If you take your rec team, and play select or travel in the fall, then go back to your rec league in the spring I have no problem with that. Those willing to put in the extra reps and time should and will be better. However, when you take a travel ball team to a rec league that's a different issue IMHO.
why why why
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- Jun 12, 2015
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All Stars was our gateway drug. She played 6U and 8U rec, then our coach (she had the same coach the whole time) decided to do the All Stars team so we did too. Thought it sounded fun, so why not. We didn't know squat about travel ball. I don't think we really even knew it existed at the time. So we did the summer All Stars thing then played 8U rec again in the fall. It pretty much sucked. In our county the coach can freeze 3-5 players, I can't remember how many it was then. So we had several who'd spent the summer playing tournaments and needless to say we had a really good season and won the championship at the end. But my DD was bored and thought playing only one game per day was stupid. So for the last half of our 8U year we played travel and the rest is history.
We have considered doing a season of 12U rec so she can pitch with the bigger ball & greater distance without the pressure of travel. But really I just don't think it'll be worth it. Hopefully our team will play in some 12U B tournaments next spring to get them ready for 1st year 12U.
We have considered doing a season of 12U rec so she can pitch with the bigger ball & greater distance without the pressure of travel. But really I just don't think it'll be worth it. Hopefully our team will play in some 12U B tournaments next spring to get them ready for 1st year 12U.
Still seeking clarification from OP, but I don't think this is a travel team seeking to enter a team in a rec program, but rather the players from a travel team playing in the rec team, putting themselves in the draft to be dispersed and spread around on all the teams, with the goal of making the all-star team again. Wouldn't that be good for a rec program? To have 10 more advanced players in the league?
- Sep 28, 2015
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Not sure how they do it during the regular rec season I just know when all stars comes around the A-team is there select team. The Select organization they are have lot of teams out of that league, so that why it is probably easy for them to stay together
Everyone will be in the same boat, 12" ball and 40' pitching distance, so I would not worry too much about it if your DD is working on pitching at home. Just be aware that in the fall there may be some teams or players who should be moving up to 14U who "play down" at 12U, and your DD may get rocked. I think the hardest my DD has ever been hit was in the fall when we moved up to 12U and we played some teams who were sandbagging...
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
She can handle that, I think. She tends to be cool in the circle. I'm looking forward to 12U when I think a lot of the size differences between teams will start to level out. Though I'm also planning to thoroughly enjoy 2nd year 10U when perhaps we'll not get quite so beaten up.
I have a good memory! If the players come back and integrate themselves into the rec league draft and are not together to form a team, I am ok with that. My kid did 5 summers and a few fall of All-Stars but those girls always went back into the draft pool come spring. Our All star teams did fairly well since we were able to keep those kids in rec ball which in turn made our rec league pretty strong and competive. 550 kids this past spring and growing year over year.
All of those kids except 2 that I coached (12U-14U)continue to play in HS and TB. Makes me feel good that they didn't wash out. I will never bash rec ball. I believe most kids should stay in rec ball as long as possible. There are way too many teams that have rec ball quality players that should have spent a few more years developing their skills before they made the jump. Now you have a bunch of watered down teams with a handful of truly elite teams.
I'm with Orange Socks on this. If fall Select players go back to rec for spring and are part of the mix when teams are selected, that's fine, even if it's clear that those players will (probably) comprise the all-star team when that time comes. If you want to be on the all-star team, do the work to get to that level. Be so good they can't ignore you. A complete Select team playing together in spring rec, outside of the selection/draft process for the other players in the league, is just wrong.
As for kids leaving rec for TB, there are some that should definitely make that move, and some that should not. Right now, we're seeing kids who didn't make their league's all-star team out looking to join a travel team. Most of the time, these are the players who aren't really ready to make that move.
As for kids leaving rec for TB, there are some that should definitely make that move, and some that should not. Right now, we're seeing kids who didn't make their league's all-star team out looking to join a travel team. Most of the time, these are the players who aren't really ready to make that move.
- Dec 27, 2014
- 311
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2005 DD pitched against a couple 2002 teams last fall that should have been playing up to 14u but did that 12u tourney. It was really good for her to play against 2002's that can go yard. Prepared her for 2003's that can go yard this year.
Back to the OP, it was our LL that put together a club team in hopes to better prepare them for allstar season. DD plays LL during the week and club on the weekends. We are not the only ones doing this as I see a fair amount of kids rocking their TB batting helmets or custom Ringors in LL games we play. For this area, if you win 11/12 Districts it puts you into LL world series. DD team won 9/10 district last year when she was 9. I don't know if it is worth it to go this route over a well run travel team, but DD really likes her teammates and allows us to dip our toe in competitive softball without paying a ton.
