Playing too much and burn out for 10u ? Any happy medium?

[hummingbird]

Yes I agree. We as parents need to have some sort of life too! haha. Especially when there are other kids in the family as well.

Honestly I enjoy spending the time practicing and teaching my DD. She enjoys it too. To some, maybe softball isn't life, but to some it is. Just as other hobbies and activities are life to some.

 

[soonersoftballdad83]

In my opinion that schedule is crazy, not only are you going to burn the girls out, you're going to burn their parents out also. My 11 year old loves to play but we had to pull her back from rec this spring so both she and I didn't get overwhelmed. Practice is an hour each way, we are playing 9 tournaments with in an hour or so of the house. Also have a 6 year old who I coach her team, that needs just as much attention.

Sent from my Moto Z3 Play using Tapatalk

This sounds alot like our situation! I will have a 6 year old to coach next year and not sure how to juggle all of that!

 

[sluggers]

My daughter has already made comments about never being home and never having any free time. Shes a great player and really enjoys softball, but isn't obsessed with it yet (she may never be).

Millions of young girls grow up to be business women, leaders and/or mothers without ever touching a softball.

Do what *you* think is best for you DD.

 

[bmakj]

The reason sometimes we travel is to play real 10u teams, down here they have a tendency to stay longer in an age division instead of moving up.. which it makes no sense to me

how can teams not move up when it is time (I guess possibly 2nd years could stay down in fall, but not the next spring)?

 

[cbass]

My DD is in her 3rd year at 10u. First year we played 3 tournaments, then 8 the next year after the team broke up early. This year we are on track for about 17. We played 4 in the fall and 1 in January. We are getting ready for a super busy rest of the season. We have 2 or 3 tournaments every month until July with the possibility of playing PGF in Aug. So far my daughter loves it. We practice once a week with the team, 1 pitching lesson per week, and batting at home with the occasional practice with the local PGF qualified organization (5 hours sat night). We will be missing one or 2 for family vacations. She still has time for her hobbies and sleepovers with teammates. We do talk with her alot to let us know if she needs a break. We gave her about a month and a half break from all activities in Dec/Jan. She'll get another 2 months after the season. She's also in cross fit, girl scouts, and basketball.

 

[Stxdad]

how can teams not move up when it is time (I guess possibly 2nd years could stay down in fall, but not the next spring)?

That’s a good question that happens a lot in here, usually players age up and keep em because they don’t want to move up

 

[wheresmycar]

So I noticed we're scheduled to play out of town (2+hrs away) 6 out of the next 8 weeks. It won't slow down after that either. One of those weekends we could play locally, as they have the same talent as an away tourney were in. My daughter has already made comments about never being home and never having any free time. Shes a great player and really enjoys softball, but isn't obsessed with it yet (she may never be). I really worry about burning her out, as we have lessons one night and two practices a week, followed by tournaments. So now were playing 6 days a week. I feel this is too much for a 10 year old and she will eventually want to quit the sport. The schedule is more demanding that we were told before we joined this team. Any advice on how to deal with this before its too late? Talk to the coaches? Find a team that doesn't play as much? I'd hate for her to be punished playing time wise for bringing this up to coaches.

That is too much for 10u during the school year. If that wasn't the schedule you agreed to when you signed up, tell the coach your DD is not available for a couple of tournaments. If you think it's too much, it's too much.

 

[Towny9]

I agree with @wheresmycar If you are asking if it’s too much, then it’s too much. I am coaching a 10U team and we are playing every other weekend for an 8 tournament schedule this spring. We will inevitably lost a tournament or 2 to weather and either pickup one to replace it or we will pickup a friendly doubleheader locally. The farthest we travel is 45 minutes. We are really a 9U team though so I’m trying to ease everyone into it (including myself).

 

[heman1202]

Are you the only family who feels this way or are there others? If there are others maybe just speak with the coach and discuss cutting back the tourneys a bit.

If you are the only (or one of few) family who feels this way then maybe you are just on the wrong team for you and your daughters needs.

While everyone here has opinions nobody can say what is/isn’t “too much” for every family as everyone (child and parent) is different.

I think you have already figured out it’s too much for you and your daughter, now it’s time to find a team that fits your needs. It’s ok to move on to another team for this reason, do what is best for your daughter to keep her loving softball (if that is what she wants).

 

[The Man In Blue]

One thing for everybody to keep in mind ... while "2 hours" is a universal constant, the meaning of "2 hours" is subjective. If you are in an area that you don't have to travel any notable distance for things such as work, grocery store, entertainment, 2 hours is going to seem extreme. If you are accustomed to driving 30-60 minutes just to get to work or get groceries, 2 hours isn't much.

To me, 2 hours is just enough that you have a hard time justifying the hotel, but far enough you really don't want to get up at 4am just to drive back and forth.