Rec League Woes

[grcsftbll]

As far as I can tell there's no animosity in my county between rec and travel. They serve different needs.

 

[CoogansBluff]

One reason you have TB vs. rec ball tension is that fastpitch is a game of high skill, and when skilled players are sucked out, the game becomes less fun.

Sports like soccer and basketball can be pretty fun at the rec level even if it's a bunch of beginners. It's fun to run up and down the field (court) and try to get the ball and put it in a net, even if you kinda suck at it.

But in fastpitch, if you don't have skilled pitchers and catchers, it can be miserable. So those pitchers/catches become precious resources in a rec league.

It's a real challenge to the growth of the sport, IMO.

 

[Bchbum54]

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.

I have noticed a significant change in attitude. Not a whole lot of support for our decision. People question the competitive level of our TB team assuming that the team will do bad even though we chose an established TB Organization, not a new startup team. Or question the level if DD's contribution to the team again assuming that if DD is on a solid roster that she will ride the bench or just be utilized as a DH. Always followed with "That's just too much money just to ride the bench." Being that I am on the board, I knew I would get some backlash, too many times I've been at meetings after the league had lost an entire team who wanted to continue to play together and heard the negativity. Honestly in some cases I didn't have nice things to say myself. There are a few people who are supportive and understand why we came to our decision. This entire process has been a big learning experience for me. At first I doubted DD's overall abilities, there are certain things she does really good, better than most players her age and some things that she still needs to work a lot on. But after several tryouts and seeing DD compete and more then hold her own i knew we were on the right track. DD ended up getting calls/emails back from 4 different teams which was encouraging and we chose the team that was the best fit for us, weighing in level of play, cost, distance and DD's overall feel for the teammates and coach.

On a side note, I was really surprised with how many teams had kinda hidden fees aside from what they expect to collect as monthly dues. 1 team apparently host a lot of friendlies and the team parents are expected to stock the snack bar out of pocket and work a mandatory 2 hour shift or pay someone to cover. Another team actually like 3 teams had mandatory once a week clinics at $20-30 per clinic. Another was asking for $5 per practice to pay for lights and field cost. All of this on top of the average $120 per month team dues. That was something new that I learned.

 

[Eric F]

I'm guessing that your DD will not want to go back to rec after she experiences what TB is about. I'm also guessing that you won't want her to, either. Although I have not seen your DD play in a while, there was an notable level of talent evident even at 8U, and I am not at all surprised that she is holding her own in the TB tryouts she has attended. Based on our previous conversations, it sounds like you have picked a team that makes a lot of sense for her development, and that's where your focus should be - her development. IMO, the ONLY reason you should have her play rec ball again is if you think it best serves her development in the game. If others in the league are butt-hurt that she has moved on to TB, they aren't interested in what's best for your DD. Those that understand will congratulate her and wish her much success.