feeder progams

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Need some advise, we live in a fairly big city ,with in a hour or less of many travel orgs.but we have a local team directly linked to the high school my dd will attend.will I be hurting her in the long run if we choose for her to play for a bigger team with a way more competitive schedule than playing for the local team?

 

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Politics are always present. Play for the best team possible regardless of location.

 

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If she is good enough, and the family can afford the cost, she is much better off on a well known team with a competitive schedule JMO

 

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Many times it depends on if the goal is to play HS softball or College softball.

 

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College is what she wants and had we want that for her but she is only 12.
What do college coaches think of girls who play for great travel orgs. But sit in school ball? Not saying this is how it will go but it has been said that are high school coach thinks the big orgs do nothing for his program.

 

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Sad to say, but there are still many HS coaches that believe that if you don't play for their preferred program you are snubbing them. That having been said, at 12 you want to find the program that will best develop her skills and understanding of the game. As for college coaches, while they will consider the HS season, most of what they get to see and compare against is the summer travel season.

 

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Is Middle School/JR. High ball an option? Around here, most travel teams break for school ball. DD plays for her middle school team during that season. Thought being, that way she could play for a competitive travel ball team and still stay "in the loop" for HS ball if she wants?

 

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We do and she will play and she excited to wear here school uniform.
It s nothing against the program or the girls that play on the team,its just that I don't think some of them take ball as serious as my dd. With a bigger org there might be a whole lot less "sally took my boyfriend"

 

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I have coached a feeder program for one of the most competitive high school programs in the state for the past three years. After our first year at 14U this year we are folding. Were folding for lots of reasons but foremost because we want the girls competing at a higher level, something we simply cant do as a feeder program. To get better you have to play better competition. The high school coach agrees 100%. two of my girls should be good enough to play college ball. They need to be playing at lasers, stingrays, etc. They dont need to be playing at joes annual bbq and hot wing fastpitch challenge. Its a complete diservice to them.

 

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Did the high school coach run the travel program?

 

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No, im empowered to do that with his oversight.

 

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College is what she wants and had we want that for her but she is only 12.
What do college coaches think of girls who play for great travel orgs. But sit in school ball? Not saying this is how it will go but it has been said that are high school coach thinks the big orgs do nothing for his program.

I have NEVER had a college coach ask me one thing about a players HS Softball career. I know kids put HS stats on their profiles, but in reality the true test is the players travel experience.

 

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A friend of mines daughter is open enrolling in a school district that has a very strong softball program and this school historically has put out division 1 talent. That is one of the reasons they chose to open enroll. However, since filling out the application, she has heard from numerous parents that her kid is expected to play travel ball for the feeder program. In fact, the high school plans on coaching one of the teams and assisting with the practices for the other age groups and her daughter already plays on a good travel team. The coach has reminded her of "other kids" already at the school that also plays her daughters position. They are really in a bind because she is afraid her kid will not get any playing time in HS if she doesnt play for the feeder program. This coach is a very very good coach and is well connected to the area colleges and other parents have told her that she better tread lightly because there is no complaining to the AD or school board because others have tried and it does no good. she wouldn't mind playing for the feeder program because the high school coach is such a good coach but she is concerned that the team will not be a strong team and she knows that they will only play in a handful of local tournaments otherwise she would be willing to make the switch.

 

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The top hs programs cannot compete with the top travel programs. High schools draw from a five mile radius. Travel can draw from a 120 mile radius. That alone makes the two apples and oranges. The hs coach is nuts if hr wants to hold girls back by having them play feeder ball.

 

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Need some advise, we live in a fairly big city ,with in a hour or less of many travel orgs.but we have a local team directly linked to the high school my dd will attend.will I be hurting her in the long run if we choose for her to play for a bigger team with a way more competitive schedule than playing for the local team?

It all depends on the attitudes of the high school program. Some will be biased each way. The thought of "If she is good enough she will play..." isn't always true. Maybe if she is the super-stud of the state but I have personally witnessed very good travel players sit the bench because the coach is known to not play kids that choose to go outside the program. On the other side a coach in the Dayton-Cinci area is well known for not playing anybody but travel ball players on his team.

So.... you won't know unless you or someone reliable has personal experience with the program.

 

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This is a tough one. There actually are a few very good "feeder programs", such as the Tidalwaves, who are well coached and play competitive schedules. Of course, they have girls from other schools as well. With that being said, that is not usually the case and can present a dilemma to a family. I do think that in most cases that if your DD is a strong player who plays for a very strong travel team, that she will find her way on to the high school team because, let's face it, high school coaches want to win. I would just recommend being extra careful as to what you or your DD said about the feeder program and why she's not playing there, so no one has a reason to feel a grudge later on. I definitely agree with others that she could play on the most competitive team with the best coaching that she can find.

 

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Wow the tidalwaves??
That 18u team was real good they made a name why would they fold???