When is the best time to move a kid from rec to travel ball?

[Jeff Gamesman]

My daughter just finished her little league softball season and I am trying to weigh the options for next year(or sooner) for her. She is a talented athlete and has shown a great deal of potential in this sport (as well her other sports interests soccer and basketball). Some have suggested that we need to limit her to just 1 sport and go all in with cost and commitment to a travel ball team (or select soccer team). Obviously, I want to do what is best for her first and foremost, but then to also give her a fair shot at seeing how far she can go with which ever dream or dreams she wishes to pursue. The problem is she is only 10 and perhaps I am wrong, but seems to early to start limiting her like that so soon. The softball problem lies mostly with the lack of quality coaching in little league and the fact that she was one of the top talents in her bracket this year with the only ones close being a year older and all moving up next year by virtue of age.Hindsight, make me think we erred in not moving her up this last year to play with the 12 and 13 year olds.

Next year moving up seems like a must if we stick with little league, but that does not solve the lack of practice time and quality coaching problem.Playing with older girls might also be socially awkward for her as well and she has voiced that concern. The other option would be the travel ball route. But I am a bit concerned about the cost as well as the logistics to get her to potentially faraway places...and heaven forbid if the coaching was not any better. I hear that if she wants to go higher in the sport the travel teams are a must at some point.Having no idea what to expect , I wonder if we wait till she is say 12 or 14 would those be better times to explore travel ball or would it put her way behind the other girls who played that route all along?

 

[coach james]

That question is as unique as your dd... her age, interests, skill level, all factor into this decision. TB comes in a few variety's. I'd recommend joining a program that offers A, and B teams so that you have the ability to move her up when she's ready as well as they will most likely have a staff of coaches on the same page to keep the consistency. Some kids will never move up. They just enjoy the dozen or so games in June and July and that's it. However, they're also usually the ones struck on the bench when they get to HS. Talk to your dd and see if this is real. If it is then start shopping for a team before this fall (90% of tb teams rebuild in the fall) and sign up for every tryout you can find. Join the one the two of you feel is the best fit.

 

[InsidePitch]

I have seen some very dominant 10YOs become middle of the pack kids by 13. The dominant kids are usually more developed or just big. If they don't put in the work that the mid pack kids are, things start to even out by 12 and then hard work and real talent start to emerge.

After seeing the progression of my own kid I'd say travel ball by 12U-14U. And as you've probably read already, it's very difficult to serve two masters. If you choose Select soccer or AAU Basketball don't expect to play on a club TB team. Town travel might work out if they play during the week. You can play more than one sport, just difficult to do multiple high level activities.

 

[learning]

My daughter was 12 when she started TB. The rec league was not competitive enough for her - the girls in general weren't developing or improving (or really trying) and they definitely were not very serious about playing, it was more social hour for them. So she asked us if she could try out for travel ball which she did and started out on a C team (fall) which moved up to B the following spring. We were very surprised by the commitment involved - many many weekends are essentially given up for tournaments, nearly every weekend with about two exceptions from April - July. I personally think 12 was a great age to start unless your daughter clearly excels in softball and has expressed on her own a desire to move to more competition now. I'm not sure we would have made the move if our daughter wasn't already saying she was frustrated at the lack of competition in rec. - One thing that has been an issue for us is that she has an older brother who plays travel baseball - so one of us parents always misses something - if we had started her in TB at 10 we would have missed even more so for that reason too, I am glad we didn't get her into TB earlier.

Experience so far (2 years) has been great for her development and she wants to move to an A team next season and I do believe she is ready.


As to 'specializing' - DD also excels in field hockey. She still plays it in the fall (rec) and I would not want her to stop. She goes to high school next year and will play both sports. Softball is her priority and it takes up the majority of her time but who knows - she may decide she likes field hockey better as the competition there increases in high school. We will support whatever she wants to do I hope she wants to continue softball as it has been a significant time and $$ investment but if she doesn't then it was a good growth and learning experience for her. I think that age 10 is too early to cut out all but one sport.

 

[CoogansBluff]

How does your daughter feel about it?

 

[MsDinosaur]

It may be different in other areas, but around here, I'd say move at or before first year 10U. That's only if softball is the sport she's sure she wants. Because once you step on the TB train, it will soak up most of your time and money.

 

[chinamigarden]

My dd at 10 played soccer and Travel softball. The soccer was AYSO, and the TB was B level. She enjoyed both and did not want to quit soccer to specialize in softball. Since then she has played volleyball, basketball and ran track in Middle School. She also picked up the saxophone and plays that in the school band. All while playing softball. She is a rising senior and has lettered in 3 sports including softball and still plays Travel softball. She has enjoyed being able to play a variety of sports, and I don't think she would have enjoyed softball as much if all she did was softball. The people who say your dd should specialize, you need to identify what they get out of that. Are they coaches who want your dd to further their team or sport by ignoring others? Do they need you to justify their decision to force their young child into one activity... Or do they really think that because its best for their dd it must be best for yours. Some people want to believe that they are doing the right thing, so they have to promote it. Just like I am doing, my dd chose the multi sport way, so I think its the right thing so I am promoting it.

You have to look at it and decide what is best for your dd, what does she want to do? You have plenty of time to actually make that decision. 10U is not a time to force a decision, if she likes both sports, and you are in rec level in both. You can try out B level softball while playing rec soccer. See what happens.

 

[CoachBroker]

I feel like 9-10 is the age when you start seeing the need to explore travel ball. Rec/League ball can only do so much for your daughter no matter how talented she is. A decent coach will have to spend a lot of the time teaching the other girls how to accomplish the things that come easy to your daughter thus holding her back from reaching her full potential. We found ourselves in a similar situation last year and I asked a friend who was coaching a 10u team if I could get his daughter to do some pitching to my DD (who was finishing up coach pitch) so she could see and hit off of a windmill style pitcher. Instead he just invited her to come to their next practice and practice with the team. She was asked to join the team at the end of practice. At that point my wife and I look at each other and say, "what did we get ourselves into?" We played in our first tournament 2 days later. Now we are TB addicts.
Our daughter played rec this year as well, there was an even bigger gap in overall skill level because of the fact that none of the other girls played TB. The bad thing is that she would start playing down to thier level in so many ways. Not until All Stars did you see that serious player start to show back up and once All Stars ended true TB starts back up and again you see her step up her game again. Personally I would prefer to skip league ball all together next year and play year round TB however I leave that decision up to my daughter. I know she enjoys playing with her friends and I do not want to take that away from her. Get with your daughter and see what she wants to do. It might even be worth checking with some area coaches and asking to practice with the team or be considered for a pick up player. Fall tryouts are just around the corner as well, you can always try out but dont have to join if asked. (althought I am not a fan of that) Just remember, be cautious of the Travel Ball addiction......this forum is full of these addicts.

 

[obbay]

Some have suggested that we need to limit her to just 1 sport and go all in with cost and commitment

No! This isn't the Soviet Union, let her experience other sports as well and hopefully she can determine what she likes.

I would go to TB now if she is interested. she may still want to play LL because her friends are there (My DD and others have done that)

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I think that they should play every sport possible, until HS. Year around softball, makes that tough. But, we always had a rule that school activities came first.

If you can play TB at 11 and 12 and still have a life, great.

There are so many teams in Tucson, right now, that you can start TB at almost any age.