Should a Select Team play Rec Ball?

[BobInMadison]

In my area, the folks in the rec league are rather upset when TB players stop playing rec league. Some of the TB coaches encourage it, others don't.
For my DD #3's TB team. 12 of the 13 girls signed up for rec league, and the one who didn't was injured at the beginning of the season. The coaches for the TB team always coach rec league together.
I have know some TB teams where the coaches' DDs played rec ball, but generally the other kids on the team did not.

The idea is, the TB players are spread out among the rec league teams. That helps develop the girls who have some talent. Girls learn to hit against good pitchers, and pitch against good hitters. Also, it forces the pitchers to really throw strikes, knowing that some of the girls will just stand there and watch the balls go by.

My DD #3 averages about 2.5 K per inning in rec league. (Sometimes she gets 4 or 5 K in an inning. Hey, these are rec league catchers, after all). Rec league is great pitching practice. She is 11u, and used the spring rec league games as a way to practice her change-up before trying it in TB play. As she gets older, and learns new pitches, rec league will be a great way for her to practice the new pitches.

Recently, fewer of the TB girls have been playing rec league. This has some really nasty effects on non-TB girls trying to learn the game. First off, the players with talent and little experience don't get to play with and against the really good players. Second, a lot of 5th graders had to play up for the 12u this spring, since very few of the 7th grade TB players played rec league, and the ones who played were not on the all-star team. Last year DD #3 was 10u playing up in 12u rec league, and she got to play against some strong 6th and 7th grade TB players. This year, there were only a few good 7th graders for her to play against.

So, while last year the local LL had a great 12u all-star team, this year's version lost every tournament game they played. Two years ago DD #1 got her first tournament experience as part of the 14u all-stars, and they even came in 3rd in a good tournament (they should've been 2nd, but was robbed by the refs!). Since then, the local LL hasn't been able to put together a 14u all-star team.

EDIT: Still, this is the effect of a rec league with strong players mixed in with the weak players and the beginners. I am all in favor of that. Putting all the strong players on one team defeats the whole purpose of rec league. The weaker teams have no chance against the stronger teams, and the weak players don't get the good experience of having strong teammates.

 

[29dad]

We live in SD. My DD now plays for a Minnesota based team, but when we first moved here she played for one of the top TB teams in SD (not bragging as that's not saying much). SD ASA rules REQUIRED us to also play in a league. Never undrstood the rule, but what can you do? So we'd play tournaments on the weekend and then the most ridiculous, lopsided league games during the week. Absolutely miserable for everyone. Neither team gained a thing. We should have been practicing, but instead we had to play worthless games. We'd score 5 runs (inning max), take the field, other team would go three up three down, then repeat the process.

But the difference is that we were MANDATED to play in a league. For the OP's coach to do this voluntarily is unconscionable. If it was me, i would walk. There has to be another team...

 

[29dad]

In my area, the folks in the rec league are rather upset when TB players stop playing rec league. Some of the TB coaches encourage it, others don't.
For my DD #3's TB team. 12 of the 13 girls signed up for rec league, and the one who didn't was injured at the beginning of the season. The coaches for the TB team always coach rec league together.
I have know some TB teams where the coaches' DDs played rec ball, but generally the other kids on the team did not.

The idea is, the TB players are spread out among the rec league teams. That helps develop the girls who have some talent. Girls learn to hit against good pitchers, and pitch against good hitters. Also, it forces the pitchers to really throw strikes, knowing that some of the girls will just stand there and watch the balls go by.

My DD #3 averages about 2.5 K per inning in rec league. (Sometimes she gets 4 or 5 K in an inning. Hey, these are rec league catchers, after all). Rec league is great pitching practice. She is 11u, and used the spring rec league games as a way to practice her change-up before trying it in TB play. As she gets older, and learns new pitches, rec league will be a great way for her to practice the new pitches.

Recently, fewer of the TB girls have been playing rec league. This has some really nasty effects on non-TB girls trying to learn the game. First off, the players with talent and little experience don't get to play with and against the really good players. Second, a lot of 5th graders had to play up for the 12u this spring, since very few of the 7th grade TB players played rec league, and the ones who played were not on the all-star team. Last year DD #3 was 10u playing up in 12u rec league, and she got to play against some strong 6th and 7th grade TB players. This year, there were only a few good 7th graders for her to play against.

