11 yrs old. Tough age. I don't say this sarcastically. I truly mean it for many reasons. She's growing. Odds are if she's fitted for a glove now you'll be doing this again in a year or 2. In many cases it's not a bad thing but still a tough time for girls---------and parents. Girls are reluctant to change in regards to equipment they are familiar with. She remembers getting her current glove the way she likes it and doesn't want to go thru that again. I can't say I blame her. Some gloves take a lot of work.
With this being said; I suggest you not take any shortcuts. By a quality glove. Buy it knowing it's not her last glove unfortunately. Do all the right things to break it in, then wait to see what happens as far as her growth development.
I wrote a paper on gloves and what I believed was the best option for girls that may only have 1 glove size in her bag. Rule of thumb is for mature girls to have an 11.5-inch to 12.5-inch glove for infield and 12.5-inch to 14-inch glove for outfield. The 12.5-inch glove appears to be the best size universally for any position. This was determined after years of observation and polls conducted from a demographic of girls ranging from 13-18 yrs. old. The paper was reviewed by a coaching staff from the NFCA and while this board of D1 coaches all agreed they wanted their girls to have multiple gloves in their equipment bag they DID agree with the final results. Without seeing her hand size my gut tells me she's probably going to fall into the 12-inch glove range. Depending on future growth and the possibility she would continue to play infield, she may be able to get more seasons of use than what I mentioned but you simply can't count on it.
My summary; Gloves become too familiar and may be the most neglected piece of equipment a player owns. Many go without proper maintenance and are not kept or stored properly. Many should be replaced just because of attrition. People are quick to find a new bat yet a glove gets used much more and treated with less respect. It seems until the strings get so bad they finally break, nobody considers the condition of the glove. Why; because position players are many times judged by their hitting ability. News flash, they still need to be able to field a ball.
but when you're into your prime, let's say junior year in HS maybe even sophomore year, and you buy from the glove doctor and he breaks the glove in for you and you are good to go and DEFINATELY WORTH IT!! Glove doctor is a one stop shop. buy it, break it in, oil it and getting it all done under one roof. plus you can get custom colors, custom embroidery and get a good lesson on how to maintain and store your new glove etc.... nobody better!
