IS TRAVEL BALL leaving people/players/rec & school behind...OR...

[KrisHur]

My DD played rec for two years of 10U and one year of 12U, she made the jump to TB second year of 12U. She was a little behind the other girls who started out in TB but caught up pretty quickly learning the rules and nuances of the game. What wasn't easy were the bad habits that sub-par coaching/training allowed to be ingrained. Now at 16U she's on a top-level team with excellent coaching/training and has finally has overcome those issues but it took a long time to get rid of those bad habits. If I had it to do over again we'd have her make the jump first year of 12U. Rec instilled a love of the game but in her experience, she could have benefitted from better coaching/training at an earlier age.

 

[radness]

I don’t think your in the minority in talking to a lot of people. Some jump right into travel at an early age because they don’t feel they have another option. We are working on creating a program tied into our rec program that allows some to practice extra and play the occasional tournament. Like once a month or once every 6 weeks. They would still play rec ball and help the league grow. But they would also be able to kind of feel out travel ball and see if that interests them down the road. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback, especially at the younger age levels.

Now hopefully we can work out all the details and it works well. Thankfully for everyone involved I am not the one in charge of the details.


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I love the concept. I would be interested in the details. Where are you located? I don't spend much time interacting on DFP, so I don't know if there is a way to direct message and I don't want to dominate this thread with a tangent conversation. I can share my email if you are willing to share details.

Sent you a private message on here. If you can’t find it. I can shoot you an email later.


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This connection is excellent!
Best thing that comes from people discussing topics
= recognizing possibilities that lead to opportunities that grow softball!

 

[malletfinger]

Several of the previous comments resonated with me and I wanted to emphasize a couple of points (although I don't know very much about all this other than short stints as a volunteer coach and league board member). As a sports "product" choice among many, in a softball rec league I think players and families are really looking for a chance to grow and have fun doing it. For this to happen at an attractive level for softball, I feel we need solid coaching of fundamentals, and... competent pitching.

We need more "strikes" at the rec level. That will keep the game moving, the batting involved, and the defense engaged. More reps for everyone. Easier said than done of course. Right now, getting there takes a lot of time and often a lot of lessons/money (and I won't get into the difficulty of finding a proper pitching coach).

I was curious if it would work (within the grand scheme of player development) to have early seasons of player pitch have less requirements on the pitcher, specifically: allow them to do Boardmember's 9'oclk drill to pitch. There was a video on this site showing a player alternate throwing overhand and underhand with equal ease, and I couldn't help thinking how many more strikes would be thrown if we allowed players to "pitch" this way. And, even though the motion is incomplete (and illegal at higher levels) it would at least develop the proper technique.

 

[Rolling Hard]

My DD played rec for two years of 10U and one year of 12U, she made the jump to TB second year of 12U. She was a little behind the other girls who started out in TB but caught up pretty quickly learning the rules and nuances of the game. What wasn't easy were the bad habits that sub-par coaching/training allowed to be ingrained. Now at 16U she's on a top-level team with excellent coaching/training and has finally has overcome those issues but it took a long time to get rid of those bad habits. If I had it to do over again we'd have her make the jump first year of 12U. Rec instilled a love of the game but in her experience, she could have benefitted from better coaching/training at an earlier age.

I hope there are some dads/moms out there that are voluntarily coaching 8 an 10U rec ball that will join DFP and/or search the web for info.

 

[radness]

We need more "strikes" at the rec level. That will keep the game moving, the batting involved, and the defense engaged. More reps for everyone. Easier said than done of course. Right now, getting there takes a lot of time and often a lot of lessons/money (and I won't get into the difficulty of finding a proper pitching coach).

I was curious if it would work (within the grand scheme of player development) to have early seasons of player pitch have less requirements on the pitcher, specifically: allow them to do Boardmember's 9'oclk drill to pitch.

HMMM interesting topic!
For the grand scheme of Player Development
Have less requirements on youngest age pitchers?!!

Make it easier for them to be able to throw strikes. Could be more rewarding for the young person and encouraging if it works.

 

[Chadb]

HMMM interesting topic!
For the grand scheme of Player Development
Have less requirements on youngest age pitchers?!!

Make it easier for them to be able to throw strikes. Could be more rewarding for the young person and encouraging if it works.

The no-walk rule fundamentally changed our 10u Little League Softball program. The player pitches and if they get to ball 4, the hitting team coach comes out and gets to throw 3 pitches to their batter. This takes the pressure off the pitcher and ends up with the ball in play much more often, meaning the defense gets game action and the offense gets to learn how to run the bases when the ball is in play.

We've done it for a couple of years niw and hitting, defense and pitching are notably better once they get to the 12u division where it is all player pitch.

