Good to hear underground because your kid should be on a TB team no doubt. The team will improve a lot playing tough competition and with a good coach it should be worthwhile
Tryout results
- Thread starter Michael N
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DD had a few tryouts. Was quite interesting to see it unfold. Statistically, she outperformed the other girls on the field. The only area she wasn't within the top 2 players would be arm strength. She can throw from 3 to first, but it's not a frozen rope. Hitting and catching, she pretty much was a wall, nothing got by her. She did pitch as well, but only throws 40mph - 12U, 2nd year. But, has pretty good command and a good C/U. Can work the 4 quadrants of the zone... BUT, she is tiny...she's getting a bit heavy now, she told me last night, at 74 lbs! I think she is about 4'-10" now.
From what we could tell, the coaches were passing on her for the opportunity to coach larger framed girls. It was fairly evident her skillset now is better than alot, but, when it came down to potential, the coaches seemed to believe the larger girls would pan out down the road, with a larger upside potential. I can't say I completely disagree with it, and that was very discouraging to DD. She could see what was happening without commentary by wife and myself. She kept grinding out tryouts, and ended up on a team that she was extremely happy about, as were we. Had we lined up all the teams and had our choice, we would have went with the team she got. She did state for that team, she was trying out for a utility position, not specifically a pitching position. She did pitch, and the coaches seemed excited to have her as a potential choice to come in and work the batters, and have her slower pitch speed possibly produce a bunch of groundouts....
I can say, it was eye opening, as to what really happens vs what you think would happen at a tryout. Results on the field are clearly a smaller portion of the factor the coaches are looking at, than what I expected.
From what we could tell, the coaches were passing on her for the opportunity to coach larger framed girls. It was fairly evident her skillset now is better than alot, but, when it came down to potential, the coaches seemed to believe the larger girls would pan out down the road, with a larger upside potential. I can't say I completely disagree with it, and that was very discouraging to DD. She could see what was happening without commentary by wife and myself. She kept grinding out tryouts, and ended up on a team that she was extremely happy about, as were we. Had we lined up all the teams and had our choice, we would have went with the team she got. She did state for that team, she was trying out for a utility position, not specifically a pitching position. She did pitch, and the coaches seemed excited to have her as a potential choice to come in and work the batters, and have her slower pitch speed possibly produce a bunch of groundouts....
I can say, it was eye opening, as to what really happens vs what you think would happen at a tryout. Results on the field are clearly a smaller portion of the factor the coaches are looking at, than what I expected.
I find it somewhat humorous that at 12U teams are being stacked with the largest players they can find . The teams around here that do this seem to do very well in tournaments but by the time the same girls make it to 14u or 16u all the other kids have caught up and their programs struggle . If its all about winning then I guess its a great strategy for 12u but I don't think it is a developmentally sound way to grow an organization as a whole .
We actually passed on trying out for the 2 teams that do that in our area even though its my DD 2nd year as a 12u player .
We actually passed on trying out for the 2 teams that do that in our area even though its my DD 2nd year as a 12u player .
- Feb 3, 2011
- 1,880
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RookKev, I'm glad to hear your DD ended up on the team she belonged on. In the world of competitive softball, lots of coaches have decided that a team of big girls (with January birthdays, of course!) generally gives them the best chance to win games and tournaments. The only small players on teams like those are usually either super speedsters or pitchers. After working out their pitching situations, a majority of coaches start looking at how they're going to generate runs.
Our shortest player has the best arm on my team and will be our #1 catcher. She just turned 8, but is coming up from 8u, where she couldn't play catcher, because the team needed her at 1B. lol She's got a small strike zone, and is a great hitter. I asked her mom about working together next spring before learning she wanted to be a catcher. Needless to say, building a team around a solid pitcher and catcher is a great starting point for rec or TB success.
Our shortest player has the best arm on my team and will be our #1 catcher. She just turned 8, but is coming up from 8u, where she couldn't play catcher, because the team needed her at 1B. lol She's got a small strike zone, and is a great hitter. I asked her mom about working together next spring before learning she wanted to be a catcher. Needless to say, building a team around a solid pitcher and catcher is a great starting point for rec or TB success.
- Feb 3, 2011
- 1,880
- 48
As I noted in the other thread, our fall rec season is competitive and it is a scaled-down version of TB, because we do travel for most of our games. It provides most younger players and their families their first taste of competitive ball away from the all-for-fun spring rec season. Most of my 10u team have never played in a tournament before and are thrilled about the prospect of playing multiple games in a weekend. The site for our 2 tournaments is 45 minutes away and our regular-season away games will be between 10-45 minutes away from our home field.
