Opinions Wanted

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I agree with Diamond dad. I do believe that there are exceptions but as a rule....let them grow and take their time. I am personally in no hurry to push my just turned 12 yr old to play up. But as a parent you know everyone is different and you gave to do what your gut says is right for your child.
 
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Someone said, and some agreed, that 12U playing up at 16U should be ok because they will be playing HS ball with these age girls anyway. Ummm, HS ball is certainly NOT anything at all like tournament travel ball (especially for any TTB team playing a showcase schedule). '00 BD playing with 17-year-olds (many 16U players are actually 17 during the season) in TTB is silly in my opinion. I feel the best option is to find a team of '00 that are at (or above) the skill-level of your DD and kick some butt. JMHO
 
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Gary-
Any '99 that you have on your team should look and play like a 98 IMHO. There is definitely a jump going to 16u from what I have seen. I assume the '99's on the team do NOT play like 98's, otherwise it would not be an issue. If you are at most ASA Nat qualifiers, Lasers, Gapss, Loudonville, you RARELY run into a "bad" team. Most have good hitters and pitchers and if the '99 are struggling this year, they will probably struggle next year as well. Tryouts are just a few weeks away, so I say let the younger ones try out with the rest of the candidates and I wouldn't be suprised if they stayed back another year once they see how big and fast a lot of these girls are.
 
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DD's team is moving to 16u next year, the majority of girls are 98's we have some younger girls on the team, none are standouts but a couple are not bad. I think that the 16u move is a big jump and I would rather have all 98's to start. Just wanting opinions from others that have made the jump already, the team has done pretty well this year but we had one injury early that cost us one of the top pitchers, two of the girls are 00 I think that's too young to move up to 16u, let me know what you think.

A couple things...

Are you the Coach of this team? If not, then i'm a little confused about your inquiry as to who should be on the team.
Good ball players with 99/98 birth dates should have NO problem competing at 16u regionally (meaning playing 16u tournaments in your state). A second year team that is solid should be playing up- the game is faster.

I don't think that most 98/99 birthday kids can successfully playing Top Level 16u such as Boulder, Demarini Invite/ Sparks Showcase. Some can, most cannot.

As far as what YOU should do for your daughter, my thoughts are to have YOUR daughter play with a group of kids and for a team that will challenge her. How would you personally rate your kid compared to her teammates? Is she one of the top players? Is she the #1 pitcher/catcher? Does she lead the team in BA? Some parents like it when their kids are the star but others recognize the importance of having teammates and Coaches that PUSH your daughter to up her game. To quote Bill Conroy:

As far as playing time, everyone wants to play all the time and yes I carried a roster of 16 players at Boulder and PGF Nationals but I believe in competition and so do the players that play for me, the better you play , the more you'll play.
Nothing is handed to you in life, you need to compete for everything, you need to earn what you receive. I may be old school and quickly becoming a dinasaur in the way I do things but it works for me and the Beverly Bandits.
 
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A couple things...

Are you the Coach of this team? If not, then i'm a little confused about your inquiry as to who should be on the team.
Good ball players with 99/98 birth dates should have NO problem competing at 16u regionally (meaning playing 16u tournaments in your state). A second year team that is solid should be playing up- the game is faster.

I don't think that most 98/99 birthday kids can successfully playing Top Level 16u such as Boulder, Demarini Invite/ Sparks Showcase. Some can, most cannot.

As far as what YOU should do for your daughter, my thoughts are to have YOUR daughter play with a group of kids and for a team that will challenge her. How would you personally rate your kid compared to her teammates? Is she one of the top players? Is she the #1 pitcher/catcher? Does she lead the team in BA? Some parents like it when their kids are the star but others recognize the importance of having teammates and Coaches that PUSH your daughter to up her game. To quote Bill Conroy:

As far as playing time, everyone wants to play all the time and yes I carried a roster of 16 players at Boulder and PGF Nationals but I believe in competition and so do the players that play for me, the better you play , the more you'll play.
Nothing is handed to you in life, you need to compete for everything, you need to earn what you receive. I may be old school and quickly becoming a dinosaur in the way I do things but it works for me and the Beverly Bandits.

Glad you jumped in on this Viking, I was about to get on my soapbox about playing the best competition available all the time.
 
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Glad you jumped in on this Viking, I was about to get on my soapbox about playing the best competition available all the time.

I agree about the good competition, I just don't think the young players(maybe these younger players) are ready to move up to the next level. They don't have the drive that the older girls do. I'm just trying to get opinions for what to do, my DD isn't going to be ready for tryouts 100% she broke her non pitching arm early in the season and is just now allowed to start pitching again. Wondering what others would do, I don't wish this on anyone it's been a long summer.
 
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Feel for dd chix dad The Lord is always trying to teach us something patience and tolerance are the hardest for me that being said my dd plays on this team I am proud of the young lady's on her team had some tough breaks and still compete your right younger girls aren't ready they go with what they got this year and learn see what next year brings
 
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