Middle School Softball

[Bchbum54]

I know of several HS in Orange county, CA that have a Summer feeder program. So they evaluate and prep incoming freshman. I don't think they are school sponsored, but I could be wrong. More like start up TB teams coached by the HS HC and AC, paid by the parents and play against TB teams in friendly's

 

[Rocketech1]

Players on our feeder teams pay fees that cover the costs of the program, just like the high school players pay fees to participate on the high school team. The fees can be more than TB when you consider the HS season is only 3 months long.

I'm not sure how that would work here. You have dozens of 12U/14U travel ball teams but the public middle school doesn't have the campus fields to practice and play on so the players would have to go off-site. Seems like a lot of work to make it happen for a few months of middle school ball. Also the competitive 6th - 8th graders are mostly playing travel ball year-round anyways.

On a separate note, apparently many HS students take softball their freshman & sophomore years to opt-out of PE/Gym class. But many schools see a big drop-off in HS softball participation after sophomore year since PE/Gym class is not mandatory your junior and senior years.

 

[Andym22]

I'm not sure how that would work here. You have dozens of 12U/14U travel ball teams but the public middle school doesn't have the campus fields to practice and play on so the players would have to go off-site. Seems like a lot of work to make it happen for a few months of middle school ball. Also the competitive 6th - 8th graders are mostly playing travel ball year-round anyways.

On a separate note, apparently many HS students take softball their freshman & sophomore years to opt-out of PE/Gym class. But many schools see a big drop-off in HS softball participation after sophomore year since PE/Gym class is not mandatory your junior and senior years.

As a coach I can validate that it takes a lot of work but these girls go to school together and build a camaraderie that can last into HS. They all get to wear their uniform around school and be a part of a school team even if it's not officially a school team. The season lasts only from March to the beginning of May and competitive teams with girls playing school ball wait until May to start playing in tournaments. Win win for everyone.

Edit to add that the HS ball is very serious and you cannot just elect to use it is a PE. You must make the team.

 

[inthunder]

In our area it is a club sport, however it is ran and overseen by the high school coach. This gets girls in the program earlier and HS involvement allows for the middle school to be ran in a similar manner to the HS team.