There are other, longer threads that address this topic, so I won't go into too much detail. But it does make sense that there are many terrific athletes that never pick up a bat because they're playing soccer year-round. The absence of those top athletes must take the level of the game down a notch.
Small sample size, but our organization had 3 good players on the 10U team that also played travel soccer. As they aged up to 12U, 2 of them quit softball. The 3rd joined the 12U team and finished the season with the best batting average, but because of soccer she didn't come back for second year of 12U.
There has to be some truth to this as well. My DD has played soccer, basketball, and field hockey. She loves softball and that's all she's focused on now.I would think it would be kind of a wash. For example, my DD tried both basketball and soccer. She's generally athletic and was good at both of them. But in the end she only wanted to play softball. We lose some to other sports but the opposite happens too. Though I know popularity of individual sports varies over time.
It also means that there is more talent playing the game. There are lots of athletes that choose gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, soccer, etc, that now have the opportunity to play softball. Without all those teams these girls that are good athletes with undeveloped talent would not have a place to get started in the sport if they haven't played until age 11 or older. Not everybody finds softball at age 5.Don't most of us agree that there are far more Travel teams today than there were 10, 15, 20 years ago? How could that not dilute the talent?
Don't most of us agree that there are far more Travel teams today than there were 10, 15, 20 years ago? How could that not dilute the talent?
There is also more specialized training now then there was 20 years ago. Pitching, fielding, hitting, clinics, etc. Elite players are still elite players. But the number of quality players has increased tremendously. Sure there are also more untrained or lesser skilled players as well. The biggest difference is that at one point, players truly had to be much better than average in order to get on a travel team. Now, virtually any player is able to find a travel team to play on. Personally, I don't see that as an issue. But I think it would be good for everyone if there was a better way to rank and separate teams. Unfortunately I don't have any good solutions for that. At least not any that everyone would agree with. Having an "A" level team that is playing down to "B" playing against a "C" level team that is playing up to "B" is not good for anyone.