What to look for in a 1st Year 14U Travel Ball team?

[Rocketech1]

13YO DD will be moving up to 14U in the fall and was curious to know what you would look for in a 1st year, 14U travel ball team? DD says she wants to play Varsity HS softball when she is a freshman one year from now but is undecided if she wants to play in college. Would you stay away from teams with a heavy showcase schedule when your DD is unsure how far she wants to take softball? How about a team that was a mixture of 8th & 9th graders when you know the team will go "dark" from about March - June during high school season? Should she continue to challenge herself since she doesn't really know what level of ball she will be playing in a few years.

 

[Mom_Coach_Fan]

Following - same conversations happening at my house too....

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

Here here too! !

My dd is 12u'S and will be moving up to 14U in August/September. Not sure what to do??

 

[GunnerShotgun]

You want to play on the best team that gives your daughter the most playing time. The showcases aren't a big deal unless you end up on a team where every player has D1 aspirations. These teams are chasing Showcases all over the country. This will cost you money all the way around (tournament fees and travel). Playing local Showcases is actually a good thing as the competition will be pretty good.

1. Ask for a schedule (should be able to provide a fall schedule at a minimum plus what nationals you are chasing next summer).
2. Ask for a ball park figure on the team fees.
3. Ask how many kids they will carry on the roster.
4. Ask for the coaches philosophy on hitting, pitching, and catching coaches. (is it the coaches way; will he demand you pitch, catch, hit his/her way?)
5. Try to go to one of his/her summer practices.
6. Try and talk to parents that currently have kids on the team (there are thee sets of parents that aren't happy, so understand where they are coming from).

 

[FP26]

You want to play on the best team that gives your daughter the most playing time. The showcases aren't a big deal unless you end up on a team where every player has D1 aspirations. These teams are chasing Showcases all over the country. This will cost you money all the way around (tournament fees and travel). Playing local Showcases is actually a good thing as the competition will be pretty good.

1. Ask for a schedule (should be able to provide a fall schedule at a minimum plus what nationals you are chasing next summer).
2. Ask for a ball park figure on the team fees.
3. Ask how many kids they will carry on the roster.
4. Ask for the coaches philosophy on hitting, pitching, and catching coaches. (is it the coaches way; will he demand you pitch, catch, hit his/her way?)
5. Try to go to one of his/her summer practices.
6. Try and talk to parents that currently have kids on the team (there are thee sets of parents that aren't happy, so understand where they are coming from).

Excellent points, but I would add trying to watch them in a tournament situation. Watch some 14u teams at tournaments you are attending, or go watch some if you (and DD) have a weekend off. At 14u, coaching style should be pretty obvious. You can quickly learn the character of the team and the coaches by watching a couple of games, especially if they are close games or if the team you are considering is down by a few runs.

 

[Il softball fan]

Stating the obvious, but there is a big jump in level of play going from 12u to 14u. FP26 had an excellent idea about going to watch some teams compete. You can almost always tell the level of a team by watching the girls during warm up time. Especially in bracket play. The teams that show up, ready to warm up, and go through their warm up's and the girls all know exactly what to do, and when to do it, are usually the very good teams. You can just tell it by watching them go about their business. The ones that show up and girls are still getting socks on, still throwing on cleats, and just kind of going through the motions...usually you know how they are gonna play.

If she doesn't have thoughts of college level, talk to her and find out her idea of a good summer playing softball. Lots of travel and staying in hotels and socializing with teammates? Little travel and staying close to home? Should be her call. Also, as someone said above, get on the best level team that she is gonna get playing time. Noone has fun riding the bench.

 

[Tatonka]

Timely topic being discussed at our house too....

 

[Rocketech1]

Thanks for the advice so far.

At 14U, is it very important to be on a team with girls the same year (i.e. 2002 birthdays)? My thought here is that the team will be made up of 8th graders still in middle school and the team won't go "dark" in spring like it would if several HS freshman are on the team?.

 

[Mom_Coach_Fan]

Thanks for the advice so far.

At 14U, is it very important to be on a team with girls the same year (i.e. 2002 birthdays)? My thought here is that the team will be made up of 8th graders still in middle school and the team won't go "dark" in spring like it would if several HS freshman are on the team?.

Do teams not go dark during the MS season too? I live in the odd part of the world, where MS & HS softball are Fall sports.

 

[Rocketech1]

Do teams not go dark during the MS season too? I live in the odd part of the world, where MS & HS softball are Fall sports.

In my area, there are no public middle schools with softball programs (only private schools) so going "dark" in middle school is not an issue.