Really getting clobbered playing up.

[knightsb]

DD turned 14 in August, she is the second youngest on her team. All but one could stay and play 14U again in 2013. We decided to keep the team together and move up to 16U, but we are taking our lumps this fall. The hitting and pitching are so much better than 14U, more so than we had imagined it would be. To make matters worse last weekend there were not enough teams so they combined 16 and 18s. We played an 18U team first round of bracket play and they opened a can of "you know what" on us. I told DD that next year as a freshman she will be competing against girls in this age group and to use this season to get used to the better level of play. I remember 10U to 12U seemed like a big step. 12U to 14U didn't seem that bad. 14U to 16U seems like another one of those big steps... JMHO.

 

[Indiana]

As a high school freshman coming off of a summer of 14U play, my DD saw a huge leap in level of play (our HS season is in the fall). At first, DD was completely overwhelmed (she is a pitcher) and her first, knee jerk reaction was that she hated everything about softball, especially pitching, wanted to immediately quit and take up under-water basket weaving (heck, I was ready to build the backyard pool at that point!). DH and I slogged through the dark weeks during which we saw wild pitches thrown out of fear and pitches over the plate which were hit for home runs (you could practically see the vapor trails on those!). Good news is she did pull out of it, enjoys the game once again and is becoming stronger and better as a result. I agree it is a HUGE leap from 14U to 16U and beyond - it will take some time for your girls, but they will get there!

 

[RichK]

I've mentioned before our team is moving from "B+" to an A schedule while moving from 14U to 16U (so we are now a young 16U team)....we've had a mixed fall, including one really bad slaughter rule game. After that game, parents were grumbling that we'd "moved up" too fast and the kids were starting to take their signals from them.

We simply told them: we are here to compete, and with the best. You are high schoolers now, maybe incoming freshman, but the target level is varsity high school and high level travel. That's it. In short: there's no way out, no back door to slip through. Face up to it, including when you lose, and work on getting better and competing.

Their response was interesting. After the beatdown, they won their next game and afterwards we all talked and they admitted they'd been embarrassed by how they played. I said good, you should have been. You didn't play up to your potential. We see your potential, you as players need to see it too. If your parents are "nervous" so what?....we are going to compete as a team as we've always done and get better and help you reach your goals.

So take your beatings, stay the course, get better, tell the parents to hang on and believe in their kids as much as you do as coaches.

You won't remember the losses (or trophies) from fall 16U...you'll remember the ultimate goal you are trying to reach -- it may take time and you may take your lumps but that's what matters.

Good luck.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Travel ball is always a balance between playing a very hard schedule, but one that won't demoralize a team. Winning can be important in how motivated players are to practice, and how good they think they are. And every team is different in its needs, so that's why I'm slow to judge coaches and the schedules they choose.

I do think that the more mature the players, the more tolerant they usually are to getting beat -- if they see that it's making them better.

It also might matter how you lose. For example, if you make all the same plays that the other teams make, but you aren't making them as consistently as they are, then the players will see hope in that. In a 5/6-inning game, you don't have to be that much better than another team to consistently beat them 9-3, 8-2. But if they're throwing 62 mph and you're throwing 42, or if they're hitting balls off the fence and you can't get them out of the infield, or if it's consistently 15-1, well, that's a little tougher.

 

[skwinters1]

my dd's 14 team played up all fall. they are a good team, not superstars but good all around players. their record was 3-0 against 14's , 5-7 against 16's and 1-2 against 18's. there are great teams and poor teams at every level. the coach wanted to show them and get them ready for high school ball , 7 freshman on the team. they played great ball and now can see that they are ready to play with the older girls at the high school level. [ never limit yourself, never give up, and smile its free . jennie finch ]

 

[Cannonball]

When my dd first started, she played age group. (10U) However, when she started 12U, she played 14U more than 12U. When she was 14U she played 16U and 18U. In the long run, when she entered HS ball, she was playing against those girls she had become accustom to playing in the summer. She was a pitcher and so, stepped into the circle unfazed by the transition. When not in the circle, she started at SS. The wife and I were skeptical about allowing her to play "up." In the end, it was the right decision. Of course, I have to admit that my dd is physically bigger than a lot of young ladies. Avatar is when she was freshman and went 10-0 in circle.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

We were caught in that once in a lifetime move when NFHS in HS and TB orgs 16u up changed the pitching distance to to 43'. ( at that time I hated the idea ) My group were the freshmen that spring HS season, DD and my other freshman pitcher took over varsity time in the circle by the end of the second week of games. One senior pitcher quit when she was moved to OF and one senior pitcher moved to first.

So we got our 16-18 experience in HS as freshmen playing the older groups. We as a team chose to stay and play our second year 14u ( 40' ) as oppose to 16u ( 43' ). We were mowing them down in HS from 43' and we all thought at 40' we will blow it by everyone.

But here is my hind sight. 43' we have more movement, late breaks. But it took us half a summer to understand that. The batting side caught my attention first, we were killing the ball. Mid summer we had double runs scored as we had runs allowed. The girls said going from 43' to 40 the balls didn't have time to move before crossing the plate. By the end of the summer we had 256 runs scored to 96 runs allowed. Hind sight again, our pitchers probably would have done better moving up to 16u 43'. Oh well, we still had a blast.

After that summer everyone moved up in the fall and the next year Some to 16u, some to 18u. Ive always been torn about our decision that 14u summer, but it was a blast and everyone ( team ) still claim that was their most memorable year of all. So maybe it worked out for a reason....................