8u vs 10u all stars

[stox]

My daughter is a 2016 that's played two summers of 8u all stars: First year she played up on the B team and lost nearly every game. Next year she moved up to the A team and won a good amount (>50%) of their games at all star tournaments.

Almost all of that A team has moved to 10u to prepare for next season. My DD is still 8u eligible for summer all stars next summer. Her 2016 cohort will develop, but I suspect they'll be a weaker team vs last summer, just based on the #s of dedicated players showing up at all star tryouts.

My question is, do you think it makes sense to move her up and play 10u all stars next summer? Pros and Cons?

I am confident she can make a 10u team but it'll probably get stomped as do all first year 10u teams. She is dedicated to learning to play catcher and is working on blocking coach pitches that I throw into the dirt for practice.

My initial plan was to create the Avengers and make a big run in 8u all stars next summer but there's not enough dedicated 2016 players to pull it off vs the larger programs. Maybe having played two seasons of coach pitch all stars is enough and she should move on to real softball (as ugly as it'll be)

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[Orange Socks]

Move up. The faster she gets to see live 10U pitching, the better she will become. It's not about winning games. 10U age division is tough to watch as everyone is still learning to play, but you have to do it. Now....or Later. 8U is like bowling with the gutter guards.

 

[ninthgirl]

Is there a skill development benefit to playing 8U longer? For example in our area the 8Us typically get more at-bats in coach pitch based on our rule modifications. The experienced coaches around here are pretty adamant that it's best to take advantage of that as long as possible, with the exception of kids who are just blowing everyone else out of the water - which might be your kid!

Also are you sure you can't turn some not-really-dedicated 2016s into dedicated 2016s? I've got kids around that age and their level of interest and dedication can change drastically over the new few months. Have some awesome coaches in the program, build them up, and you'll manufacture dedicated kids real fast. Especially if you talk the all-star opportunity up.

 

[stox]

Is there a skill development benefit to playing 8U longer? For example in our area the 8Us typically get more at-bats in coach pitch based on our rule modifications. The experienced coaches around here are pretty adamant that it's best to take advantage of that as long as possible, with the exception of kids who are just blowing everyone else out of the water - which might be your kid!

Also are you sure you can't turn some not-really-dedicated 2016s into dedicated 2016s? I've got kids around that age and their level of interest and dedication can change drastically over the new few months. Have some awesome coaches in the program, build them up, and you'll manufacture dedicated kids real fast. Especially if you talk the all-star opportunity up.

The skill development benefit would essentially be the opportunity to field more ground balls and have the opportunity to play more defense in the infield in 8U.

Our current league has a lot of new kids, so it'll probably take them a season or two before they decide they want to put in the time for all stars.

I am coaching her rec team in 8u right now and the development is fine because there's still older 2015 girls in the league that can throw and catch. Once they move up next spring I think I get into the situation where my DD risks hurting other girls on the team with her throws.



Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[ninthgirl]

If she risks hurting other girls it's definitely time to move up.

 

[stox]

If she risks hurting other girls it's definitely time to move up.

Yes, I'll be pushing to move up to 10U rec next season.

I'm still undecided about whether to have her try out for a 10U all star team next spring and summer or do 8U again.

8U all stars Pros and Cons:
Pro: best player on the team
Pro: lots of plate appearances/innings played
Pro: will win more/go deeper in bracket
Con: Coach Pitch
Con: Done it the last 2 summers

10U all stars Pros and Cons:
Pro: Real(er) Softball
Pro: Can see real pitches for hitting and get real innings at catcher
Pro: not the best player so is challenged more
Con: play less games/innings due to losing more and slower game. Typically only gets 3/4 innings per game vs 8U which is 5/6.
Con: not the best player so might not get many innings at C and bat deeper in lineup, resulting in possible games with only 1 PA
Con: size, DD is only 4'1", so will be very small and lot of 10U all star girls will be much taller than her.

My biggest question is how valuable that 10U all star experience is for her development. I would like her to have to opportunity to try out for good travel teams for her birth year when she is a 2nd year 10U, so playing 10U all stars next summer will give two summers of experience before those hypothetical tryouts.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[CoachCeetar]

imo, there's a reason people say that hitting a round ball with a stick is the hardest thing to do in sports. It's hard! The reps of facing live pitching probably outweigh all the other benefits of 8U. You just can't replicate that. (You also can't really replicate throwing or catching those pitches)

There's a speed of the game aspect, and one without coaches on the field that just makes it realer, more grown up. And I think it's a lot more fun for the players as a result. It's their team, not coach's team.

 

[stox]

imo, there's a reason people say that hitting a round ball with a stick is the hardest thing to do in sports. It's hard! The reps of facing live pitching probably outweigh all the other benefits of 8U. You just can't replicate that. (You also can't really replicate throwing or catching those pitches)

There's a speed of the game aspect, and one without coaches on the field that just makes it realer, more grown up. And I think it's a lot more fun for the players as a result. It's their team, not coach's team.

Thanks for the insight!

It's a bit counter intuitive to me that 10U would be more fun, as you get to hit and run and field more in coach pitch but I totally get your reasoning.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[ninthgirl]

imo, there's a reason people say that hitting a round ball with a stick is the hardest thing to do in sports. It's hard! The reps of facing live pitching probably outweigh all the other benefits of 8U. You just can't replicate that. (You also can't really replicate throwing or catching those pitches)

There's a speed of the game aspect, and one without coaches on the field that just makes it realer, more grown up. And I think it's a lot more fun for the players as a result. It's their team, not coach's team.

I have a kid who is currently in a 10U rec situation where the pitching has nose dived in quality recently. Let me tell you - facing live pitching that is always in the dirt or over your head does not help you develop as a hitter. Currently trying to figure out how to get my kid reps against live pitches that come in the general vicinity of the zone.

I generally agree with the speed of the game, though one of my kids was part of a unicorn 8U season where every team in the league was half all-star quality and the game moved faster than many 10U games I've seen. That was fun, but also only 1 out of 9 8U seasons I have watched. It's pretty amazing what some kids can do in coach pitch if they've been taught to hit and field.

 

[CoachCeetar]

I have a kid who is currently in a 10U rec situation where the pitching has nose dived in quality recently. Let me tell you - facing live pitching that is always in the dirt or over your head does not help you develop as a hitter. Currently trying to figure out how to get my kid reps against live pitches that come in the general vicinity of the zone.

well yeah. But that's everyone. We do like a "Second division" thing here where it's 10u but it's really 3rd/4th graders. my daughter was 8 the first year. It's funny because you might see that almost 11 year old throwing 45mph in rec, but she'd probably be in the 10u division on travel. Same thing next year, when we'll be facing 6th graders with the 12" ball in rec, but then (probably, unless 12u needs to pull up kids..) back to 10u for travel


It also depends on how high your rec/travel discrepancy is, how high a league you're playing in, etc. Facing those wild 10u pitchers over your head/in the dirt isn't great..but it also might be what they're going to see for a while. And it's not _completely_ without value. They can still track the ball from the pitcher's hand. They can still load/separate do all their pre-swing hitting routines.

There are plenty of kids that come out of coach pitch thinking swinging is just looking for the ball to be over the plate and then doing their swing. There's plenty of teeth gnashing here about how coaches should be throwing straighter, harder, varying speeds and such, but in reality there's not a ton of that at most 8u type games. Because we want them to have fun, and striking out a kid because it'll be better for them next year doesn't feel great. Pitching as a coach can be a very tricky thing.