 

[NJZoo]

Don't know how I'm just seeing this thread, but I think it's an important topic. The reality is, you need a strong/appealing REC program to get kids interested in softball and identify girls that might be ready for travel/club. At least around here (Northeast) girls start t-ball at 4/5 years old and the youngest travel/club teams we have are 8U (and there aren't a lot of those, so mostly 10U).

So, why is REC struggling? I think there are a number of reasons - may of which have been accurately brought up here. One reason that I haven't seen is...politics. Many REC programs are their own little fiefdoms. In small towns it's about power/control/recognition and in larger areas it's about dollars, budgets and egos. It's rarely about what is best for the sport or the kids. I can only use my area as an example. We have 4 towns (2 large towns and 2 small towns) that share 2 regional high schools. So, of course, we have 4 separate Rec leagues - some doing Little League, some doing Cal Ripken, some unaffiliated. They refuse to merge or work together because it's all a big power play for the adults.

Also, people are short sighted. Again, in our 4 town area we have 2 town travel softball teams competing against each other for girls. Why? Ego. When I asked why they don't just merge so they could strengthen the programs and keep more girls from leaving to go to club teams I was told - "We've existed for 30 years, they are welcome to join us, but we're not changing our name." Yeah, a few years later and that 30 year tradition is now barely fielding teams.

I honestly think that if we want to strengthen Rec it is going to have to come from the top down - High School coaches are going to have to start getting more involved with Rec and town travel. I know, I know, in some areas that may be the last thing you want
What I'm saying is more process/admin involvement - They should go to the Rec opening Day, they should invite Rec girls to HS practices/games, hold clinics, etc. Make it a shared community experience instead of separate entities acting independently. Same with town travel - have them coordinate games/practice times with Rec leagues so girls can do both. Have them mandate that their players play or practice with Rec teams.

There is so much that can be done to grow the sport if people would just look at the big picture and put their ego aside.

 

[PJR202]

The no-walk rule fundamentally changed our 10u Little League Softball program. The player pitches and if they get to ball 4, the hitting team coach comes out and gets to throw 3 pitches to their batter. This takes the pressure off the pitcher and ends up with the ball in play much more often, meaning the defense gets game action and the offense gets to learn how to run the bases when the ball is in play.

We've done it for a couple of years niw and hitting, defense and pitching are notably better once they get to the 12u division where it is all player pitch.

Major difference for us as well. Even with the pitching machine there weren't quite as many balls in play. Constant walks does absolutely nothing to help foster hitting, running, defense, and game knowledge. It's almost a complete waste of time even having a game.

 

[PJR202]

I think about this somtimes. Not so much for my own kids. I have an upcoming freshman and a junior that will play on the HS team. Neither of them plays travel. We could work it in financially, but neither of them actually wants to play. They both love the game and both want to get better and have shown they'll put the work in during the offseason, but neither of them lives and breathes it. Oddly enough, the freshman initiates workouts more than the junior, but she's not interested in playing after high school. The junior said she'd like to play in college but pre-vet programs are few and far between, so trying to hit that level of skill and experience just to possibly make a team at one of those schools would be highly unlikely.

Something that gets me though, is seeing potential in some of the other kids who would likely play travel if it was realistic. There's a girl who will be a senior this year. She was a cheerleader and her sister talked her into starting softball in 10th grade when the program was hurting badly for players. Her learning curve was insanely fast. All the kids in that family are good athletes, and her learning curve was insane. Solid BA that season, started in the outfield, rocket arm, and developed into a very solid hitter by the end of the season. Even put a grand slam OTF about halfway though.

This past season, 7 OTF homeruns in 25 games (She hit one 300ft in BP with an older mid-grade easton), .540 at the plate, played starting shortstop with several eye-popping defensive plays. One she chased from SS to shallow right-center, over the shoulder on a dive for third out. Never should have been able to cover that much ground. Opposing coach stood and clapped overhead at 3B until she crossed the line back to the dugout. Tied a distract record for RBI in a game (8).

Unbelievable talent, and travel just isn't in the cards for her. If I was rich I would pay that kid's way, including paying her transportation...lol.

 

[Vertigo]

So, why is REC struggling? I think there are a number of reasons - may of which have been accurately brought up here. One reason that I haven't seen is...politics. Many REC programs are their own little fiefdoms. In small towns it's about power/control/recognition and in larger areas it's about dollars, budgets and egos.

This was very true for our LL, especially on the baseball side. The president of the league encouraged all of his “buddies” to run for a position and turned down people to run against them who weren’t in their “boys’ club.” This ensured that they could be head coaches, and their kids (no matter how terrible), made the All-Star teams.

After my kids aged out that president finally was ousted and a whole new board took over. Amazing to see the turnaround the League has had - also with a big emphasis on softball!