new from Louisiana here to learn whatever I can to help my 7u daughter next few years

[Gymtansmush]

hi Im glen from prairieville, La, Im a "little" older Dad 56 and my 7 yr old loves the game, and I want to give her every opportunity to succeed any suggestions as we go along is certainly appreciated she is on a tournament team now , she is really fast(it was recommended i put her in private lessons for track so i did and she is doing quite well) other than that im just her to listen to u experienced parents and see how much i can absorb to help me girl thanks in advance Glen

Also from Louisiana here, DD is 12U, just started playing again a year ago. We are full time Jr. high ball and travel ball now. Biggest step for me was getting her to love the game, once she did that everything else came easy. I also help coach her 12U team, per her request and knowing the head coach. One thing I try to remember is tourneys are for them, not us. That's when its time to play. Mistakes will happen, bad games, good games, wins and losses. Let them play out the tourneys and if you are helping or want to give feedback, wait until practices. Let them live in the moment during the tourneys.

awesome thanks Sir usssa 14u? fasa? mine still has one more year in 8u tournament ball team and shes improving and has some serious speed but shes not ready to move up early but i see others on her level that the parents say they are moving them up i dont say anything other than mines not ready but now they talking of moving entire team up, but im gonna do what I think is best for my DD even if it means joining up with a different 8u team she stuggled all fall last year as it was really her first real full year after covid cancelled most of last spring , and is just now starting to see her work pay off i dont think it benefits her to right back into struggling in august i think shye needs to taste some success first i dont understand moving up just to say you moved up early Am I wrong here? How do you feel about that ? Im quite sure it must happen alot?

I definitely wouldn't recommend moving her up to early, as I see plenty people do it and it just doesn't work out all that often. Unless they are hands down above all the competition, those years of ball can still be great for her mentality, attitude, development. When mine started back up playing again, I was lucky enough to get her in 10U bc of her birthday, which helped her mold her game and skills for 12U. I was also involved in an 8U team last season, and I will tell you that those parents and games are just as competitive as the older age groups (despite scholarships and millions of dollars not being handed out).

 

[bmakj]

Also from Louisiana here, DD is 12U, just started playing again a year ago. We are full time Jr. high ball and travel ball now. Biggest step for me was getting her to love the game, once she did that everything else came easy. I also help coach her 12U team, per her request and knowing the head coach. One thing I try to remember is tourneys are for them, not us. That's when its time to play. Mistakes will happen, bad games, good games, wins and losses. Let them play out the tourneys and if you are helping or want to give feedback, wait until practices. Let them live in the moment during the tourneys.



I definitely wouldn't recommend moving her up to early, as I see plenty people do it and it just doesn't work out all that often. Unless they are hands down above all the competition, those years of ball can still be great for her mentality, attitude, development. When mine started back up playing again, I was lucky enough to get her in 10U bc of her birthday, which helped her mold her game and skills for 12U. I was also involved in an 8U team last season, and I will tell you that those parents and games are just as competitive as the older age groups (despite scholarships and millions of dollars not being handed out).

agree, unless she is head and shoulders above nearly everyone, keep her at age appropriate level. only time DD2 played up was in rec when she would have been bored.

my one caveat would be a situation like my DD#1, her birthday fell in between the school cutoff (sometime in October) and all the sports cutoffs of Jan 1. she often "played up", but always via tryout, never strictly our decision, but it allowed her to play with more of her classmates (this was all rec), whose birthday was after Jan 1 but before the school cutoff.

 

[Gymtansmush]

agree, unless she is head and shoulders above nearly everyone, keep her at age appropriate level. only time DD2 played up was in rec when she would have been bored.

my one caveat would be a situation like my DD#1, her birthday fell in between the school cutoff (sometime in October) and all the sports cutoffs of Jan 1. she often "played up", but always via tryout, never strictly our decision, but it allowed her to play with more of her classmates (this was all rec), whose birthday was after Jan 1 but before the school cutoff.

I've witnessed that firsthand too, girls wanting to stay with their friends so they move up if majority of them are moving. We lost a few great 12U girls bc they wanted to move up to 14U with their friends a season early.

