There has been a drop in softball participation nationwide by approximately 2 million players from 2006 through 2019 from the ages of 6 years old through 23 years old. Although the statistics weren't broken down, I can make some educated guesses. The biggest drop in numbers we would find between the ages of 6-8 year olds, HS age players and college players. 6-8 year olds would be due to rec leagues folding. HS school and college players are pretty self-explanatory. Many HS players that only played rec can't really compete against seasoned TB players for playing time. Likewise, the college players that used to be studs and starters on their TB teams find themselves riding the pine until the coach thinks that they've caught up enough to actually help the team and those players don't know how to handle that. The real problem are the 6-8 YOs. This is the time when the kids fall in love with the game. The demise of rec clubs aren't giving the opportunities to this age group that we used to have in past years while other sports are and many are falling in love with them instead. I know some communities have stronger rec programs than ever but I would venture to guess that for every rec program thriving, it's due to a neighboring rec program faltering or disbanded completely; possibly more than one. Rec ball in my area has remained steady at the younger ages with a major decrease in numbers at the older ages. Many programs that used to have teams through 18U are now struggling to field teams at the 14U level and 16U/18U teams aren't even available. If they are, often times you'll find 12U #3/4 TB pitchers pitching at the 16U level and 14U #3/4 TB pitchers pitching at the 18U level with most of them doing a very credible job against those players...at least in my area.
I agree with Hitter23 and yourself. Really explains things for my area as well. yocoach shares stats that I was aware of and agree with.
A couple points of interest are in the posts being shared. The numbers actually participating in fastpitch, especially from 12u onward, in my opinion are in jeopardy. Many reasons exist but I believe a large contingent are going to other sports they believe are "easier" to play.
Every sport has its elements that can make the sport unattractive. It's up to us to keep the players "interested" in the game in order to promote the sport. Bottom line; they need to enjoy playing the game and be accepting of the challenges. Leadership took travel ball to where it is now. You take that same leadership and put its energy into development at the Rec ball level and Rec would thrive. I'm not referring to the level of competition (which Rec would benefit) but basic instruction of fundamentals would improve. Only the game in general would benefit from the efforts.
Volunteers are a rare breed. You take those same individuals out of the community programs and what is left? Understaffed volunteers with little knowledge of the game trying to do anything they can to offer instruction and participation to kids that just can't be a part of anything else. A very valid point was made about a stud athlete that's behind in the learning curve that with the proper instruction and guidance could have coaches drooling over her in a few years. There are a lot of those players out there. They need------they deserve better. We can't save them all but thru sports participation at a level they can be a part of, they may experience a success that could be a positive spark. The game can create a confidence and self-esteem to motivate them into a happier place in life. Society in general will benefit from it.
Basic instruction of the volunteers that are trying to keep Rec ball alive will boost the sport and break the downward participation trend of the game. If the volunteers knew more about the game, if the parents understood the game, the level of interest should grow. It all comes from the leadership. We need to be more understanding. We need to practice better people and communication skills. We need to be more hands on to volunteer at a ground-roots level.
I realize my comments can be very "thick" because I'm trying to make the point that there's more to the game than competition, wins, and losses. Let's quit driving the game off the end of our noses. Let's look down the road and see what's coming if we don't change our immediate mindset.
