Playing up

[_MIA_]

Every kid is different, but my experiences seeing this play out many times over the years have been that most 12-14 yo shouldn't play up unless they absolutely dominate at their age group and simply don't have any competition.

Just curious as to why the bolded? I have always wondered if I have robbed my kid of a little bit of confidence by having her play up but that being said she has always batted in the top 4 in the lineup and played SS for the teams she has played up on.

 

[Nimrod]

Just curious as to why the bolded? I have always wondered if I have robbed my kid of a little bit of confidence by having her play up but that being said she has always batted in the top 4 in the lineup and played SS for the teams she has played up on.

I interpreted his post to mean total domination, like hitting .750, as opposed to simply being a really good player at a given level. There's definitely value in viewing yourself as a good player.

 

[_MIA_]

I interpreted his post to mean total domination, like hitting .750, as opposed to simply being a really good player at a given level. There's definitely value in viewing yourself as a good player.

You certainly don’t want to struggle playing up. I guess the question is what is better hitting .450-.500 at your age level vs hitting .350-.400 playing up. Probably not an easy answer and depends on a lot of things including the kid’s mental makeup.

 

[mmeece]

I have always wondered if I have robbed my kid of a little bit of confidence by having her play up

This is exactly why I don't recommend playing up unless a kid is dominant at a younger age (in addition to just being sure to get enough reps). Clearly your dd is doing well if she's batting high in the lineup and hasn't been hurt by moving up. But, there is something to be said for building a high level of confidence in the appropriate age group and carrying that forward. As you said in the later post though, it just depends so much on the makeup of the kid. We had the little sister of one our 18u girls help us out of a jam during an 18u tourney. She was 13 and didn't do great, but she was completely unbothered by it. I've seen other girls really have trouble in situations like that though, and carry it into future games.

 

[_MIA_]

This is exactly why I don't recommend playing up unless a kid is dominant at a younger age (in addition to just being sure to get enough reps).

Ok thanks. I figured that was what it was but just wanted clarification.

 

[nikkilugi]

When we moved to VA DD was a rising freshman and had just turned 14 in March 2019. We went ahead and put her on a 16U team with her current org even though she was 14U eligible. After that year she was still one of the top 2 best on her team so she jumped to 18U her sophomore year at the request of her org. Her first fall at 18U was hard - she did ride the bench some because the transition was tough but by the last tournament of the fall she found her groove and summer she broke out. She learned how to fight. She worked her butt off and most importantly she got mentally tougher.

Honestly her first fall at 18U was probably harder on us as her parents because we had never seen her struggle and pulled from the lineup. Before if she did struggle she was always still in the lineup because of her potential. Now there were 16 other girls on the team and she was the youngest so all bets were off. I think my husband and I got mentally tougher that fall as well, lol.

In the long run it was absolutely what was best for her. Yes she needed the reps but she also needed the wake up call. I would say if your player isn't playing at all and sitting the bench then run. In DD's case she was getting reps - just not a lot, lol but we placed all our bets on her and it ended up being a good gamble

 

[Agcy]

Had one teammate that played up to 16A and on the 14A team as well. Their hope/expectation was that she would get challenged by tougher competition at 16 and challenged by higher expectations at 14. Seemed to work well, but you have to have an organization that works with you on scheduling and such.

 

[Hawk_]

I'm a fan of not playing up Age group and just play higher level ball.

 

[_MIA_]

I'm a fan of not playing up Age group and just play higher level ball.

Only option for us if we wanted to get a significant difference (maybe..) in level would be to play for teams in her age group 4 to 5 hours away.

 

[FP26]

There is definitely a delicate balance between challenging yourself and getting overwhelmed. In my opinion the decision to play up is an individual one. There is no blanket response as is evident by the various responses in this thread.

What I can tell you is that by playing up when the opportunity seemed right gave my daughter a sense of belonging at certain times. Starting high school ball as a freshman was less of a challenge because she had already played against many of the girls on her team and opposing teams. Playing 23u instead of 18u the summer before her freshman year of college helped her acclimate against the level of talent she would face.

Just this past weekend we talked about how it all began. Her first year of travel ball was 2nd year 12u. She also decided to play rec ball that year (her last). She was a good travel ball player but was completely dominant at rec ball. My wife thoroughly enjoyed our daughter being the star. When I ask my daughter about it her first memory was that as soon as she started travel ball, rec ball seemed boring.