it was my post or you were talking about my DD. Thank god my kid hasn't teamed up with your kid... They'd be dangerous together. Haha. First of all. Not sure how regular you are in here, but I have to say that Amy and sluggers, in my opinion, are the some of the most intelligent people in this forum. There are others, but they REALLY get it. Now, My DD is just like yours as it sounds. She is an absolute work horse on her own. Not pushed by mommy and daddy. Her drive is to play in the College World Series in OKC. She pitched the championship game in OKC last year and won. She had just turned 14 (a June 96 kid) Not just pitching, but as a catcher, batter and 3rd baseman, she was just hands above her teammates and guest teams she played for. So, her and I went out and researched some 16U teams to move up to a year early. With some advice of local D1, D2 coaches and players, they led us to some high profile teams. At several of these tryouts, coaches pulled her aside within minutes and said they would like us to talk to their 18U coaches on the adjacent field. No way we thought. But this happened several times that weekend. So, stopping to think about things and discuss our options, we started calling coaches. Well, my daughter make the calls with a speaker phone. She has her own goals and her own questions. Her and I asked very straight forward questions and tough ones like "what can you do for me in respect to college preperation", "Do you really believe I can do the job you expect me to", "If my pitches or bat is just sucking in a game, like it sometimes happens, are you going to take me out?" We got some of the craziest answers. Here are some.... I know these coaches at X colleges personally. We like to set some of our top girls up in some college camps for exposure. If you are struggling a little, we will let you work through it before just yanking you out. We give you a chance. I'm sure you can play at this level, and if you are a little bit behind, we can work with you.... They keep going. However, two coaches, from two differant organizations that didn't know each other before they met watching my DD. They gave almost the same answers. {I can prep you for college by getting you to the right exposure tournaments, YOU have to do the work to be seen while you are there... I have X number of Division I, II, JUCO etc players in my years by doing xxxxxxx.} {I'm not into taking players that NEED alot of work. 18s better not NEED much of anything if they are playing at this level. We can SEE that you can do this job} What really made up my DDs mind was about the struggling {If you are conscious enough to ask me that question the way you did, then I know you will be a perfect fit in my org. At this level, the team comes first and only the win counts. Its just not your day, and you come out and let a teammate take over and you get 'em the next day / weekend.} Thats what SHE wanted to hear because shes been on teams where the coaches kid is the catcher and can't stop a beach ball, but never taken out. If she's suckin, shes out - plain and simple. She knows she isn't going to be perfect EVERY day. So, we all chose an 18U team that worked best for her. Not ONE team was even considered if the coach had a kid on the team. Never again. The coach gives homework. College questionaires, email logs, phone contact log, practice skills video streams to name a few. Its been amazing ever since. When she's talked to colleges, they've requested her video, stats and schedule. When we mention New Jersey, Florida, Colorado Sparkler, OKC, Vegas, Batbusters and TC World Series, they seem to get real excited to hear about her. Every coach personally said that a 14U eligible player, playing, and able to honestly COMPETE at the 18U level certainly raises some interest. I was scared at first, but I'd have to say, let her do it if she has the opportunity. My kid is in a ton of honors classes and does homework in the car on the way to practice 1 hour away. Not sure if its right or wrong. She wants it bad though, sounds like yours does too. Good luck, its tougher on dear ole dad.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Thanks for the kind words, CUS.

When I played, there were 2 divisions in ASA, 16U and 17 and up. I think that I started playing up, at about 14. Many women on the team were D1 athletes and some were in their 30s. On the field, age didn't matter, as long as you played well.

Not only did I learn to play softball, but I was exposed to relationships between the players that my mom and dad, had neglected to tell me about. It was a shock, for about a day. But there are adult relationships that I wasn't old enough to understand.

Maybe girls are better suited to understanding alternative lifestyles, now. But it is something that girls need made aware of, when they start hanging with an older age group.

 

[Lozza]

At least you don't have to worry about them drinking (I was her age playing with adults, who took great delight in getting me drunk every time we went away)

I would give her another year in U14, to the team you've already committed. One year, especially at such a young age, won't hurt her and she will learn how to be a team leader. 15 playing U18 means she's a little bit older, little bit more mature and better able to handle the challenges.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

Wallly,

Welcome to the boards, you will get some good advice here.

First off; your question:

So I'm curious what others would do?
A) Stay U14.
B) Go U18 with team one (Verbally agreed)
C) Go U18 with the name droppers.

Since these are the only choices, I suggest your DD go with U18 – option B. U14 will do absolutely nothing for her except allow a few college coaches to see her at Nationals. She will get a lot of time in the circle but it will not be quality time. Between the 2 U18 teams, the better team is the better choice (as long as team B attends a lot of exposure tournaments in fall and tries to qualify for Nationals in summer).

An option that you may want to consider is moving up to a very competitive U16 team for the summer, and then go to U18 in fall. This option would allow your DD to get some experience against better batters and if she is as good as you say, she should get lots of time in the circle.

As far as academics go; any U18 team that is dedicated to getting your DD into college will put academics first. My DD studies in the car to and from practices and tournaments and is able to keep her grades up.

I have no problem with a 14 or 15 year old playing on an elite U18 team. Our experience has been that the girls on high level elite teams are so dedicated to school and softball that there is little time for boys and none for partying/drinking/drugs. There were more problems with the girls on the U14 and U16 teams than with the girls on the 18Gold team.

As much as people want to believe that a majority of recruiting goes on at U14 and U16, it just isn’t true. For the most part, the only 14/16 tournaments that college coaches attend are Nationals, that’s one tournament per year (if the team qualifies). My DD is 15 and has been playing on “Elite” teams since fall of her 13th year. That is also when she started emailing college coaches that were attending tournaments she was playing in, inviting them to come see her play.

• Fall 2009 - Her U14 team played only in Northern California ASA and 0 college coaches saw her play.
• Summer 2010 – Her U16 team played in Northern California ASA, Southern California ASA and Colorado Sparkler. The number of coaches that saw her play is in single digits.
• Fall 2010 – Her U16 team played a mixture of U16 and U18 exposure tournaments in Northern and Southern California. Very few coaches attended the U16 tournaments but there were some that attended the U18 tournaments.
• December 2010 – DD was selected for the 18Gold team in the same organization she played U16 for. In January 2011 the team attended 2 18Gold exposure tournaments in Southern California and there were more college coaches at one particular game then there were at all other games combined during the last 3 seasons. At all other games there have been coaches watching.

My personal belief is that a player that wants to play softball in college should play at the highest level that she can without being a permanent bench warmer.

Good luck to you, and most importantly to your DD. It sounds as though she has some fun years ahead!!!