- May 13, 2021
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So out of 350 kids none of them continue to play after 8th grade except for HS, none play TB.My town - population around 40K - has a rec program that works well for grades 2 or 3 through 8. I suppose there are around 400 kids at each grade level. Overall the rec program gets about 350 kids. Each year, we hold tryouts. The tryouts are to assess skill levels - everybody is makes a team. All of the coaches observe the tryouts and submit ratings which are then pooled. After results are consolidated, we hold a draft and we end up with, theoretically, balanced teams. It's not perfect because there are always a couple of players head and shoulders above the rest, but it works pretty well. The important thing is that everybody understands that this is to introduce girls to softball and that parent coaches to try to keep their Jenny Finch fantasies in check.
I think the important thing is for parent coaches to not lose sight of the goal of developing softball players as opposed to creating teams that can slaughter the competition.
We also have a town travel team made up of the best rec players.
Over time, the girls who like/are good at softball tend to find private instructors and may join a travel team. Come 9th grade, rec ends. The better players play for the high school at the rest give up the sport.