Shortage of Players

[radness]

That is a little bit of cop out.

Really nice to have a fence but I bought a bunch of balls so could be Ok without fence.

Certainly not the same thing but there were BB fields hidden all around our area. All grass fields. Not perfect but OK.

It's not a cop out, it's a predicament.

*That is an indication of how many teams there are in the area.
So many teams not enough fields for everyone to play on. And contributes to teams using indoor facilities which drives prices up higher.

While I agree it would be okay to have an all grass area to practice on, unfortunately then people are competing with soccer year-round. and other sports like youth football.

Which could lead to why roster numbers can get so high on certain teams because they have fields
while other teams have none= hard to have a team when you have nowhere to practice... because of shortage.

 

[PAFPDAD]

Is it only my area. Moving to the 14U in January it's seems there are very very limited girls. It seems every team is short and there is a heavy reliance on guess players.

It seems to be a crazy drop in players moving from 12U to 14U.

Seeing this in Southeastern PA. The 'lucky' teams are the ones that have at least 10. Several teams out there with 7-8 girls hoping to grab more. I think it is several factors, more teams, more competition from other sports (Lacrosse), and the drop in birthrate that has occurred since 2000.

 

[GIMNEPIWO]

Is it only my area. Moving to the 14U in January it's seems there are very very limited girls. It seems every team is short and there is a heavy reliance on guess players.

It seems to be a crazy drop in players moving from 12U to 14U.

Along with all the other possible reasons, between 12U & 14U there is a 'natural' drop in available players. Along about this time gals discover other interests, have hormones raging, discover romantic interests, start HS and succumb to peer pressure and decide (or have decided for them) to concentrate on one sport.

 

[AnotherSoftballDad]

We are in the North Dallas area. We have reach out to two other teams with 6 or less players waiting on thier reply. We have 7 girls that been together a few years.

I'm in the same area.

I noticed a big drop off in number of players from 12U to 14U.

Then another big drop off from 14U to 16U.

I think the lower level girls start to drop off and just play high school ball because that is enough for them. Plus boys, and cars, and jobs, and home coming...

 

[Lance Steckler]

at least in my area, Cincinnati, oh. There are a bunch of new teams and Orgs appearing this year. and they it seems like every 14 & 16u team that appeared needs a catcher, pitcher and maybe ss. To be honest, it feels like a bunch of 'daddy / mommy ball' teams.

 

[soxtroy@yahoo.com]

Dallas has lots of players and teams. Just like Houston. They are all gravitating to the 4 main programs that accumulates all the players. If teams are having problems getting players they are not one of those programs. I say "4" very sarcastically.

Exactly!! The big organizations have certainly changed everything.

 

[Tech Control]

I’d say, in my area, NJ, we have a shortage of Pitchers and Catchers. The cost of training and commitment needed to be a good pitcher is high here. Add to it that the majority of pitchers don’t want to be a PO, the training is doubled.

I like the fact that there are so many teams. This gives girls of all levels a chance to play somewhere and still enjoy softball.

 

[daywalkerdad]

I always wondered if a pitcher/catcher could be a free agent so to speak. Just sub 8 or so tournaments a year and save parents some money. Lol.

 

[claudecw3]

I am also in the Dallas area. There is a drop off at 14U. My daughter pitches, so we benefit. She is a “pick-up” player nearly every weekend, and we haven’t paid a penny. In our area you are forced to play year round, or you can’t keep up with everyone that is. Girls come back in the spring, and everyone is twice as good. They usually quit.

Yeah, the larger organizations hoard talent. No one in our area quits tournament ball to only play high school ball. You can’t play varsity for most schools without playing tournament ball. It is political. The big tournament organizations funnel talent to certain schools, so the high school coaches are at their mercy. Girls feel they aren’t getting a fair shake during tryouts, so they quit.

The pandemic didn’t help either. Many girls took the pandemic off, and came back to see their friends who played and trained during the pandemic are now hitting the ball over the fence and pitching in the high 50’s. It is intimidating, so they quit…

Oh, and we lose a good number to volleyball during the middle school/high school transition.


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[Dummy]

14u in our area seems to be the first breakpoint of players who start wagering where their priorities lie. School sport rules which prevent them from participating in travel sports also start to come into play. Grade levels, middle school/ vs highschool rules start to become at this point preventing travel players to even practice with their travel sports teams, much less play in tournaments. Every state is not timed together among this either. For instance, we live in Southern Illinois and quite near the Missouri border. Illinois highschool softball starts in February, Whereas Missouri starts in the Fall.
At this age too, there are considerations among physical maturity, hormones, boyfriends/girlfriends etc, plus academic demands grow harder and more time demanding. Then there is the social struggle of popularity, drugs, alcohol, partying and much more than we as parents have dismissed because it wasn't as much of a demand on us as it is today.

Basically, 14u is the start of the "make or break" of those who take the sport seriously.