 

[bmakj]

brain fart, DD2 was in an unusual situation thought (Dec BD). she was literally a few weeks from being a year younger in sports age, not older. it meant when she played up, she was actually playing with girls a couple of grades ahead. too early, not enough caffeine

 

[_MIA_]

brain fart, DD2 was in an unusual situation thought (Dec BD). she was literally a few weeks from being a year younger in sports age, not older. it meant when she played up, she was actually playing with girls a couple of grades ahead. too early, not enough caffeine

DD is similar. She has a good birthday for school ball (early Sept). She has played up since she started TB and hence most of the kids she has played with (and against) are two grades ahead of her.

 

[BRsoftballDad]

awesome thanks Sir usssa 14u? fasa? mine still has one more year in 8u tournament ball team and shes improving and has some serious speed but shes not ready to move up early but i see others on her level that the parents say they are moving them up i dont say anything other than mines not ready but now they talking of moving entire team up, but im gonna do what I think is best for my DD even if it means joining up with a different 8u team she stuggled all fall last year as it was really her first real full year after covid cancelled most of last spring , and is just now starting to see her work pay off i dont think it benefits her to right back into struggling in august i think shye needs to taste some success first i dont understand moving up just to say you moved up early Am I wrong here? How do you feel about that ? Im quite sure it must happen alot?

We play some USSSA but my DD recently joined a national organization and we will be playing a lot of Triple Crown, Five Tool, and Cowart Sports events. We try to avoid FASA like the plague, especially down here in south Louisiana.

As for your DD, the good part is there are lots of teams in your area of Louisiana so regardless of what you decide you will land on a team. In my opinion, the first year of those early age groups are always bumpy so don't focus too much on that. First year teams are always going to take their lumps, especially against second year teams. Plus, each age group there is a new wrinkle that takes a little while to get used to. (ie. 10u kids pitch, 12uAlso, if she is happy with her current team then move her up with them. An extra year of seeing kids pitching is always good.

 

[Gymtansmush]

We play some USSSA but my DD recently joined a national organization and we will be playing a lot of Triple Crown, Five Tool, and Cowart Sports events. We try to avoid FASA like the plague, especially down here in south Louisiana.

As for your DD, the good part is there are lots of teams in your area of Louisiana so regardless of what you decide you will land on a team. In my opinion, the first year of those early age groups are always bumpy so don't focus too much on that. First year teams are always going to take their lumps, especially against second year teams. Plus, each age group there is a new wrinkle that takes a little while to get used to. (ie. 10u kids pitch, 12uAlso, if she is happy with her current team then move her up with them. An extra year of seeing kids pitching is always good.

I wish we would get more involved in USSSA tourneys, but we seem to love FASA and USFA. Almost seems that FASA is anything goes league lol

 

[thtsmydaughter#1]

agree, unless she is head and shoulders above nearly everyone, keep her at age appropriate level. only time DD2 played up was in rec when she would have been bored.

my one caveat would be a situation like my DD#1, her birthday fell in between the school cutoff (sometime in October) and all the sports cutoffs of Jan 1. she often "played up", but always via tryout, never strictly our decision, but it allowed her to play with more of her classmates (this was all rec), whose birthday was after Jan 1 but before the school cutoff.

thanks im in total agreement and no , my DD is def not head and shoulders above her teammates in anything but speed lol i too believe these are great years while they younger let um play that good 8u competitive games and have fun thanks for all the great advice

 

[thtsmydaughter#1]

I wish we would get more involved in USSSA tourneys, but we seem to love FASA and USFA. Almost seems that FASA is anything goes league lol

i def agree with the FASA comment and its only been less than a full year that we have been involved so ive not gotten a large sample size but what I have gotten I have to say that USSSA is just"better " , maybe better is not the word im looking for , organized and seems they keep a eye out to make sure the C teams are really C teams and not ring chasers pretending to be C teams lol didnt take me long to figure those teams out

 

[Gymtansmush]

We are going to a FASA tourney this weekend in Livingston and I can already see some ring chaser teams in the tourney lol. I do see some FASA and USFA tourneys saying C and open teams compete in different brackets but if the bracket doesn't fill out enough they always merge them together.

Anyways welcome to the world of travel ball. Hopefully she continues to love the sport and never lets you rest with the amount of practice she wants!