I miss some Players

[quincy]

DD had played on the same 8U, 10U, 12U and MS teams with the same player. She was the one who talked DW and DD into moving up to 12U when she was 10. She is not playing SB this year.

For the MS team she was the starting SS and played 95% of the time.

From the original 8U team 4 of the 5 best players have quit playing SB.

My DD might not be very good but she is winning the battle of attrition.

 

[coach james]

Survival of the fittest!
Same issues here. If some of the girls I had three years ago hadn't quit SB for another sport and were still with me... we'd be a WHOLE lot stronger team for sure and my dd would have a much deeper well of friends.

 

[InsidePitch]

One thing to remember, from 8U there was always a group that was more coordinated and showed more athletic ability. By 12 they were usually middle of the packers unless they devoted much time to improvement. I personally know of a handful of these kids that no longer play because it became work for them to stay in the lineup.

 

[CoogansBluff]

My DD might not be very good but she is winning the battle of attrition.

Yep, the best predictor of which 10-year-old players will be good 17-year-old players is the choice to keep playing or quit.

Close friend of mine has a daughter who really wants to play for her high school team. It's a good HS team. But in 7th grade, she's only the 11th or 12th best player on her high school feeder team (also a very good team). If the current pecking order remains, she might not make the high school team until she's a senior. But I've got to think that if she keeps playing, somebody won't. It will come down to who wants it more.