To move up or stay down.

[Rocketech1]

My experience with softball and where to play.

During the early ages 8U, 10U, 12U, allow the young player decide where she wants to play. It is the very few times it is about "fun". The player works harder when she is having fun. A parent is to drive the player outside of her "fun" with extra practice at home. These young players instincts are close to being spot on. Let DD choose.

After 12U, it starts to become a business. For hitters, after 12U, jump to 16U as soon as possible. You are now an established player and must see high school, 16U pitching as soon as possible. For pitchers, after 12U, consider 14U to be a #1 or #2 pitcher and develop your pitching skills.

Do NOT make softball a "business" at 8U. It is a mistake. Sounds like the parents want to make a "superstar", instead of listening to the player. A BIG mistake. The business end comes much sooner than you would like, and you will soon look back and say "I wish we enjoyed the most out of it when it was more fun".

He stated that his DD wanted to be with her friends from the all-star team who are moving up to 10U. If she was good enough to play with them at 8U, why not move up with them to 10U? The other problem with not moving up is the coach pitch, which in my opinion dumbs down the game, especially for the better players. 10U is much more entertaining, challenging, and "fun" at the rec level, 60foot bases and all kid pitch. In his area, softball is taken seriously and many kids start taking pitching and hitting lessons at 8U. You can call it a "business" if you want, but my experience is most of the kids love the competition and ability to play with teammates who can actually field, catch, throw and hit a softball. Somehow playing organized youth sports, competitively is seen as kids "not having fun". I disagree.

 

[SCDad]

I certainly do not mean "fun" at the rec level.

I mean "fun" at the HIGHEST level of travel ball. A-Level, here in the South it is ASA.

Yes, my post was not accurate enough. AT ANY AGE, it is absolutely necessary to find your "fun" at the highest level of travel-ball in your area, to have college aspirations.

Please don't misconstrue with what age level to play. The goal is always to play A Level Travel.

 

[Rocketech1]

I certainly do not mean "fun" at the rec level.

I mean "fun" at the HIGHEST level of travel ball. A-Level, here in the South it is ASA.

Yes, my post was not accurate enough. AT ANY AGE, it is absolutely necessary to find your "fun" at the highest level of travel-ball in your area, to have college aspirations.

Please don't misconstrue with what age level to play. The goal is always to play A Level Travel.

SCdad - I'm not sure what your original point was "don't make it a business at 8U, 10U, and 12U", keep it "fun"?. Are you suggesting she stay down in 8U before it gets too serious?

Here in SoCal, ASA is also the highest level of fastpitch you can play and many of the best players still play rec all-stars through 10U and then start moving on to A-level travel at 12U. So in my opinion, his DD is getting the best of both worlds, playing up to better competition but still having "fun" at the rec league level. If she wants to play with her friends who are 10U in the fall, she should do it IMO. I see no downside to that decision.

 

[SCDad]

I guess my whole point in this conversation is I did not hear once "what does the DD want to do?"

I only heard what the parent should tell the player to do.

Mine actually played baseball, in rec and Allstars up to Major 12, and fall rec baseball. Then switched to 12U A-level softball. Even at 5 years old my DD told me she wanted to play with the boys, "the girls were boring". I did what she wanted, because my feeling was, if she is on the field where she "wants" it is best.

Because of age requirements, she was able to play two years Major 12 baseball, and then one year 12U softball the following year. Then directly to 16U, and the "business" end started (more like work)

So my history on softball, when young, is probably misplaced. But my point is the same. I asked my DD where she wanted to play. She told me. We had a blast, for it was fun. And did our extra "work" at home.

 

[Eric F]

I guess my whole point in this conversation is I did not hear once "what does the DD want to do?"

Here ya go...

...she said next year Im going to be that girl from Los Al that throws 48, and Im going to be the big girl from Santee who hits it to the grass everytime. Those are her words, then a week later she says dad I want to play 10U with my friends lol.

...while 42 is fast for a 8U pitcher, in SoCal you occasionally come across some kids that are exceptional. When my DD played 8U all stars, she faced one pitcher that was consistently mid to high 40s and was clearly more dominant than the rest. That speed at 30feet with a 10inch ball is virtually unhittable (at one point our above average hitting team struckout 28 of 32 at-bats, played them several times that summer, very humbling...)

Yep. The #1 pitcher from Los Alamitos was that girl this year. They shut us out 9-0 at States, and I think we only had 3 base-runners in the whole game. We were not at our best on either side of the ball for that game.

The OP's DD throws around 42 (with some movement), can hit locations well (for her age), and is just starting to develop a reliable change-up. Her counterpart on our All-Star team (moving to 10U for Fall) throws a little harder, but doesn't place the ball as consistently, and is a little more mentally fragile.

 

[SCDad]

A bunch of hype for an 8 year-old, radar guns, #1 state ranking, wow.

She wants to move up, and should move up.

Just be careful. Softball is a very humbling game. A bunch of changes ahead, I wish you the best.

Not sure if this is a real question, because the answer I now see is right in front. Or an attempt to hype your 8 year-old DD which many here seem to already know. A concern in and of itself.

Better to stay humble ... way, way early. Everyone in the area already knows, and possibly time for the parent to not try to build the pedestal up so high.

 

[Eric F]

SCDad - I think you're reading a bit too much into this, and completely misreading some other things. The girl in question is not #1 ranked in the state (not sure where you picked up on that). I believe her speed was measured by stopwatch and a little math, not a radar gun. As I indicated in post #2 of this thread, I know this girl well because my DD has been a teammate of hers on both the Spring rec league and All-Star teams. SyndreSoftball and I are friends, and have been ACs together on both teams. Because of this - and the fact that I spend far too much time goofing off on DFP - I've been the most vocal in this thread regarding her abilities. Some of the other people who have posted in this thread are familiar with the 8U softball scene in So Cal and our league, but don't know this girl, specifically.

The bottom line is this...The OP's DD is a very good player with a hell of a lot of potential. As an 8yo - with another year of eligibility in 8U - she is already the best player on an All-Star team where 10 of 12 players will be moving to 10U for sure. Compared with the players on the 8U All-Star teams we faced, she is among the best players with only a few who pitch faster or hit harder. She's not the best player ever, but is a notable talent in our little world.

What I know about SyndreSoftball is that he loves his kids (3 girls!), loves the game of softball, and wants to guide his naturally-talented DDs to where they can develop their potential most effectively while keeping their enjoyment of the game alive and kicking. He's mellow, patient, and kind. He knows his DD well enough to know when to push her and when to give her a hug. We've all seen lots of different kinds of softball parents, and (in my opinion), he's doing it right. Asking a forum of (mostly) softball parents for their input on his situation is a reasonable tactic in trying to figure out the best direction to guide his DD.

 

[SCDad]

Thank you for setting me straight. I sometimes read my past posts and cannot believe how forward, and incorrect some are. Chaulk it up to message boards as the most difficult thing to gauge from writing is tone and intent.

I always ask my daughter what she thinks is best. Then I look for reasons that her opinion is wrong. If I cannot find any, I go with it.

As a father, it is amazing how different my DD's opinion is than mine would be. Not wrong, just different. And over time have found her opinion, her decisions, even when young, are best for her and spot on.

When a parent, as I read incorrectly throughout this post, seems more focused on how the parent decides a players future, I get suspicious, and wander off target, thinking the parent may be trying to control the situation too much.

 

[Eric F]

No harm done, SC. Your heart's in the right place. Cheers!