- Jun 12, 2015
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I'm going to give some specifics to set the stage though really I'm just interested in a more general discussion, because it's a lazy Sunday and I'm avoiding cleaning stuff.
My daughter plays on a first year 10U team through an A organization. They're solid. The top half of our team is A level; the bottom half probably more high B. They're all 06 birthdays but one, but several have played up, and I think most of what separates the bottom half from the top half is experience. Every girl on the team has good potential and athleticism.
In the fall we played 5 tournaments. We played 3 A level tournaments, and 2 that were not labelled but the other teams were more B level. When we play A teams, we hold our own and typically don't get killed, nor do we often win. There was one game against a very good team that was VERY close, one run difference in the final inning. I was not there, because my older one had a game too, and I hear it was the most exciting game ever. Point being, we're competitive and will probably do a lot of winning 2nd year 10U if the team stays together but for now with the lesser experience we mostly lose against A teams. We did not place in any of the A tourneys, (we did go into the season fully expecting that to be the case-we were actually prepared for a good bit more stomping than we got).
The B tournaments we took 2nd and 1st place respectively. In the first one we lost 2 games to the same team. Because of the org rules, the other team was able to play with 4-5 picked-up 04 girls. We only have one that's not an 06 (she's a late 05). They stomped us good - this was an early tournament where many of our girls still weren't hitting much at all (including mine). The 2nd B tournament was our last of the season. We scored something like 56 runs and only had around 6 runs scored on us. We took 1st place easily.
So the topic of discussion: what do you do with a team like this? What's fair? Obviously we want to play the A tournaments mostly, because that's the best way to improve. But keeping in mind that these girls are 9, is it unreasonable to sign up for one now and then where they've got a good chance of taking the gold? Having been on a really weak B team last year in 8U and pretty much never placing at all, that kind of sucks. It's nice to get a win now and then, helps pump them up and keep them going. But is it unfair to the other teams at the lower level tournaments?
Again not so much about OUR team - our schedule's set for the spring and we're mostly in As again. My dd says she never wants to play in a B tournament again. She enjoyed winning but felt like it was not a fair competition, and was too easy. If I had to guess most of the girls on our team felt that way. I tend to agree, that it's better to keep playing in the As, letting the girls know that their hard work will pay off and next year they'll be closer to the top of the pack when the 05s go to 12U. Just curious if others have been there and what your thoughts are WRT being on a team that can't beat most of the As but stomps most of the Bs. Go!
My daughter plays on a first year 10U team through an A organization. They're solid. The top half of our team is A level; the bottom half probably more high B. They're all 06 birthdays but one, but several have played up, and I think most of what separates the bottom half from the top half is experience. Every girl on the team has good potential and athleticism.
In the fall we played 5 tournaments. We played 3 A level tournaments, and 2 that were not labelled but the other teams were more B level. When we play A teams, we hold our own and typically don't get killed, nor do we often win. There was one game against a very good team that was VERY close, one run difference in the final inning. I was not there, because my older one had a game too, and I hear it was the most exciting game ever. Point being, we're competitive and will probably do a lot of winning 2nd year 10U if the team stays together but for now with the lesser experience we mostly lose against A teams. We did not place in any of the A tourneys, (we did go into the season fully expecting that to be the case-we were actually prepared for a good bit more stomping than we got).
The B tournaments we took 2nd and 1st place respectively. In the first one we lost 2 games to the same team. Because of the org rules, the other team was able to play with 4-5 picked-up 04 girls. We only have one that's not an 06 (she's a late 05). They stomped us good - this was an early tournament where many of our girls still weren't hitting much at all (including mine). The 2nd B tournament was our last of the season. We scored something like 56 runs and only had around 6 runs scored on us. We took 1st place easily.
So the topic of discussion: what do you do with a team like this? What's fair? Obviously we want to play the A tournaments mostly, because that's the best way to improve. But keeping in mind that these girls are 9, is it unreasonable to sign up for one now and then where they've got a good chance of taking the gold? Having been on a really weak B team last year in 8U and pretty much never placing at all, that kind of sucks. It's nice to get a win now and then, helps pump them up and keep them going. But is it unfair to the other teams at the lower level tournaments?
Again not so much about OUR team - our schedule's set for the spring and we're mostly in As again. My dd says she never wants to play in a B tournament again. She enjoyed winning but felt like it was not a fair competition, and was too easy. If I had to guess most of the girls on our team felt that way. I tend to agree, that it's better to keep playing in the As, letting the girls know that their hard work will pay off and next year they'll be closer to the top of the pack when the 05s go to 12U. Just curious if others have been there and what your thoughts are WRT being on a team that can't beat most of the As but stomps most of the Bs. Go!
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