Oh, he said playing time would be limited because the other 9 girls played 10U ball with this team and she had to prove herself to earn a spot...which leads me to another question I have, what does 'earn a spot' typically mean? Seriously, my intent was never to steal a starting position away from a girl, only to share a regular spot with someone. Instead, my girl got playing time in multiple positions (never a bad thing, but not great when you are trying to prove yourself and playing mainly one position is the strategy/culture of a team) but only for minutes at a time...& never on second or S.S. where he consistently had her running drills each week for the last 18 practices.
In my experience, "earn a spot" means proving that you are the best choice. For a player trying to take the spot of an established starter, this usually means what I said before - be so good you can't be ignored. However, if you aren't being given a chance to prove yourself, accomplishing your goal can be really challenging. Maybe even impossible.
Being that the rest of the team is moving up, but your DD is staying in 12U, it sounds like you have an opportunity to find a team for her where she might have a better opportunity to earn a starting role.
What part of the country are you in?