We don't have tryouts, per se, but the fall teams are selected by the coaches. What generally happens is that coaches will select the girls they want and then there's a pool of names to fill out the rosters. I had 9 selects/coach requests and then got 4 from the pool, which is handled by the rec league. This year, we were fortunate enough to be able to place all of the 8u, 10u, and 14u signups on a team, but occasionally, some girls will get left out, which happened with all of the 12u signups this fall.
Because it's competitive, most fall coaches in NorCal try to field the best teams possible. The way I see things, it's still developmental ball at 10u, though, so I actually recruited a pretty inexperienced player to join my team. She played with me in the spring in what was her first season in a sport of any kind and I developed a very good relationship with her and her dad, who is a godsend in more ways than you can count. If she'd gone 12u, there would be no team for her to play on this fall and having coached her in the spring, I knew she'd benefit from a little more time in 10u.
As for DD and our family, I am actually glad we don't have to deal with any of the tryout concerns - she's already made the team.
We don't have tryouts, per se, but the fall teams are selected by the coaches. What generally happens is that coaches will select the girls they want and then there's a pool of names to fill out the rosters. I had 9 selects/coach requests and then got 4 from the pool, which is handled by the rec league. This year, we were fortunate enough to be able to place all of the 8u, 10u, and 14u signups on a team, but occasionally, some girls will get left out, which happened with all of the 12u signups this fall.
Because it's competitive, most fall coaches in NorCal try to field the best teams possible. The way I see things, it's still developmental ball at 10u, though, so I actually recruited a pretty inexperienced player to join my team. She played with me in the spring in what was her first season in a sport of any kind and I developed a very good relationship with her and her dad, who is a godsend in more ways than you can count. If she'd gone 12u, there would be no team for her to play on this fall and having coached her in the spring, I knew she'd benefit from a little more time in 10u.
As for DD and our family, I am actually glad we don't have to deal with any of the tryout concerns - she's already made the team.
Went through our first this year. Last season she was picked up by an 02 team for a tourney and ended up staying with them. When they moved up we stayed with the same organization but tried out for a new 03 team that was forming. When I saw sixteen girls on the field I got a little nervous for her. She ended up having a great day and after tryouts she already had several new friends (Which is huge since the time under the tents between games is a highlight for her.).
Ended up being the fastest girl out there home to home in 15.3 secs. Very proud of just the effort she showed and not slowing down even in the heat and humidity. Overall it seems to be a great group of girls, parents, and coaches.
Ended up being the fastest girl out there home to home in 15.3 secs. Very proud of just the effort she showed and not slowing down even in the heat and humidity. Overall it seems to be a great group of girls, parents, and coaches.
Thanks for that. It's always goog to hear. We think that we look at her objectively but at the same time think she has a lot of potential.
I think the team will improve also. Most of the girls are from rec. ball and I've seen with my dd how they can improve with good coaching and stiff competition.
We live in a small town that is dominated by soccer in the fall. There was an attempt to put together a team to play fall ball and TB in spring and summer, but small turnout. Needless to say, coach decided to bag the fall ball plan and find another team ( 1 hr away ) for her DD for fall. I'm sure we'll see tryouts after fall when there will be more girls available. As for my DD, she'll play volleyball this fall, but still continue to work on her softball skills.
Is what RookKev saw typical? Sheesh this isn't football, hockey, boxing, basketball, or soccer where there is any player on player physical element. This is a skill game. What does big buy you?
This was an interesting tryout for my DD this year. Technically we are only half way through the process, but for all intents and purposes she is on the team. She was on the team last season as a 13 YO and will still be age eligible for this 14u team. Its the same organization she has played for since she was 8. Last season she led the team in Batting ave, and ERA so she is on the team. What made it more interesting is that the coach for the HS was there, and he is also the coach for our 18u team. We don't have a 16u team. So he is looking at kids to help fill in his roster, mainly he is looking for outfielders. I would rather my dd had another year in 14u pitching. So its sort of a balancing act to keep her at 14u to pitch but at the same time not insult him so she won't be held back from varsity. I don't mind if she plays outfield for the HS as a freshman, as long as she is pitching all summer in TB. Plus the guy who will be coaching 14u is the best instructor of fielding and hitting in the area, so I want her on his team. So its a tricky balancing act.
