I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I am/was facing almost the exact same situation. 2/3 of my 8U rec team has to move to 10U in the spring. Most of those girls just started playing softball this season and only one is really ready to move up - the others would be better served playing another season in 8U. Now, my girls that are still eligible for 8U are more ready for 10U than the others. In fact, my 8U girls were my starting infield. I knew way back in August that I'd have a difficult decision to make about moving everyone up to 10U or splitting the team.
I hated to break up the team because we had good chemistry, but I decided to split the team for a number of reasons. Although we went 11-5 and came in 2nd place, my 8U girls have a lot of room for improvement in 8U. I'll utilize the spring season to further develop fielding (emphasis on fly balls), hitting mechanics, knowledge of the game and start to develop pitchers so they'll be ready when we move to 10U, hopefully in the fall.
I made the decision to stay in 8U because I think the 8U game is more fun for girls this age. In our league, the girls hit coach pitching really well and the game moves pretty fast. In 10U, we have modified player pitch. Although there are no walks, the player pitching isn't great and there are a LOT of balls thrown. The game is a lot slower and less exciting for my ADD girls to focus.
I'll be sure to revive this thread in mid-spring to let everyone know if I made the right decision or the wrong decision.
Yes, please do! We don’t have the option of a modified player pitch. And I really dread the pace change of the game! What’s funny is every parent that has older siblings that also play is against it. A final decision hasn’t been made here yet either. We regroup after the new year, I’ll update as well!
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