Just when I thought it couldn't get stupider...

[sluggers]

My 6 year old DGD signed up to play a little softball. So, she is going to a"practice and first look" on Saturday--which I thought was a little crazy. Are they worried that someone will be stacking a team of 6 year olds?

Then, I found out--there was an unofficial "first look" camp two weeks ago for the "serious" players.

 

[YOCOACH]

My 6 year old DGD signed up to play a little softball. So, she is going to a"practice and first look" on Saturday--which I thought was a little crazy. Are they worried that someone will be stacking a team of 6 year olds?

Then, I found out--there was an unofficial "first look" camp two weeks ago for the "serious" players.

So....is this rec ball or TB?

 

[justAdad2]

the younger the age the crazier the parents. our town rec league had so many rotten parents who controlled everything that gave their kids an advantage over others. it was some of the most stressful softball situations i ever came across. good luck

 

[Chilixa]

Local rec coach wanted to start an 8u travel team. Some might call that crazy enough. He then wanted to practice 4-5 times a week and play 2 out of town tournaments a month. Then he got upset when he couldn’t get enough players committed. I love being at the fields but even that is too much for me at that age.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bonesaw]

Sounds like Your only option is to start your own 6u travel organization.

 

[_MIA_]

Go watch boys t-ball..your mind will be blown.

 

[ArmWhip]

One of the things I liked about coaching softball was that it was generally low key, not a lot of dad's invested in their daughter's career like you see in baseball. The local LL was a hot mess of politics and stacking. But now with so much softball on TV parents are becoming more demanding.

 

[Traps71]

Even 10U is really young. Wouldn’t recommend travel until at least then and maybe not until second year 10U. Actually, travel ball can be so crazy—especially at younger ages—that maybe I wouldn’t recommend it at all.

As bad as softball can be (we’ve probably all seen our share of near parent brawls at local B-level softball tournaments), I agree with @pattar that youth baseball is even worse. Many dads—it’s always dads—seem to be overdosing on a$$hole pills. Of course, generally, they aren’t the ones giving up their free time to organize and coach a team, but certainly have plenty of strong opinions based on their own famously mediocre LL “careers.”

 

[Hustle LI]

not surprised by any of this. softball can get real stupid

 

[Rambler34]

We did the same thing minus the first look camp. We always held "tryouts" for every age and for basketball as well. It wasn't necessarily about stacking a team but trying to get them as balanced as possible. Granted we followed that up with pre and post season tourneys and USSSA had 6U All Stars as well.