My lil girl is sad that softball is over for thr year.

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So its been a whole 1 day and my lil girl is so sad that her softball season is over. She is 9 and just finishes her first year of 10-u rec ball and is hooked. It is her 4th year in the sport. She is an average player but wants to get better. My question is how do I get her into travel ball? Is it too late to get her back on the field yet? We are in the Akron area if that matters. Thank you for your help and advice.

 

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I think there is a coach that is in Ellet that has some idea about Travel. Look at your coaches list and give them a call.

 

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Watch for 2011 team tryouts in your area. I'm sure there will be several. Not that that helps you for the remainder of the summer of 2010....

Occasionally a local team will need a player for a tournament - you could keep your eyes peeled for those opportunities as well.

 

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Team try outs will start in August. You can keep an eye on teams needing players as well. I'm sure if you contact some teams in your area that at 10u they may let you play in a tourney with them this year to see how she does.

 

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Start a thread for her in the players looking for teams section. You never know, she may get picked up for a few tournaments and it will give you and your daughter a taste of what travel ball is like. My best advice would be once you find a team, turn her over to the coach, sit in your chair, cheer for the WHOLE team, and leave the coaching to the coaches. The game is much more enjoyable as a fan, believe me!! Let your daughter learn to be a good player and teammate and let her earn her place on the team on her own. I always just stood in the background with my chair and cooler in hand and my wallet open, that is all the involvement my older dd wanted out of me.

 

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This is the perfect situation to find out what travel ball is all about. Try to find a team and play in one tourney or finish out the season. You will get a taste of what is involved in playing travel ball without making the commitment to a full season. I found a team for my dd's several years ago and finished out the last month with them. Turned out to be a great thing and they have been playing travel ball ever since. Good Luck and enjoy the crazy ride that is travel ball.

 

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Start a thread for her in the players looking for teams section. You never know, she may get picked up for a few tournaments and it will give you and your daughter a taste of what travel ball is like. My best advice would be once you find a team, turn her over to the coach, sit in your chair, cheer for the WHOLE team, and leave the coaching to the coaches. The game is much more enjoyable as a fan, believe me!! Let your daughter learn to be a good player and teammate and let her earn her place on the team on her own. I always just stood in the background with my chair and cooler in hand and my wallet open, that is all the involvement my older dd wanted out of me.

No truer words were ever spoken:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

Julie is that wallet still open

 

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I try to close it every weekend, but I'm no match for 6 grabbing hands!! I'm lucky to walk away with my hand still intact.

 

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I heard that, tournament shirt should be BANNED

 

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Start a thread for her in the players looking for teams section. You never know, she may get picked up for a few tournaments and it will give you and your daughter a taste of what travel ball is like.

Make no mistake about it, travel ball is a different animal than Rec. I agree with Klump - if you can get a taste of it now, you'll be better for it in the long run. If she's really in to softball, she'll definitely become a better player and she'll have fun in travel - but, that said, there's a different commitment level required.

My best advice would be once you find a team, turn her over to the coach, sit in your chair, cheer for the WHOLE team, and leave the coaching to the coaches. The game is much more enjoyable as a fan, believe me!! Let your daughter learn to be a good player and teammate and let her earn her place on the team on her own. I always just stood in the background with my chair and cooler in hand and my wallet open, that is all the involvement my older dd wanted out of me.

Coaches coach, players play, and parents cheer! Follow those simple rules and everyone is happier for it.

EDIT: Removed link.. was 12U not 10U. Sorry.

 

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Similiar situation that I was in last year. Luckily for me my DD was selected to an all-star team (10U) at the end of her parks and rec career when she was 8 for the Wooster classic last year. She played against some of the better travel ball teams and although they got run ruled every game after the tournament she told me that she wanted to be as good as those girls on the travel teams.

Take her to a tournament and let her see how good some of these girls at 9 and 10 are and then sit her down and explain to her that it is a YEAR long committment and that in the summer time she won't have weekends to spend overnight with her friends, she might miss family events due to traveling, etc. Make sure the committment is there from her, if it is then go to as many tryouts as possible in August to find the right team.

That is what we did and we found a great organization and my DD loves it, I won't promote the organization but it is close to the Akron area. We practice/play 6 out of the 7 days a week and on her "off" day she asks me all day if we can go outside and throw!

 

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Thank you very much for all the great advice. I took it all and was able to find a GREAT team. After watching her play around on the field the new coach asked me to come out the next day so he could work with her one on one. WOW She has only had rec experience and had alot of bad habits. I was unaware of this because I have never played the sport. He took the time to show her AND I how to correct them. I cant thank him enough. The girls and coaches made her feal very much at home and we couldnt be happier.
I understand now that travel ball is a diffrent animal. The good thing is that he promised to work with her and bring her along to get better. She had a tough time with the one on one time. Its a little hard to be told that everything you are doing is wrong she got frustrated and I could see the saddness in her eyes. The good thing was that he delt with her very well and built her back up so it would still be a positive experience. An hour after pratice I over heard her talking to my wife(stepmom) that it was the toughest time she ever had on the field but was so excited to go back because she could allready see improvement in her play. Now I cant wait to just sit back and enjoy the game knowing my little girl is in good hands.