Play up or not?

[kbailey45us]

My DD is a 2012 born Jan 5th. She played up in 12U for most of the spring. She did very well in 12U C ball playing mostly 2nd base and pitching in pool games. It was a local team with lots of friends. Playimg time was of no concern as she played pretty much every inning of every game. Last fall when we realized how serious she was about softball it was either find a higher level 10U team or 12U C ball to help her improve even more. The spring helped her do that but it still wasn't serious ball so to speak. A couple of players came back to the team so we decided to finish the season in 10U and decide what was best for her for the fall since her doing that wouldn't hurt her team any. She picked up with a 10U team going 12U in the fall. Hers and our biggest decision is whether or not she would benefit the most from a high level 10U team or go 12U in the fall. They both have pros and cons. Pitching isn't her number 1 priority but staying in 10U will give her more time to improve on pitching. Her fielding belongs in 12U. Her hitting either way is fine. Her age would allow her not to move up til fall 2023. Only thing is if we stay 10U it has to be A/B level. We have the opportunity to do that or go 12U. Now we just have to decide. When we ask her she is still unsure. Her pitching instructor says find an elite 10U team while her hitting instructor says play up lol. Any advice on making the decision from experiences etc are appreciated. We want a forever home so the decision is very important.

 

[GELLO]

Considering her age, I would play with a team that has good parents/coaches and teammates she enjoys playing with be that 10u or 12u.

With that being said, if she is serious about pitching, she needs to play with a team, regardless if 10u or 12u, that will give her plenty of mound time.

 

[kbailey45us]

Considering her age, I would play with a team that has good parents/coaches and teammates she enjoys playing with be that 10u or 12u.

With that being said, if she is serious about pitching, she needs to play with a team, regardless if 10u or 12u, that will give her plenty of mound time.

With the 2 teams we are looking at she would get good mound time. Maybe a little more in 10U. Both teams are well known organizations. She literally makes friends with anybody lol. The 10U team would expose her to more former college players helping out. It is a 2012 team. But with her birthday being so early should I consider her more of a 2011? I think I would prefer the 10U but gotta make sure she does too. 12U on the team we are looking at should be a lot more intense than what we played for most of the spring and gotta make sure she would be ready for that as well. I do think the pitching in 10U would put her in more pressure situations meaning she would probably only pitch pool games in 12U. That I think would benefit her on the mental side of pitching.

 

[ang2bmd]

There is a world of difference from elite ball at any age to C ball. That being said there are very few truly elite 10u teams. At 10u playing with the best team she can play on and have fun with is the way to go.


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[DonnyS]

Play on the highest level team if it is a good fit. 10U team could be better than a 12U team. Both are at 40' for pitching so no difference there. Agree with the above comment to play on the team that will be the most fun. I distinctly remember coaching my daughters all-star team and we were talking to the girls about what they love about softball. At that age, being with their friends having fun was the #1 answer, maybe even unanimous.

 

[3girls]

I say play up. My daughters did and the competition was way better in 12U. I’m sure there are some good 10U teams out there, but an elite 10U team may be a stretch. You do see some stratification in 12Us and definitely see some big differences in 14Us between a/b/c teams, but at this age, I think going with the more physically mature will likely provide the best competition.

With that said, making sure they gel well with the team and have friends on the team is really important.


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[Dabears17]

My DD always played on the "B" All-Star team. The rule of thumb for my DD was if she was one of the best 6 players on the "B" team and would play at least 2/3rds of the time, I wanted her to be on the "B" team, otherwise on the "C" team.

Rule of thumb is to play up one year if you meet the "Top 6 2/3rds rule".

Pitching is harder to predict. Every pitcher's parent wants two pitchers on the team and their DD getting more than 50pct of the innings. A coach wants 3 pitchers all vying for the top spot, basically splitting the innings 3 ways, and a 4th player who can pitch, but doesn't mind if she hardly ever pitches.

How fast does your DD throw from 40ft with the 12" ball? Does she have good control of a change-up? Does she have a drop? How much movement on her pitches?

 

[NJZoo]

Find a team that your daughter can grow and move up with for multiple seasons. The 10U A teams in our area would beat the 12U C teams. So if she is serious about softball and has the ability, I would always recommend playing at a higher level rather than a higher age. Older does not mean better coaching or training.

My daughter "played up" for most of her time from 8U-12U just because we joined an older team when we started playing travel ball - she was able to play at that level and I didn't know any better. At some point, you'll probably need to age adjust her, so she'll have to go through the process of finding a new team again. In my experience, it's much better for them to play better competition than to just play up for the sake of playing up (especially if it's a C level team).

 

[HunterMO]

Play on the highest level team if it is a good fit. 10U team could be better than a 12U team. Both are at 40' for pitching so no difference there.

10u pitching distance - 35ft

12u pitching distance - 40ft

 

[cnardone]

Over all I prefer the idea of playing on a better 10U team. At this point, fostering her love to play the game is most important. So that may mean playing on the 12U team. I'll add that 2 years is a big jump maturity wise. Her relationships with the 2nd year 12U players will definitely be different than if she played with her own age.