As with any business/enterprise, there must be some start-up costs... and some degree of on-going "maintenance" cost. That said, this is a really easy "sole proprietorship / business" to run at a profit! And to enjoy! Have fun.
Amen to this. HS ball and club/showcase ball are two very different experiences. I would add that in addition to the "playing with her school friends" aspect, HS ball offers a different competitive experience. I totally get some of the input here about the very variable quality of high school...
Travel teams that are >14U really don't play spring tourneys, at least not here in NE. If you search web for "showcase fastpitch tournaments", I'm pretty sure you'll see that nationwide, that is almost exclusively a summer/fall thing.
My DD played showcase level club ball out of NJ for 4 years... 3 year varsity starter for her high school (a big high school with a good softball program where, for better or worse, 75% of the varsity starters every year also are showcase level club players (two from her graduating class are now...
Prediction... if 10 coaches reply to this post, you will get at least 11 different opinions! ;-) I generally agree with hatter1998. Front toss from behind a screen and up close is great for reps to groove good habits... and letting them see some machine pitches to understand what high-end...
I coach a high school aged rec team each fall... mostly girls who have played frosh/JV ball and who are still hoping to get some varsity time before their high school years are finished. I'm always a little surprised how girls who seem interested in the game and who have been playing for years...
Got it. Thx! Next time I get a coach "griping and delaying a game" about some kid replanting, I'm going to just default to, "Relax, Coach. I'm just gonna let her PITCH IT. You need to just worry about your batters... tell 'em to JUST HIT IT." Easy peezy! 🤣
I coach in USA Softball governed leagues and am a USA Softball certified ump (and NFHS). I don't have any special insight on this (learned about the coming rule change here on this forum), and my sense is 100% same as yours. This rule change will "simplify" things for everyone... pitchers...
Lol. You are basically making an argument for there being no rules relating to pitching. "Pitch it. Hit it."
Extending your logic ("hey, it's fine for a pitcher to replant and drive from 3 feet closer to the batter"), one could counter that with "screw the batter's box... if the batter wants to...