Travel Ball is Killing Rec Ball

[J.Galt]

The politics and cliques are far worse in park and rec and that is multiplied by infinity when you can't take your DD and go to another team when you're tired of the politics and cliques in rec like you can in TB.

Our old rec was famous for having it's "legacy" team that was made up of all the board members kids and coached by the league's all star coach. They'd keep the same core of 8 girls together year after year and then whine and cry when everyone else would go play in the other rec across town or leave for TB.

In Travel Ball if you don't like the politics, cliques, daddy ball of the team you're on, you bail. It's as easy as going on to HeyBucket and looking to see who needs your DDs position or making a phone call or two.

I see no positive in staying in rec past 10U. Minimum play rules, butterfly chasers, non committed families, playing at the same park vs the same 8 teams either with or against the legacy squad, sublimated jerseys, bright colored bows, mismatched socks, half the squad missing practice, 5 run inning rules. Oh yeah, that's way better than PGF, Sparkler Power Pool/IDT, Surf City Showcases, mandatory fielding; hitting; conditioning classes, accountability and oh yeah...better players, coaches, teams.....

Rec ball is like training wheels, some kids/parents are content leaving the training wheels on for a long time, others see them as a necessary step to learn and then move on once you've outgrown them

 

[chevy706]

Is your DD one of the very best players on her team?

On her team, yes. But we're the "young" 10u team of the 3 in our home organization. She may or may not make the All Star team being a first year 10u. I will admit, that our organization has a two year anomaly, where we are blessed with boatloads of talent with birth years of 2009 (first year 10u) and 2010 (final year 8u). The rest of the birth years are fewer in number and lacking in overall quality.

 

[Eric F]

On her team, yes. But we're the "young" 10u team of the 3 in our home organization. She may or may not make the All Star team being a first year 10u. I will admit, that our organization has a two year anomaly, where we are blessed with boatloads of talent with birth years of 2009 (first year 10u) and 2010 (final year 8u). The rest of the birth years are fewer in number and lacking in overall quality.

Consider that TB is (or should be) a level better than all-stars. If your DD is on the bubble of making the all-star team, maybe moving to TB isn't the right choice at this time. At her age, building confidence is as important as building skills. I've seen more than a few girls jump into TB before they were really ready, and it wasn't a good thing for them.

All that said, you know your kid, and I don't. Nor am I familiar with the landscape of TB in your area (unless you are in So Cal). Be honest about doing what you think is best for her development, and you're probably doing the right thing.

 

[slowcelica]

The politics and cliques are far worse in park and rec and that is multiplied by infinity when you can't take your DD and go to another team when you're tired of the politics and cliques in rec like you can in TB.

Our old rec was famous for having it's "legacy" team that was made up of all the board members kids and coached by the league's all star coach. They'd keep the same core of 8 girls together year after year and then whine and cry when everyone else would go play in the other rec across town or leave for TB.

LOL do you play in our rec ball league? We literally have the same situation at ours. Teams are supposed to be split up fairly. My daughters team has 2 all stars /TB players on it because her coach is new and didn't know better. The head of softball has 8 all stars/tb players, and the other 2 teams have at least 4. My DD's teams record is 2-2 one game she couldn't play, so she is 2-1 with 60 k's and 8 bb's. the team with 8 all stars she nearly beat, and was one hit away from winning the game.

 

[uncdrew]

People leave their kids in park and rec because they don't want to give up the trips to the river or Glammis. The training, the games, the tournaments...in travel ball are better than what rec has to offer. The only reason they stay in ref is because the family doesn't want to commit to travel ball

I've certainly seen this, and don't fault the families at all. Travel ball doesn't leave as much time for other things, and many parents simply stick to Rec, All-Stars and feeder in hopes of making the High School Team. It's certainly a viable path to a long and fun softball career.

 

[uncdrew]

Don't get me wrong they do have politics in our rec league, the difference is my DD has fun playing there, and she's just fed up with being lied to by her TB coaches.

What kind of lies? Playing time stuff?

 

[slowcelica]

What kind of lies? Playing time stuff?

Everything, their experience, where kids would play, who the assistant coaches would be, development of players vs winning (instead of making the kids on the team better upgrading them) it's a long list.

 

[bmakj]

If your DD is on the bubble of making the all-star team, maybe moving to TB isn't the right choice at this time.

sometimes (most possibly) that bubble has little to do with ability. such as good enough at 10 to move up to 12u rec, play against the oldeer girls, see the better pitching, but not make 10u AS because coaches only voted for the girls they saw during 10u regular season. Thats not even getting in politics that can be involved, just bad job of figuring out how to assemble rec AS team .

 

[_MIA_]

sometimes (most possibly) that bubble has little to do with ability. such as good enough at 10 to move up to 12u rec, play against the oldeer girls, see the better pitching, but not make 10u AS because coaches only voted for the girls they saw during 10u regular season. Thats not even getting in politics that can be involved, just bad job of figuring out how to assemble rec AS team .

Yeah..I think Eric was talking from a pure ability/skill perspective i.e. the parent needs to do an honest evaluation of where his DD is in comparison to everybody else...but hey letting off steam every once in a while is good for you..

 

[Eric F]

sometimes (most possibly) that bubble has little to do with ability. such as good enough at 10 to move up to 12u rec, play against the oldeer girls, see the better pitching, but not make 10u AS because coaches only voted for the girls they saw during 10u regular season. Thats not even getting in politics that can be involved, just bad job of figuring out how to assemble rec AS team .

I can only base my comments on what my experience has been. Thankfully, we were with a rec league that did a pretty good job keeping politics and coaches-favorites pretty well controlled, and the best players were nominated for AS. For this discussion, I'm leaving those factors out of it. This is about making the decision on whether or not making the move to TB is the right choice for a young player. Skill level and ability to compete with high-level players is my primary consideration here.