One girl - 3 teams

[Coach-n-Dad]

Screwball, I agree that MANY more 16U teams are going to exposure tournaments. I have noticed that just because it is titled an exposure tournament doesn't mean college coaches are attending.

I don't like "Verbal Agreements" either. I have been meaning to do some research to find out how many HS Freshmen that verbal to a DI school are actually on the roster for their College Freshman year. I am guessing that 1/2 or more do not make it that far, for whatever reason.

 

[Wallly]

Thank You All

I want to thank you all for your input. The majority of your responses reinforced what I have believed from the start. Whether my dd played 14U or 18U was our decision as parents. We are suppose to take the long view that teenagers typically do not. Only a handful of stars make livings from their sport, the vast majority will rely on education. So not going U18 fall of 2010 had to be. Therefore at that moment, that meant agreeing to U14. Six months into that agreement it must be kept. "Honor" is an important lesson.

The U18's stressing the need to be seen by college coaches quickly, matters less now to me when I think about the process. My daughter will be doing a showcase in June. My goal is to have her at 65 mph by then. Last year only two pitchers hit 60. One pitch at 65 and she will be the talk of the week. As far as touring the country, I think we'll target market her favorite schools. A local father told me that last year his daughter pitched in CA in front of 21 coaches. I'll bet my dd wouldn't recognize 19 of them. The only one she knows is spelled UCLA. (who knows if they were there.)

To answer someone's question, we are from New England. I've heard, (it may be true), that our U18's are like California's U16s so the jump in ability from 14-18 out here is probably not as great as it is in the warmer climates. In town and travel ball she played on an 8th grade team in the 5th grade. I remind her that the seniors she'll face in HS are the same kids she struck out four years ago. Thou shalt not be intimidated.

At U14 she'll be able to throw any pitch she wants, any time, to anyone. She can work on pin point location, movement, and speed. She can experiment without getting the ball blasted over the fence. Her pitching coach says, "Nobody should hit you unless you make a mistake. You have to hold yourself to a higher standard. Just because you strike a batter out, if you know you missed the pitch, you have to realize the out was no big deal and you have to work on that pitch."

I've said, it doesn't matter who is up. You stand 43 feet away and fire into a catchers mit. You need to hit your pitches at their highest speeds either way. You don't strike batters out with arms you get them with brains. I look forward this year to her maturing as a pitcher, not a thrower.

Finally, when I asked the U18 team if she could stay down and come on next year I used an analogy I'd forgotten about. I said, "Remember when Larry Bird was drafted by the Celtics as a junior and played out his senior year at Indiana? That's what I'd like my daughter to do." When the second U18 started name dropping and had me worried I said to myself, "Would any other athlete do something like this? Stay down when the could go up?" Larry Bird came back to mind and reassured me. There's just one change I make. If she gets to a National Championship I like her to win it.

If somewhere this summer at a tournament you see a tall, hard throwing kid from New England find her dad and introduce yourself.

Once again, Thank you all!

 

[mad hornet]

Good call Wally. Good luck this season.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

Good Luck Wallly and to your DD