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May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
I guess people have different expectations of what 8U softball is, based off of their own experiences. For us, our community had two or three league teams, and we played teams from the surrounding communities who did the same thing. At the end of the season, we put an "all star" (I use that term loosely) team together and played in a tournament a couple of towns away. There were, maybe, eight teams. We played a Friday evening game, a couple of Saturday games, and the championship game on Sunday. That was it...One season end tournament. After that, the girls when back to playing with dolls and swimming the rest of the summer.

If our rec director would have said that we were putting an 8U "All Star" team together to travel hours away and stay in hotels, I would have laughed at him. I do not see the point at that age. The idea of 8U travel teams is ridiculous too. Save the money for when it matters.

In our area, most leagues have enough teams where you only play against teams in the league during the regular season. Typically, the all-star season starts around Memorial day, and teams will play 3-4 weekend tournaments before Districts, with one of those tournaments being a hotel-stay trip. Top teams from Districts qualify for States. You might be shocked by how well the top 8U teams play the game.

It only seems ridiculous to you because it's not what you have experienced.

This group of 8yos created a bond during their all-star season that is still strong 6 years later. None of them are currently playing together, but when they see each other again, the softball-sister bond is still there - vividly.
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Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
thread reminds me of funny story when I first started umpiring, a buddy of mine from work talked me into it because he knew I was baseball fan (fun times all our business trips once scheduled involved checking the schedule to see if there was a MLB game going on then making it work).

Anyway we are doing rec league game all 8U and 10U maybe an occasional 12U game not very competitive league lots of rainbow pitchers. So after maybe a month or so he says there is this tournament about an hour away but they need umpires bad and we could go have fun afternoon and make some good money. I'm like OK sounds great....long story short we get lost and are right on time, I throw my gear on he tells me I got plate first game, well this was 18U, we do quick plate conference and I'm just kinda BSing for a quick second with him not really paying attention then since we are just a little late now I yell play ball. I get behind the plate and I kid you not the girl winds up pitches the ball and I see nothing...catchers glove didn't move much I heard a pop paused a second called a strike stepped back and took a deep breath looked down at first base my buddy Barry has this huge grin on his face I focus and get back in there this time just a little better prepared for a ball going 60+ versus 40 mph.
 
Jun 22, 2019
258
43
I had an umpire that was a 17yrs old high school girl at an 8U game...we were batting and a girl hits a fly ball that landed around second base. Ump throws up a hand and yells infield fly rule for our third out.

Our team leaves the field and I walked over to her to tell her that we only had one on and the infield fly rule wasn’t in effect and I stated clearly that I didn’t want her to change the call, just and FYI for future games. She said, oh crap and the proceeded to have the kids return to their previous positions. The other coach came storming out of the dugout screaming at this young lady like she kicked his dog...then he starts yelling at me that we always try to cheat. I tried to calm him down and said our team will take the field his team can bat...no big deal. He keeps ranting and raving about me trying to cheat. I just shook my head and walked to the dugout. That was the last game that girl ever umpired.

By the way, my team was winning by like 20 and zero of the kids on either team knew the score, they just wanted pickle pops from the concession stand.

8U softball parents/coaches are the most ferocious of all the sport fanatics.
 
Nov 26, 2010
4,784
113
Michigan
Yeah.... saw parts of two games of a SoCal 6u All-Star tournament last summer.... they could give 8u teams from most of the country a run for their money!
What do you think. My dd is physically ahead of her team, but she was potty trained sooner too, should she forget about her 4U A team and play 6U B?

I’m more afraid of the social aspect of her teammates being 50% older then she is the. The playing skills. The boys having cooties talks concern me most.
 
Dec 5, 2017
514
63
Nope. Not insane. This is standard operating procedure in So Cal rec all-stars. The all-star tournament season usually includes at least one of these trips. They're a ton of fun for the girls - and sometimes the parents, too. If the team qualifies for States, it usually means a second hotel-stay tournament (depending on where you live). For us, 8U all-stars was a time that had a big impact on my DD's path in the game, and she has a lot of great memories from that time with that team.
We are in a small town just out side of Louisville and our rec all-stars experience sounds very similar to yours. There were some 8u teams from Louisville that we had to play that were very good. Most of our girls from that first season of all-stars are still playing together going into our second year of 10u travel. The girls that were older are still together as well going into their first year of 12u. Last year we had a 3 day regional tournament that was far enough away that we spent 3 nights there and the girls had a ball hanging out at the pool. We also went to the Babe Ruth world series in Florida but that was a huge money grab by them. We spent 9 days there and didn't have games on a lot of those days, it was a joke to say the least. We did get to play a team from Bon Kid, China which was cool.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
By the way, my team was winning by like 20 and zero of the kids on either team knew the score, they just wanted pickle pops from the concession stand.

Since this thread is already going in strange directions ... pickle pops!

Back when I ran our local league, one of my favorite parts was actually the concession stand. We sold the “giant” pickles and they were a top seller. One night (in my first year) we sold the last pickle in the jar and went to dump the juice down the drain. One of the kids said “Wait! They freeze the pickle juice at the skating rink and it is soooo good!”

She poured some of the juice into a couple of the 2 oz. cups we had for nacho cheese/sauces/etc. and stuck them in the freezer. We (adults) were disgusted by the concept.

The next night, kids saw the concession workers eating them and started asking about them. Thus the “pickle-cicle” was born at our concession stand.

We were throwing pickles away just to get the juice to keep up with the demand. I contacted all of our vendors trying to find jars of just pickle juice; they thought I was crazy. One of the big barrels of pickles that we bought for less than $10 would make about 100 pickle-cicles (at $.50 each).

Later, the “dirty pickle-cicle” was born ... that was a pickle-cicle that had “stuff” in it (the seeds and seasonings from the juice that sink to the bottom of the jar). Some kids really liked the “dirty” version and would specifically request it.

You just never know ... 😁

I always threatened to create the “hot-cicle” but never did ... freezing the juice from the jalapeños for nachos.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
What do you think. My dd is physically ahead of her team, but she was potty trained sooner too, should she forget about her 4U A team and play 6U B?

I’m more afraid of the social aspect of her teammates being 50% older then she is the. The playing skills. The boys having cooties talks concern me most.

Unless you actually started her in 18u Elites ... that’s months, not years ... she doesn’t stand a chance. Got to get rid of hitting off a tee and using a -10 composite pacifier early if you want to make it big in this world.
 

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