play 12u or 14u?

[humpty]

At some point you gotta test her. If she buckles under the pressure maybe she doesn't have what it takes to be a top notch pitcher.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

At some point you gotta test her. If she buckles under the pressure maybe she doesn't have what it takes to be a top notch pitcher.

Maybe that point for this girl is at 13, or 14 or even 15.

Does it really have to happen at 12?

 

[riseball]

Maybe that point for this girl is at 13, or 14 or even 15.

Does it really have to happen at 12?

It is a great place to start.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Could be a lousy place to end, too.

 

[humpty]

I've watched quite a bit of 14u games this spring. There are a lot of mediocre teams in The local Usssa tournaments. It's not like she's gonna be playing against the 14u asa national champs every game.

 

[marriard]

DD is an 02 pitcher plays on a 12u mixed age team half 01s half 02s. The team is an avg 12tu team. I think the team is gonna move up in the fall to 14u. Would it be better long term for a pitcher to stay down and have more success or move up and play against the older teams. She will get the same amount of pitching time in both situations.

Personally I believe unless your daughter has grown to the size of the 14U girls (and I mean the BIG 14U travel girls) or you feel that this is as big as she is going to get, keep her in 12U. If she isn't physically dominant in 12U, there is no race to get her to 14U until she is ready.

On the other hand, I am ALL for the physically mature girls to move up if they are skilled enough to do so.

My DD is the same age as yours and while she pitches fine in 14U rec when she plays, there is no way she is ready for 14U travel yet because she just isn't physically mature enough yet. I am actually enjoying competing hard against 12U-A teams right now and hopefully being a strong 12U-A team next year. My DD is growing up fast enough as it is without pushing her into older age groups before time.

 

[fastpitch]

If there are no high level or national caliber 12u teams in the area and this team your dd is happy on is moving up then just stick with them and play 14u. It doesn't sound like you will travel too far so it's likely you won't be playing national caliber 14u teams either so it's really just a wash.

 

[humpty]

Personally I believe unless your daughter has grown to the size of the 14U girls (and I mean the BIG 14U travel girls) or you feel that this is as big as she is going to get, keep her in 12U. If she isn't physically dominant in 12U, there is no race to get her to 14U until she is ready.

On the other hand, I am ALL for the physically mature girls to move up if they are skilled enough to do so.

My DD is the same age as yours and while she pitches fine in 14U rec when she plays, there is no way she is ready for 14U travel yet because she just isn't physically mature enough yet. I am actually enjoying competing hard against 12U-A teams right now and hopefully being a strong 12U-A team next year. My DD is growing up fast enough as it is without pushing her into older age groups before time.

Yeah but all the legit 01 A teams play up. In the fall 12u youll catch the weak 01 teams, good and bad 02 teams, and the 03 teams that move up from 10s.

 

[marriard]

Yeah but all the legit 01 A teams play up. In the fall 12u youll catch the weak 01 teams, good and bad 02 teams, and the 03 teams that move up from 10s.

That isn't the real question though - should you move your '02 1st year 12U player to 14U when the '01 players on your team moves up later this year? In my mind, unless your DD is already a physically mature and dominant player in 12U or you can't find a good '02 team for her to play on, be a good fit and enjoy (and I know there are going to be some strong 02 teams in your area - good fit I am not so sure) you probably are better off in 12U-A through mid-2015.

In fall we should be one of the good '02 teams - and hope to be a legitimately strong '02 12U-A team through mid-next year - and then yes, we will move up permanently to 14U in the second half of 2015. Skills-wise I'll put most of our team against a 14U team right now - but not physically - even our more mature players seem small next to the 14U fully mature players - and mentally they are nowhere near hanging out with 14 year olds.

 

[riseball]

That isn't the real question though - should you move your '02 1st year 12U player to 14U when the '01 players on your team moves up later this year? In my mind, unless your DD is already a physically mature and dominant player in 12U or you can't find a good '02 team for her to play on, be a good fit and enjoy (and I know there are going to be some strong 02 teams in your area - good fit I am not so sure) you probably are better off in 12U-A through mid-2015.

In fall we should be one of the good '02 teams - and hope to be a legitimately strong '02 12U-A team through mid-next year - and then yes, we will move up permanently to 14U in the second half of 2015. Skills-wise I'll put most of our team against a 14U team right now - but not physically - even our more mature players seem small next to the 14U fully mature players - and mentally they are nowhere near hanging out with 14 year olds.

The good 00-01 teams in Central Florida are playing 16U/HS and the strong 01-02 teams are playing 14U. They may play back down for a big tournament or nationals but strong teams regularly play up. They would rather lose playing up than win playing down.