- Jul 15, 2020
- 48
- 8
Great advice....thanks! I'll get her to see the opportunity, get over her disappointment of being told "no leftys", and get to work to make herself valuable in a different way.If she doesn't have the mentality to be a catcher, start working with her in the outfield ASAP, especially if she's fast (if she's not, you can work on that, too!).
Here's the thing: Yes, it might be a little boring at this level. But people still hit the ball to the outfield at 12U. So work with her. Get her to be great out there. Now you have a kid who excels at a position that is typically ignored, which makes her more valuable not just to her current team, but to other teams. Most teams put whomever's left (or whomever's lefty) in the outfield, but you think they wouldn't welcome a player who is actually good out there?
And, as others have said, it becomes really important not too far into the future, so get a head start on it.
Really work on it with her though. Get her to enjoy the experience of tracking and catching fly balls. She may only get one a game right now, but if you get her anticipating, wanting that ball to come to her, she'll be much better prepared for later.
I had a 12 year old this summer who was playing for the first time. Good athlete, picks things up quickly. She became our starting CF pretty early in the season (infield was taken by more experienced players, so I think she realized she had an opening out there; plus, her cousin plays RF on the team). Now she doesn't want to play anywhere else (I've tried!), which is fine with me. I love developing outfielders. As long as she keeps working at it and getting better, she basically has a starting spot with us locked up all the way through high school.