New to 12U travel ball

MTB138

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My 12U DD has 6 years of rec ball experience and is wanting to join a more competitive team. She recently tried out for the jr high school team and did not make it. The majority of the girls picked had travel ball experience. My DD has solid fundamental skills and has excelled in her rec league in both pitching and at 1st base. Our family is not ready to commit to a full-on travel team, but would like to get her into a higher level league where the players all want to play and win. Is there something between rec league and travel ball? Also, it appears that most travel teams have had tryouts in August. Are we too late? Any info or advice would be appreciated.
 

smathes

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The way most school coaches pick a girl now is based off of her travel ball experience. They want a girl with that competitive edge. The way travel ball works is there are levels. There is a basic team that stays at mainly local tournaments and then there are your more competitive teams that are the elite and platinum. All travel ball tryouts do happen in the month of August but there are still teams looking for players and that will offer a private tryout. My name is Sara and I am the coach for the Ohio Stampede '05 team based out of Massillon, oh. Our team consists of 11 and 12 year old girls where the majority of the team is all new to travel ball so they are all learning together. We will be playing in 1-2 tournaments in the winter and also will be practicing 2 times a week through winter. When spring comes we will be playing in roughly 10 tournaments from April through end of July. All tournaments will be local! I am currently still looking for one more player for my team and it happens to be a pitcher or utility player. I would love for you to get in contact with me to schedule a private tryout.

Sara Mathes
smathes3@yahoo.com
330-806-1116
 

coachjwb

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MTB ... great question and Sara M ... great answer! I don't know Sara or anything about her team, but MTB, that might be a good place to start. In this day and age, with all of the travel teams and other year-round softball activities out there, it can be hard to compete at the high school level if you're only playing rec ball. Don't get me wrong ... rec ball can be a fun and very rewarding experience for many young ladies, but if you want to get to the next level, you probably try something like Sara's team and then decide after the year whether it was fun and worth it. Who knows, you may even decide to up it again the following year, or you could decide to stay at that level and/or go back to just rec ball. But my guess is that you will see an improvement in your DD my at least going to that next level and then you and her just have to decide how much of a commitment you want to make on a long-term basis based on your DD's goals.

While most teams have had tryouts, if you look at the teams looking for players section, there are still very many opportunities out there for next travel season. Good luck and keep involved in this Forum and keep asking good questions, because I think you'll learn a lot of useful information!
 

MTB138

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Thanks for the information, and I appreciate the tryout offer, but I should have specified we are in the Cincinnati area. The way your team is set up would definitely work for us. I'm glad to hear there are travel ball teams that don't require traveling cross country. Again, thanks for the info. I've got a lot to learn!
 

coachjwb

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If you post in the players looking for team section, specifying that you want a Cincinnati team playing in only "local" tournaments, I'd be surprised if you didn't get some interest. My next step would then be to go to one of their practices or games, and get a feel for the coach and the team before you make any commitment. Good luck!
 

yossarian

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MTB, there are definitely plenty of teams in SW Ohio area that fit the description you're talking about. You might want to private message a forum user named Captain_Thunder (if you use the site search, you'll find him). He's very active on here and is affiliated with Rowe Sports Complex in Middletown, as well as, Ohio Thunder which is a very well respected organization in Cincinnati. Rowe hosts weekend tournaments in the fall, spring and summer so he would be familiar with a variety of levels there which include the types of teams you may be looking for. He might be able to make some suggestions or share contact info. You may also want to look into some upcoming camps. Oak Hills High School comes to mind. They put on a summer and winter one, which are both very good. Girls of all levels attend. You can find info at http://www.oakhillssoftball.com (the winter one isn't posted yet). Depending on how serious you want to get, you could also look into working with a batting coach. It may sound excessive, but it helps a lot and most girls I know love it. Finally, don't be afraid to reach out to coaches of organizations you might feel fit outside of the travel commitment you're looking for. It's a small community and coaches are generally very happy to share info and contacts to help a girl in your daughter's situation.

Good luck!
 

FastBat

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First, there are teams that still need players. You will be able to find teams in your area that don't travel all over the US, and the term "travel ball" does consist of different levels of ability, some are better than others. I would start by looking in the "teams looking for players" section, don't worry about the team winning or losing, this year, your goal should be gaining travel ball experience. Then, if your daughter enjoys the travel softball experience, make a list of teams your daughter might want to try out for next August, then go to tryouts and work from there. Don't assume just because your daughter played league ball, she won't be able to compete, she might surprise you. She probably has a lot of game experience, which is a big part of being successful and she is considered young at 12 years old.
 

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