Stuck in the middle

[skamom]

Looking for advice...
DD played for a local "travel" team, got good experience, but was just about the best on the team and not all girls/parents were as dedicated - they didn't work much outside of practice. She has to move up into 11u while most of the team stays down. She has a lot of skills work to improve on, but plays her position well and is a good hitter. Do we have her try out for the bigs where she'll probably be at the bottom of the lineup? Or do we try to find another team that's possibly one step up from her last where she'll again be one of the top 4? I've heard it both ways...some people say they'd rather sit the bench on a top 5 state team and some say build confidence by playing for a lesser team who plays C/B tournaments.
TIA

 

[Creek01]

Let me take it from a different angle. At 11u find a coach who loves to teach the game. A coach who is focused on developing fundamentals & game situation awareness. This will help your dd grow more than anything else. I was an assistant for a head coach with a mindset like that at 10u & 11u. The majority of the kids are still playing high level travel ball now at 16u

 

[skamom]

Great perspective and I hope we can find someone like that. However, how do you know that before or at tryouts? I feel like we can only tell the competitiveness of the team by prior year's records, tournaments entered, and org reputation - research done before tryouts. Too bad there isn't a review database available.

 

[Creek01]

I think the best way to find what you are looking for is if you could attend open practices. You can then see how engaged a coaching staff is in teaching. Org reputation does help but good orgs sometimes miss on coaches & independent teams sometimes have great coaches. Also I'd try to find the best balance of a competitive team & playing time for my dd. Good luck. 11u is the toughest year of softball.

 

[daboss]

Talk with older players and family that have already been there with an organization. They'll give their version of an honest assessment. I believe Creek01 has really nailed this one down. Great advice!