Rise of select teams

[CoogansBluff]

I don't know what the result will be, but what you're basically seeing is the beginning of the end of talent subsidies to the rec leagues. But maybe, just maybe this will be a good thing. Less naturally talented players will get more opportunities in those pitching and catching roles and there's also a chance players with potential will view the local "special team" as something to strive for.

Just to be clear, I don't think it's wrong or selfish for the more talented ones to find something more appealing to them. I was speaking from the standpoint of a rec-league coordinator and what is best for the growth of that league. But what's best for the league isn't the burden of the best players.

And it could be that these less talented (or often just less experienced) players will rise to the occasion and be better for it, as you suggest. I just worry that softball needs those top players more than other youth sports do. For example, if my DD is an average 10U rec basketball player, I might be kinda happy to see the best 2 players leave for a travel team. DD might finally get to touch the ball. But in softball, I might be thinking, OMG, who's gonna pitch? Not just for DD's team, but the other team. Will she ever see a strike? Lots of sports are pretty fun for kids no matter the level. But seems to me that softball is more dependent on the quality the pitching. Don't want it too good, and definitely don't want it too bad. Needs to be somewhere in between.

 

[Eric F]

Our "select" team experience (10U ASA) was basically a team built from the rec league's all-star players that continued to practice and play together (tournaments, open fall leagues, etc.) until the following spring rec season. It wasn't officially connected to the rec league, nor was it a "money grab" (direct costs were shared equally as they came up). For most of the players, it served as a stepping stone to real travel ball, and they never went back to rec. For all of the players, it was an opportunity to keep playing and building skills.

 

[3bmama]

We love tournaments. Setting up camp at the park and playing all day is awesome. My DD is usually bummed when we lose our 2nd bracket game or whatever and have to go home. She always wants to know how many games are guaranteed and if it's a 3GG she's disappointed. I agree, though, that for some people it does not work out in the long run and a lot of kids do burn out. It would be nice if there were more options between full travel and rec for kids in my area. We'd still want to do tournaments though.

give it a couple of years

 

[grcsftbll]

True enough. I could see it wearing on us after awhile.

 

[mwh1979]

When I say league format, keep in mind that I'm not wishing this as an option for less serious players. I'm wishing this as an option for families and players who are just as serious, but who would prefer something more spread out. Kinda like eating cake. Do you want to eat one piece per day, or eat the whole cake in 12 hours? That's the analogy my DD would've used when she was 10-12. She was serious about softball. But she had grown tired of playing so many games in a day, total softball from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. She loved the pace of middle school ball. Not the competitive pace, but the pace of the schedule - practice/play almost every day, play 2-3 days/week, but never gorging on it.

My concern is that there are many girls and families that might've loved softball been really good at it but couldn't handle the tournament culture.

A kind of 'middle ground' league is something desperately needed in this area. Besides the schedule demands there are plenty of girls who are rec all-stars but aren't good enough yet to break through on a lot of the area travel team rosters. They just end up catching on where they can and not playing much for a while as their skills develop. A more competitive rec league schedule type situation could help some of these players bridge that gap without all of the bench time. My daughter's team has probably 2 or 3 players who won't play a lot and probably won't do much outside of pinch running on Sundays. I think it says a lot about the state of the rec league that these kids are happier sitting the bench of a travel team than being a full time player in the rec league.

As for 8U travel that seems way too young for me to try to do tournaments regularly. My daughter didn't even start playing ball until she was 9 and made the jump to travel after just turning 12. I couldn't imagine a travel schedule at 7 or 8 years old. Personally I love the tournaments and so does she. She's been doing a full tournament schedule now since September 2014. Of course here there are no tournaments between mid November and late March so that gives her plenty of time to start wanting to play games again after doing a ton between April and November LOL.