- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
- 48
My DD started playing softball at age 5 (t-ball), when she was in 10U, in the fall she played on what was called a "tournament team" for a few months as fall rec ball was pretty weak as some girls played other sports. In spring she would come back to her rec league and was picked every year to play on rec all-star teams over the late spring, summer. After her 1st year 12U she (and we as a family) were completely done with rec league and "daddy ball" coaches and joined 3 different travel ball teams over a three year period. At 14 she quit travel ball entirely and only plays Varsity for her high school. Probably going to be her last year as a Junior because she has found other interests (student gov, academic decathalon, and part-time job) and as a pitcher is/was tired of the mostly year round practice and lessons to stay competitive.
The bottom line for our family was that we did rec league for 6/7 years and overall it was a great experience and met some fun families but there reaches a point when your kid is probably ready for a bigger challenge and most rec leagues do not provide that environment as it is really meant for the "recreational" player.
At the end of the day, don't be bitter if some kids leave rec to try travel ball; just enjoy the ride as it goes by in a blink of an eye...
The bottom line for our family was that we did rec league for 6/7 years and overall it was a great experience and met some fun families but there reaches a point when your kid is probably ready for a bigger challenge and most rec leagues do not provide that environment as it is really meant for the "recreational" player.
At the end of the day, don't be bitter if some kids leave rec to try travel ball; just enjoy the ride as it goes by in a blink of an eye...