When is rec ball no longer rec ball?

[YOCOACH]

I just joined several days ago and I have to say that I love this Forum. I have already learned so much that it still astonishes me. Now I'm trying to figure this out and I would honestly like your opinions. I know this may become an inflammatory topic so please be civilized towards each other.

I have noticed on many of the threads that there are many...I wouldn't say derogatory posts but maybe condescending might be a better word about rec ball vs TB. So I feel it's a valid question to ask. When is rec ball no longer considered rec ball? Is it when the rec leagues make their all-stars team and participate in local tournaments or is this merely a select team? If this team travels to regional qualifiers/states/nationals does this qualify as a TB team? Does this team become a TB team by traveling and placing 2nd in the world series as one of our local rec/select teams did within the past few years? After all, the team is still made up of rec players from a rec league. So what do you think, when do they become elite?

I'll start. Rec ball, at least in our neck of the woods is EXTREMELY competitve. I'm not saying that the level of competition matches the competition in TB tournaments. Obviously it can't. While we, as rec coaches, are saddled with anyone who wants to join, TB teams get to pick and choose the top players available. However, in our league at least, we take the team we are handed and practice, practice, practice! I usually practice my team 5 days a week until school's out then we practice every day we aren't playing a game. Every coach in our league is pretty much the same way and just about every league in our area as well. Granted, this gives the TB teams in our area a huge feeder system (which may be why there are so many good ones here) but it also allows us to be extremely competitve against each other in league play and against other leagues in our area. My personal belief is that a team becomes a TB team when they actually do the traveling. I'm not saying they have to travel over a period of a season or that they have to enter x number of tournaments x number of miles away. I am saying that (as an example) if a local rec all-star team travels 3 hours and participates in regionals, then they should be considered a TB team with all of the connotations that go with it. What about you?

 

[crystlemc]

I feel that the team becomes a travel team when, as a whole, they leave their rec league. That's just my opinion. I will say that, in the area you live in, there are so many travel teams that if you were to take your rec team and go travel, people will bash you because the "pool is watered down enough".

 

[YOCOACH]

Well...you lived here long enough so if anybody would know, it would definitely be you...lol. I appreciate the input and I definitely believe you're right in that.

 

[Coachmom]

I live in southern California and rec ball here are local Asa affiliated leagues that draw players from their area. They can be either B level or C level depending on the amount of players that sign up to play in your league. They can only draw their Allstar teams from within the league and they play in B or C level Allstar tournaments and compete for ASA district, then state, then regional, then national titles.
Travel teams are considered A level teams. They can be run independently like a business or non profit organization. They can draw players from any city. They can compete in ASA, Triple Crown, USSSA and other types of tournaments, usually in the A or open divisions.
They cannot compete in B or C level Allstar tournaments.

 

[quincy]

DD is very comfortable with herself and her decision to play Rec. ball. She has been asked to play for a few different Teams, she is good, but is happy where she is at. Probably would also be happy playing TB but why risk it.

I have gone to a few tryouts to observe the players and see how DD would compete, ability wise she would fit right in, some of the Players attitudes would cause my DD and myself an Issue.

 

[marriard]

Rec v travel means different things to different people.

In my particular case the local rec league is very competitive but it is appropriate for everyone - including players who have NEVER played before. We draft teams and we try and make the teams as fair as possible. We make sure the rules accommodate everyone especially in younger divisions (for example every player must play in the infield by the third inning, no one may sit out for more than one inning per game, etc, etc)

I'd never put a totally new player on any travel team here locally - no matter how athletically talented they may be.

 

[chinamigarden]

YO, I thought I read somewhere that your dd came from a slow pitch league. How competitive can that be? And when I say competitive I don't mean the girls try hard and want to win, but rather if they can compete with other teams in their age from around the state.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Some class 'A' TB teams play in leagues and tournaments only in this area. The level of play is better than rec, but they keep costs down by not traveling very far.

We have 'B' teams that are generally considered to be comprised of girls from the same rec league. The All-Star teams in NorCal play in 'B' tournaments with class 'B' TB teams and then play a final summer season tournament just amongst themselves.

Our winterball team is considered a 'B' program as well. Part of that label comes from the fact that these teams are generally not formed the same way standard rec teams are formed. Coaches get to select their teams and can include or exclude any available player (or parent!) for any reason. We do not have that same liberty in spring rec.

We play similar teams from the other rec leagues in NorCal and it's a competitive season. Teams are trying to win games and there is a closing tournament (split gold/silver) to crown a winner. So far, we've traveled to 2 game sites that were further away than the All-Star team went during their season and have 1 more to go. We're like a mini-TB team or maybe you'd call it TB lite if travel is a big consideration. Our games Sunday were about an hour-twenty from here in a beautiful pastoral setting up the mountain a bit, so we were pretty late getting home. We won both (including a tough one in ITB), so the ride back was nice.

One of the purposes of winterball is to help players and families decide whether true TB is for them. If they cannot handle this schedule (most teams practice 2-3 days per week), then TB is probably going to be too much for them to deal with.

 

[Coachmom]

It would be a rare occurrence that a new player to softball would ever get past the first tryout for a travel team here, no matter how athletic they are. I've coached both travel and rec. I still coach 12u rec every spring for my local league. I personally have not seen a rec allstar team that could be considered an A level travel team. The limitations are too restricting. Not saying it's impossible but it would be an uphill battle.

Even for a top level travel team Practicing 5 days a week is excessive. I would never put my kid on a team that practiced 5 days a week. When dd was in 12 u travel they practiced 3 days a week and had a friendly or tournament a few Sunday's a month. At 14u they practiced 2 days a week with a similar tournament and friendly schedule. Now at 18u they play every weekend. They only practice if there are no games that weekend.

Just sayin, that's a bit excessive.

 

[Momo'sDad]

The travel teams in this area practice twice a week and then a third day if there's no weekend tourney, and many of those players have private instructors they'll see on non-practice days.

We usually practice 4 hours a week, do an hour pregame warmup, and then play doubleheaders on Sundays. That's a lot of softball for our age group, but most of these girls are more serious than average about softball.