Rec League Woes

[Bchbum54]

DD has been playing for a large popular and fairly successful rec league for almost 7 years now. Played since T-ball - end of 10U, DD played Spring, Fall and the last 3 seasons of Allstars in the summer. She played in their select teams for the last 2 years. I've been on the board for 3 years now and this league and families within the league that we have meet and known for so many years now have become a great part of our lives.

After this past All-Star season DW and I weighted heavily the benefits of DD playing Rec Fall Ball or trying something new and trying out to find a TB team. A lot went into our decision, and at first our decision was solely for the Fall season. We made this decision to go TB without giving notice to anyone else in our league, I didn't want to be accused of poaching players from our league or influence any other family. Unfortunately unaware until recently a lot of very good players from almost all 3 (8U, 10U, 12U) gold Allstars have opted to play for other TB teams. Just alone from DD's 10U Gold team only 3 players have returned for Fall. I'm still on the board as we originally thought DD would return in Spring. Not only has the league lost a large amount of talented players but coincidently the league lost a lot of its better/top coaches. Numbers are still good for the league since at the end of registration it still has almost 200 players for this Fall season. With a significant lost in talent and lack of quality coaches, I don't ever in my time with this league ever remember TB having such a negative impact on our league. Could be that DD was in the younger divisions and I didn't know better earlier. Could be that a lot of these talented players return in the Spring even better after spending a season with a TB team. Not sure what lays ahead but right now I see our league struggling this fall and I have lost confidence on DD's return this coming up Spring.

Just venting as always thanks for reading

 

[grcsftbll]

I think 10U is when a lot of girls switch to travel, so it's probably her age. Travel is, for many girls, just more fun. It's more competitive, more intense. A certain type of girl who is driven and loves the game will have a strong preference for travel. Stinks for the rec leagues but it's just the way it is. Our 8U travel coach considered going back to rec for the fall for 10U to ease the girls into pitching. My kid said no freaking way. She loves travel. I bet many leagues lose their most talented 10U and 12U players on a pretty regular basis.

 

[CMMom1740]

Our rec league park is going through the same. The current 12U group is both the largest group and most talented group of girls they've had in years. They decided, after we'd already made the decision to try out for TB, to try to "beef up" their Select/All-Star #1 team to be more like a pseudo-TB team. They're aiming to have the team play in both All-Star and some TB tourneys next summer. The email announcement clearly indicated that the purpose was to encourage girls to stay at the park instead of going to TB. Most of the 2nd year 12U girls are staying. We decided to venture out so that we could have a leg up before it comes time to move to 14U. If our rec park doesn't want to lose girls to TB, maybe they should form their own team. JMHO.

 

[Axe]

Our rec league park is going through the same. The current 12U group is both the largest group and most talented group of girls they've had in years. They decided, after we'd already made the decision to try out for TB, to try to "beef up" their Select/All-Star #1 team to be more like a pseudo-TB team. They're aiming to have the team play in both All-Star and some TB tourneys next summer. The email announcement clearly indicated that the purpose was to encourage girls to stay at the park instead of going to TB. Most of the 2nd year 12U girls are staying. We decided to venture out so that we could have a leg up before it comes time to move to 14U. If our rec park doesn't want to lose girls to TB, maybe they should form their own team. JMHO.

You must live in Buckhead and play out of a certain league in Chastain Park...........

 

[Axe]

Bchbum54, this is a common issue for Rec leagues. The number of players leaving for travel in any given year will ebb and flow. In the best leagues is creates opportunities for other kids to step up their play on the All-Star teams. If the Board keeps looking forward, developing coaches who do things the right way and invest in developing players who love softball they will be fine.

 

[CMMom1740]

You must live in Buckhead and play out of a certain league in Chastain Park...........

No, but you're close. About 5-10 miles up Roswell Rd.

 

[Axe]

No, but you're close. About 5-10 miles up Roswell Rd.

Same discussion, different zip code, both struggling with the same questions. Good people though, tough to avoid the temptation of compromising your mission to "protect" the Rec league.

 

[coolstuff]

As other have mentioned, this is a common "problem" with rec leagues at 10U level and above. I say "problem" because it is a manufactured "problem." Rec leagues are just what they say they are - for recreation. For many girls, TB is not an option for many reasons. The better girls who continue in rec past 10U will probably get a spot on their HS roster, may even start depending on the number of TB girls on the team. And that may be all they want out of the sport. Nothing wrong with that. I have a lot of respect for rec league and its coaches. It's where nearly every softball player starts. My DD played rec for some time, waiting until 12U to make the jump. Even tried playing TB and rec at the same time the first year, but that was a disaster for other reasons.

My question is, what does your board think of you still serving while your daughter "tries" TB? In my area, girls who leave rec for TB are literally hated. We lost friends we had in rec because DD went to TB. They thought we were acting like we were "too good" for rec. I know rec leagues want to hang on to the best players, but families should make decisions for the DDs, not the rec leagues. It is what it is and you just have to play the hand that's dealt to you. In my area, the rec league is very strong despite the strong TB presence in the area. So any bad feelings toward players who jump to TB is not well founded.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Not sure what lays ahead but right now I see our league struggling this fall and I have lost confidence on DD's return this coming up Spring.

The league might struggle to maintain the level that will be fun for your daughter, but some of the struggle will make players and coaches stronger. The ones left behind will have more opportunities to be the best players on their teams, to pitch, to play short, make all-star teams, etc., and they will improve as a result of this. Same with coaches who have to step up and get better.

I'd be more worried if it sounded like the program was on the verge of extinction, but you've got 200 kids in fall. That's pretty good. My daughter grew up playing in a rec program that had maybe 100 in fall.

 

[Orange Socks]

I have been on our Rec league board for the past 5 years and would say that we have one of the largest leagues in the area with 550 participants last year. We are different that most leagues around because we don't offer fall ball and we are affiliated with a multisport organization (football, soccer, lacrosse, softball, baseball, basketball). Our fields are converted to soccer fields in the fall. It's like a conveyor belt for the most part. Most girls go from soccer to basketball to softball and repeat the next year with many of the dads/moms coaching most of the sports. We also have no affiliation with TB teams so it is something foreign for many of the parents. Once they get a taste of Allstar ball, WATCH OUT. The experience is like crack to some of those families.

With the old regime of board members there was a tug-a-war with kids that jumped ship to TB. Some kids came back, some left for good. Now we look at it differently. We are the launching pad for these players. If they are that good to make it on a TB team, then we did our job as coaches. The real problem is when a coach takes an entire team of Allstars to start his own TB team. We do have a problem with that. "Talent Drain" really hurts a rec program.

It's really cool to see the list of kids that have gone through our program to later play in college. We actually take pride in that. They have to start somewhere, and we would be stupid to think we should hold back those stellar athletes. Although there are MANY kids that would benefit in staying in REC vs playing TB. That is a whole different topic. "Talent Dilution-too many subpar TB teams" Forgive me if I sound as though I am talking out of both sides of mouth. I have TB kid and a REC kid.