Question about playing up

[TigerD313]

Last year at 4 my daughter made the 6u all star team. This year at 5 she made the 8u all Star team. The thing is our rec league is not very good. So our coach the last two years plane to leave our league and partner up with another coach take it best 11 or 12 girls and play select. Now the problem is there aren't a lot of 8u games available locally so he is pretty sure we would have to play 10u to avoid big travel.

The thing about it is my daughter is not big and strong, she is by far the smallest player in our all star tournaments so far so I can hardly imagine moving up again to 10u. She's solid at hitting and Fielding but her speed is a little behind just because she is so young. Arm is about average from what I've seen in 8u.

My biggest concern is her getting pigeonholed at 2b and RF because the other girls having stronger arms

Would you have let your dd play 10u at age 6?

 

[Yellowjacket]

You get better by playing and practicing with better competition. DD has played up multiple times and it definitely helped her development. The only exception IMO is playing up but sitting the bench.

 

[tomorrow]

I would not for many reasons.

 

[lancer360]

No way. 10u in most areas is girl pitch. Your going from a coach lobbing a ball gently over the plate to facing an 11 year old throwing 40+ mph and potentially over 50. She will need the arm strength to swing fast enough to hit those pitches and the mental toughness to get back up to the plate after being drilled by an errant pitch. Unless she is a savant and in the 99th percentile in size I wouldn't even consider it.

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[Momo'sDad]

Last year at 4 my daughter made the 6u all star team. This year at 5 she made the 8u all Star team. The thing is our rec league is not very good. So our coach the last two years plane to leave our league and partner up with another coach take it best 11 or 12 girls and play select. Now the problem is there aren't a lot of 8u games available locally so he is pretty sure we would have to play 10u to avoid big travel.

The thing about it is my daughter is not big and strong, she is by far the smallest player in our all star tournaments so far so I can hardly imagine moving up again to 10u. She's solid at hitting and Fielding but her speed is a little behind just because she is so young. Arm is about average from what I've seen in 8u.

My biggest concern is her getting pigeonholed at 2b and RF because the other girls having stronger arms

Would you have let your dd play 10u at age 6?

I would not. You're not in China or the USSR circa 1970s - no one is being pigeonholed at age 5 in softball. The 6yo's playing 10u would likely be a bit taller and stronger than the average kids their age. Plenty of 7yo's play 10u and do just fine, but 6 may be a stretch in most places.

 

[_MIA_]

Would you have let your dd play 10u at age 6?

That would be a huge NO. She could be potentially playing against girls who are going through puberty and are already well over 5" feet tall and >130 lbs

 

[TigerD313]

She could be potentially playing against girls who are going through puberty and are already well over 5" feet tall and >130 lbs

My daughter is about 3'11 48 lbs but she will burn your left fielder lol we are in Texas and these teams come out of the boonies and have entire teams over 5" and we are in 8u

 

[Long Baller]

My god, just the thought of that is crazy.

 

[FP26]

My DD has played up seems like her entire life. Guested at 18u at the age of 14. Guested at 16u at the age of 13. She even played 10u rec at the age of 7. But, that was rec. At that time she was one of the smallest players on the field but could hold her own based on skill. 10u travel would have been completely over her head at that age. I'm a big fan of playing up but I think your example is too much.

 

[Cagman]

At most ages, but definitely her age, it should be about building friendships and forming a team bond. I would let her have fun with a local team with her school/neighborhood friends. Softball (and all sports unfortunately) already has too much of a problem with this soft of thing.

You don’t only get better by continuing to move up. At her age, playing better competition would be the least of my concerns. Just my opinion. Best of luck!