Travel Ball Question - I need advice, PLEASE HELP!

[amandablockson]

Ok, I need some advice. My daughter is 8 years old (will be 9 in September) and has been playing slow pitch rec-league softball for 2 years now (with me as the coach). She had never played ball before, no tball, no prior softball, etc... She has advanced rapidly, played in the infield her first season, now plays 1st base. Total tomboy, loves the game, etc.....
SOO... She recently told me that she wants to play Travel Ball. She has a friend who's brother plays and she has went to a couple of his tournaments. She absolutely loves the atmosphere, the competition that is included (obviously the rec league is slow paced, so I'm thinking she is bored. She gets frustrated that the talent is not to her level, etc, it's hard to get her to understand that some of these girls are not athletic, have never played ball before, etc)
Anyways, at first I told her "absolutely! Let's do it!" She has friends in softball, even on other teams, with some pretty good talent, so there would be a team in place ready to go... But then recently I found out that with USSSA her birthday makes it to where she has to play in 10u in the upcoming season. Well, in all sanctions, she has to play up. And it's fast pitch.
She is so optimistic, told me she's going to be the pitcher, told me to send her to camps this summer (there are 2 here, taught by the lady Vols).... Told me she will practice her heart out, watches YouTube videos of girls pitching...
My husband thinks I'm crazy.
Says our team will get slaughtered if we throw them into fast pitch travel ball in 3 months, when the only games they have played have been slow pitch league ball....
Says it's a terrible idea. That no amount of camps/practice will prepare them. (I work from home so I was going to be able to put quite a bit of time into the team before the season starts, was considering practice 3 nights a week as well as 3 softball camps this summer)....
Am I crazy? Do I really just have high hopes and that's it? I get it that some of these girls in travel ball are just flat out sickening when it comes to their athleticism, and that some of them were born with a softball in hand....
Is travel ball just totally out of the question for us?
Please help!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Greenmonsters]

Getting an entire SP team ready to transition easily and smoothly into FP would be a real challenge. But, with your DD's apparent motivation and your commitment to work with her, I'm sure you could find a fastpitch team for her.

 

[softballphreak]

If you can find a fastpitch rec league you will be much better off. If you can find an "experienced" fastpitch pitcher and catcher you might could play B level fastpitch but you still would struggle awhile.

As far as your DD individually she could probably get on fastpitch team with the kind of work she says she'll do to get there.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Your husband is right. No amount of camps/practice will prepare these girls for 10U travel ball.

However, actually PLAYING 10U travel ball will prepare them better than anything else you can do. It'll show everyone involved where you need to go.

Do it. I can't think of anything more gratifying that a person could do than coaching a bunch of raw 8-9 year old girls in fastpitch travel ball. That's exactly what got me started over two decades ago, and I've been doing it ... and LOVING it ... ever since.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

The longer you wait to transition to fastpitch, the harder the road will be.

If this was rec fastpitch to TB I wouldn't give this advice, but rec slowpitch to FTB I'd pick my tourneys for the first season very carefully, as to not overwhelm them. Find the smaller local tourneys, with other first year TB teams. ( trust me there are many )

taught by the lady Vols

Are you in Tennessee? I know a guy from there.
Oh and we can't call them "Lady Vols" anymore, someone from another state decided for us that word "Lady" was discriminating.

 

[Jdaddy]

If you are from the Knoxville area, there are quite a few rec only tournaments held at Holston ball park during the spring and summer. Also, Powell Levi park runs an "open" rec league where you bring your own team. Keep in mind that both of these consist of mainly all star fastpitch teams, but these are two good entry level options in the area.

 

[marriard]

Yep - apart from pitching and catching the players likely have everything they need in the basics. 10U at the B level isn't all that fast with pitchers (mostly), so with practice the batters will adjust.

So if you have AT LEAST 4 girls who want to pitch and a couple who want to catch, and are willing to go out and do some work to learn and practice, then you are good to go. I say 4 pitchers because 1 isn't enough, and if 4 want to pitch, possibly 2 will show talent. I'd find a local pitching coach for a practice, line the entire team up and see if any of them have any natural talent or desire.

Go out to the local tourneys and make friends with the coaches of some of the lower teams. Organize lots of scrimmages. Scrimmage amongst your own team with your pitchers pitching. You want to go into your first real games with at 8-10 games under your belts and at least 2 pitchers you feel can at least throw strikes enough to avoid walk-fests.

It might be that you get beat up a bit at first, but you'll improve quickly. And you have to start somewhere.



Oh last thing - you will need to set expectations with parents. Depending on what tournaments are available you could get beat up and unlike in league play, there is a lot of losing to do over a short period of time if you are playing against more experienced teams.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I get it that some of these girls in travel ball are just flat out sickening when it comes to their athleticism

If you're playing at the entry levels of travel, the overall athleticism won't be sickening, or what makes teams formidable. It's their experience.

How is the team being built? You say your daughter has some friends and that some are on teams. Are these just 10 friends, or are these the best players from the slow pitch league? What is your talent level like?

Key is getting or developing a pitcher who can throw strikes. That is the #1 priority. Your team won't improve if you don't have pitchers that can throw strikes because they'll be standing around in the field watching a walk-fest. If pitchers throw strikes, the other team hits it, you try to field it, and you'll start improving.

re: Vols camp - I'm sure that will be fun and they'll get something out of it, but they're not going to pick up any magic secrets that make them a whole lot better. What they need is quality coaching in their own practices. Pitchers need to have a very good coach. They need group or individual private lessons, IMO.

 

[quincy]

I was going to Post more or less the same thing as CogansBluff.

Fall is a good time to start, the season should be short.

Right now I would invest my time and money on lessons close to home and skip the camps.

For pitching with some direction and practice they will improve very quickly. If your pitching is OK your Team should do OK so that needs to be a priority and it needs to more than just your DD. You need to make sure some other players are working as hard as your DD or since you are in TB go recruit 1 or 2.

If they are allowed to steal home and D3Ks, catcher needs to be a priority too or you will pull all your hair out. If they are not allowed to steal home or D3Ks, you can get away with a weak C for a little while.

 

[corlay]

I put a 10U team together a few late-Summers ago,
to play 3-4 tournaments in August,
made up of local rec league All-Stars, pulled from 4 different districts.

This was a way to extend the normal Little League season through the summer for kids with decent skills and the desire to play more.

We were raw, but athletically talented.
Our first tournament, being rookies on the player and coaching side of things,
we sure "got schooled" a bit early, on some of the finer aspects of the game like delayed steals, drop 3rd strikes, facing slap hitters, baserunners getting picked-off when slow getting back to base after pitch, etc - for example.

But we had above average pitching for 10U,
and avg straight-up defense and hitting;
so we usually went pretty deep into tournaments.

Our second summer doing this we won 3/4 of the tournaments we entered.

I guess my point it - just do it. ;-)

If looking to start a bona-fide year-round travel team,
the Fall might be a better time, as you then have the Fall and Winter to develop your players,
and get them prepared.

But no harm in jumping-in feet-first, and just play now.
It will be a blast - both for you and the kids.