I know this is going kind of OT but just because your kid wasn't ready for travel ball til 12, that doesn't mean no 8 year old is. When mine was 8 we did All Stars over the summer. It was pretty much the only option to keep her playing, and she didn't want a break. Her rec coach was coaching, her BFF on the team, so we said sure, why not. It was her decision. When All Stars was over we went back to rec for one season. She just didn't like it as much. She'd hit a homerun, get back to dugout and say, "In a tournament that would only have been a single." She hated the lack of competition. We had 3 girls on our team from the All Stars team and we won the rec championship, and she was mostly just annoyed that most of the other teams weren't a challenge. There are definitely plenty of cases of parents pushing their kids into something they're not ready for, but in our 7ish months of travel ball, what I've mostly seen is girls who LOVE the game. Keeping mine in rec would have stunted her development as a player. Do I care? Not really. I want her to have fun- I never played sports or care a whit about them before she took up softball. But SHE cares. That's what matters to me. If she's ever not having fun her dad and I will be happy to make a change.
It's different for every kid. Some are ready for high level play earlier than others. Some never get there. If their love for the game continues to build along with their skills, that's a good sign you're probably doing it right - no matter what level of play it is.
For us, it was clear at the start of this past spring rec season (2nd year 10U) that we would be headed to TB sooner rather than later. Our decision to skip all-stars this summer and go to TB was the right choice for us. At this point, half of my DD's former 8U all-star teammates have gone to TB, and all are doing very well at that level. Of the other half, a couple may make the move to TB in another year, and a few never will. One has made the decision to quit softball entirely.