Road to the LLWS 2023 edition

[Gambler Bob]

Google says that the Senior League players in the LLWS can be 16 years old. That seems off to me. How old are these players in this tournament?

 

[Vertigo]

Google says that the Senior League players in the LLWS can be 16 years old. That seems off to me. How old are these players in this tournament?

That sounds about right. Juniors would be 12-14, Seniors 13-16.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I just heard Amanda Scarborough say the Athletes Unlimited teams are playing their games at the LLWS this Wednesday. It may not be top travel level talent, but even Athletes Unlimited realizes the importance of Little League to the game.

 

[jdint]

Google says that the Senior League players in the LLWS can be 16 years old. That seems off to me. How old are these players in this tournament?

I think that's right. DD is going to be a sophomore (15) and she has played with several of the girls from the Central team. For what it's worth, these girls were pretty solid travel ball players, at least in my observation.

 

[PharmerBrown]

Google says that the Senior League players in the LLWS can be 16 years old. That seems off to me. How old are these players in this tournament?

Little league - 12U, Junior league - 14U, Senior league 16U. They use birth year like most others, so you can be 17 in 16u etc.
They are not changing to the USA dates.

 

[lostcreek1]

PGF championships are on an ESPN channel. 14U Premier is on right now (2 kids who just moved from a local team a month ago are playing for the Thunderbolts..2B and DP)

They like to/and do get them from all over starting in 10u.

 

[CoachJD]

But if ESPN decided to air a bunch of Rec level teams and tell all the viewers (most of whom don't know the difference like people here) they were the best in the country do you think that would be a good thing for softball just because it would be great experience for the players?

Maybe not to this extreme, but showing only the very best sets unrealistic and unfair expectations. You know who can play at the level of some of these Little League teams? A LOT of girls. And many of the ones not at that level could probably see themselves getting there one day. That is a good thing for softball.

Same reason why only showing Oklahoma on TV is not great for the sport. A lot of kids who have actual college level talent, but not Oklahoma-level talent, think they're not good enough because they're not good enough for the top 1%.

 

[BucketDud]

Maybe not to this extreme, but showing only the very best sets unrealistic and unfair expectations. You know who can play at the level of some of these Little League teams? A LOT of girls. And many of the ones not at that level could probably see themselves getting there one day. That is a good thing for softball.

Same reason why only showing Oklahoma on TV is not great for the sport. A lot of kids who have actual college level talent, but not Oklahoma-level talent, think they're not good enough because they're not good enough for the top 1%.

Clearly I hit a nerve on this one . And I was unaware of the other thread so may have to find it. But all of D1 (not just OK) is the top 1%.

And by that logic the greatest players in the game (whatever sport it is) don't inspire more kids to play? I grew up watching Michael Jordan play basketball. Never in a million years could I hope to do the things he did on the floor. But watching him inspired me to play basketball and follow it closely.

Even though I went on to play a different sport in college he was the reason I first loved basketball. If it wasn't for my physical limitations of height, speed, vertical, agility, and strength, I would have definitely picked basketball to play in college. But alas I was gifted in a much more boring sport that did pay for college.....LOL.

 

[Vertigo]

Clearly I hit a nerve on this one . And I was unaware of the other thread so may have to find it. But all of D1 (not just OK) is the top 1%.

I’ll buy that the top P5 schools are the top 1%, definitely not the whole division.

 

[lostcreek1]

I’ll buy that the top P5 schools are the top 1%, definitely not the whole division.

Where is the rest of the top 1%. Seen a post on here that said there were 32,000 or so high school softball players and that don't include the ones that play travel and not High School. By those numbers the top 1% would be at least 320 players each year.