So, while last year the local LL had a great 12u all-star team, this year's version lost every tournament game they played. Two years ago DD #1 got her first tournament experience as part of the 14u all-stars, and they even came in 3rd in a good tournament (they should've been 2nd, but was robbed by the refs!). Since then, the local LL hasn't been able to put together a 14u all-star team.

EDIT: Still, this is the effect of a rec league with strong players mixed in with the weak players and the beginners. I am all in favor of that. Putting all the strong players on one team defeats the whole purpose of rec league. The weaker teams have no chance against the stronger teams, and the weak players don't get the good experience of having strong teammates.

I think this is a recipe for disaster. Some elite TB player is going to hit a screaming line drive and seriously injure a developing rec ball pitcher or thrid baseman. And i've seen it happen. I couldn't possibly be more against this. Just my two cents, as we obviously agree to disagree.

 

[dbronstein]

The coach is is a jerk. We had a comp travel team playing in our 10u rec league last fall and it ruined it for the rest of us. They had two pitchers who would have been studs in 12u and the 10u girls couldn't touch them. The top 6 or 7 teams aside from them were all pretty evenly matched but we knew we were all playing for second when the playoffs started. They had no business being in the league.

 

[Rocketech1]

First off, rec leagues around here have tryouts and the players are selected during a draft and the better players are distributed equally among all teams so you cannot just bring an established team to the league and keep all the girls together. Strange that there are rec leagues that allow this? Seems to be counter to the whole goal of rec leagues.

Secondly, teams should be playing with similar competition. Having a select or travel ball team compete against rec teams serves no purpose other than to stroke the ego of the head coach. I would stear clear of this team as the coach has his priorities all screwed up. I would show him this thread and get his reaction why he wants to play rec.

 

[dbronstein]

Our league is a group of independent clubs. The clubs can field as many teams as they want and are on their honor on playing at the appropriate level. TB teams can play in the league if they can find a member club that is willing to let them play through it. And all the clubs are happy to do it because they want the money.

 

[Eric F]

First off, rec leagues around here have tryouts and the players are selected during a draft and the better players are distributed equally among all teams so you cannot just bring an established team to the league and keep all the girls together. Strange that there are rec leagues that allow this? Seems to be counter to the whole goal of rec leagues.

For us (ASA), some rec leagues (including ours) focus on new and intermediate player development, and are no place for "select" teams. These programs are important, and are - in most cases - the core of what rec leagues are about.

Other rec leagues open the doors for "select" teams, and are a good place for all-star level players to continue refining their skills against similar competition. That said, players moving up to an age group that includes significant rule changes are often best served by staying in an instructional/developmental program for Fall.

For the Spring season, it's drafted teams, and proving your abilities to make all-stars.

 

[RetiredCoach]

I was an AC on a 16U "B" team this year and we were pulling a lot of new girls together. To help the gelling process we entered a 16U B/C level tournament. To our utter amazement two elite teams also entered this tournament and, naturally, kicked the crap out of this new team full of "B" level players. To say the least, this had a very demoralizing effect on the team and I don't know if we shook it all year long.

 

[Cecelia]

In our small town, we have one select team made up mostly of girls who live here. They are B level. If these girls didn't play Little League, there would be no rec team in our town and the (about 4) girls who don't play select and do play rec wouldn't have a team to play on.

 

[SCDad]

The worst part of this is the safety aspect.

It happens occasionally in travel softball too. Some of the pitchers and third baseman have no clue how vulnerable they are against good A level hitters.

Had a game where an obvious overmatched third baseman was playing have way up the line. An a super slow pitcher to boot. Declared loudly the "3rd baseman needs to back up ... She is going to get hurt". To no avail as the super young travel team thought they knew better. Sure enough, she got ripped, fortunately is was on her lower leg. No real damage, but she might as well be a standing target who had no way of defending herself.

Same game, a hard tag at 2nd base. Young runner acted as though she was knocked out. She did not know how to slide, nor defend herself on the base paths.

A Level teams should not search for inept teams. The danger is too great. It is hard enough just being an A Level Team in youth travel and have really green teams searching you out, without knowing the danger, and putting the A Level team in the position to just bunt, bat off handed, and go base to base.