Advice for 8u or 10u

[default]

I have an 8 yr old who is big for her age, and shows a lot of promise in practices. Fields nice and is very fast. The problem is, she get's in a game and falls apart. Esp at the plate. She had one hit this season (thanks to my other daughters coach, or she would not have even had that!)
She hits against a machine, but pitchers scare her.

My question is this: Is it better to try to find an 8u team for her to gain confidence? Or is it better to throw her into a 10u team and have her work all winter?

Let me also say that her older sister plays for an organization that I really like, but does not have an 8u. They start at 10u, but I really like the coaches. I just don't know if my DD can hang...

If I put her on an 8u team she would tower over them, and I am worried that the pace may be too slow for her.

Anyone have thoughts?

 

[default]

check with the coaches to see if they would be willing to work with her...let them know the situation and see what can be worked out, it never hurts to ask.

 

[default]

Make the wrong decision and she'll hate softball for years. I'd put her on the team where she can have the most fun. At that age, it's all about increasing her love of the game. If it were me, I'd go for a year of confidence boosting.

 

[default]

Bingo BPM...been there and had to slide down a little to keep from completely stopping. Now at 14, she is having fun an very good. JMHO

 

[default]

I totally agree, that last year in 8U is a HUGE confidence booster.

 

[default]

I would have to say that if she can handle it, and the coaches are willing to work with her, that she should play 10U. My DD started 10U travel last fall at 7yo. She worked all winter, turned 8 this past March, and has played all summer with the Starzz 10U. Her progression has been great. So much, that I'm already looking forward to the Fall. My opinion is that playing up will make her that much better.

 

[default]

My dd started travel ball this year at 7 also and due to her size and age, understandably she got very limited time on the field. She also played in her local rec league and really got to shine and get some valuable playing time to work on what she learned. Now that she is finished for the season, I couldn't be happier that we decided to let her play rec because that is where she got the confidence to get in the box and hit the ball at the 10U tournaments. Without that time on the field in the rec league, she wouldn't have done as well on her travel team. At that age good instruction is a must, but you also have to get them to love the sport and if they are sitting the bench all year, they aren't going to love it. If they are really young, they won't get much playing time in 10U now matter how good they are due to size, strength, and maturity. Why have them sit the bench when they could be one of the top players in the 8U rec. I say either do both ( I know...it sukks!!) or keep her in rec for that last year.

 

[default]

I have the same problem. My 7yo has been in 8u rec for the last 3 years (turns 8 in Sept). She is also on our local 8u travel team. She is still by far the youngest but she is one of the better players. I am not sure if we should move her up to 10u rec and travel (the 8u travel team will also move up next year). The travel coaches are awesome. They have done a great job with all of the girls. We are considering moving her up with that team because we don't think we could find better coaches if we tried. She plays up in 10u rec all the time and loves it.

 

[default]

If shes a standout let her stand out in her age group and gain the confidense to have fun and be successful next year moving up.

 

[default]

I think you should think about playing her at 8u as long as you can find coaches you like! But shop around..try out for 10's and 8's and see what the coaches say and how your daughter stacks up against the other players. I think 8 and 10u is mainly for confidence boosting and reinforcing/developing good mechanics and good coordination, not for playing against the really awesome girls and 'gaining experience.' she will get good experience wherever she plays! But she needs to develop a love and passion for the bear that it is playing travel ball, especially at such a young age. If she's in over her head and sits game upon game, she will hate it :/ I kinda think playing up should be reserved for 12-16u. Buuut if she's good, she's good!! I'd see how tryouts go and decide then...

 

[default]

Even if you guys decide to stay down one more year you can always bring her to the 10U practices and we'll keep working with her! (Hint, hint)

That is as long as she brings the coach a cheesburger! lol...

 

[default]

Dede21:

If she as good as advertised and you love the coaches on the team that will be moving up, I'd say go for it. I assume that she gets a fair amount of playing time with those coaches and the wise comments about not placing a DD in a position where she sits all the time are not applicable to you.

 

[default]

CGS,

She actually has started for them the last two years. But don't get me wrong she still has a lot of work to do. I think she has a lot of potential. She is the smallest one on the field (probably because she's 7 going on 8 and the rest are 8/9) but she can still hit and throw the ball just as far as almost all of them. I am going to ask her coach what he thinks. His opinion definately carries a lot of weight with us. The only reason this is even an option is the fact that she has been playing 8u for 3 years. I also like her being coached by someone other than dad. They tend to listen to others better then they do me. It's my fault I moved her out of tee ball early because I didn't want to coach 2 rec teams (her older sister is 10). I think she's just a little more advanced right now because she has been around it for so long. I'm sure anyone with two kids in ball has seen the same result where the younger one developes earlier that the older one did.

 

[default]

DeDe21,

I have 3 daughters and yes you are right about the younger ones seem to progress quicker than the older ones. Our middle daughter started playing rec ball when she was 5 cause her older sister was 8 on an 8U team and I was the coach so I was able to "monitor" her so to say. Now the middle one is 9 and playing travel ball and our youngest is 4 and is around ball all of the time. The 4 year old already does form throw drills, knows how to bunt and has a good swing (left handed). Her older sister(s) were not this advanced at age 4...

My daughter played 3 years of rec ball before playing travel. She struggled at first but I found out from watching her and other young girls that if you put them with girls that are better than they are it won't take them long to catch up and even surpass some of them as long as they have the desire and work ethic to be better. Good luck!

 

[default]

That's pretty much what I am finding out also. It's a lot of fun to watch them progress. The hardest part is having to split up with my wife on tournaments when they both play at different locations. I guess that comes with the territory though.

 

[default]

Have an 8yr old DD who has a good skill set, but not "big" in size. I moved her up to 10U rec fastpitch this past season. Got better as the season progressed. She was hitting off the mahine like crazy but timid in the batters box. Began hitting off pitchers (probably medium speed) for rec ball and boosted her confidence. I'm probably going to try and find an 8U team so she'll be around girls her age and can move up with them.

 

[default]

Update:
Well, she tried out for one 10u travel team and had an amazing tryout, bombed the tryout for the team we wanted. Travel team "A" wants her, Travel team "B"... well, let's just say I don't blame them for looking away. Why are 8 year olds so upredictable? One day she looks good, the next she's horrible. I guess things will get better with maturity and age. For now... I think it's going to be rec-ball.

 

[default]

There are still a lot of tryouts this weekend and a lot of teams looking for players.

I might get shot for suggesting this -- have you considered attending a few tryouts just to get the hang of "trying out"? All 8 year olds have consistency issues. And you might find another team you really like in the process.

 

[default]

There are still a lot of tryouts this weekend and a lot of teams looking for players.

I might get shot for suggesting this -- have you considered attending a few tryouts just to get the hang of "trying out"? All 8 year olds have consistency issues. And you might find another team you really like in the process.

That is a good Idea. Being 8 years old she has no clue what to expect when she goes to these things. They get nervous and sometimes screw up. The more comfortable she gets with the tryout scene the more consistent she'll be.