shortage of 12u players?

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This forum is great. So many opinions out there. We got lucky-a girl decided to give up a spot and the coaches were looking for someone to fill in for the fall season. We responded and she in turn played fall ball for them the last few weeks. She showed them she is willing to work hard and she earned a spot playing for them for the 2007 season. She had attended 3 of their tryouts and was not called. But she got the opportunity to show them she can play and be taught to compete. She is not playing her position of choice but it doesn't matter to her-she is just excited to be playing at all. She is going to get some instruction for her position this winter so maybe by summer she can play it back up or in more of a reality next year she can play. I don't know but I am pretty sure that it is not a shortage of girls though. In our area not too many teams either-there are only a few that I know of. Good luck to all the coaches still looking though!

 

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Thanks Johnnies and theMaybears for the eyes. They are very cool. And, I respect both of you.

I understand the comments. Saw them happening while I was at work but due to my company's restrictions, I could not comment. I could only watch the post.

I do not hold hard feelings. I respect everyone's comments.

All I was trying to point out was looking at prospects. Getting potential players ready to be looked at. Yes I agree there are diamonds in the ruff In this age group.

Every year, I get to look at close to 40 prospects sometimes more. The ones who stand out are the ones working hard at their game. Sometimes it's with mom and dad and other times it's with a private instructor or they take lessons somewhere. The group doing this is not filling my roster simply the core. It usually leaves me with a 50/50 mix. I then begin to look outside for players I can work with in a short amount of time catching them up to the rest of them team. Yes I do make mistakes that require adjustments.

bottom line, this is a very difficult age group because most players who are excelling are just coming out to the travel level and not really sure how to market their abilities. How to catch a coaches eye. I admit, sometimes I catch it and other times I am way off. Goes with the age group.

Thank you

Jeff Klopfer
Ohio Classics 12U (Purple)

 

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I know this is off topic, but how do these girls catch the coaches eye?

 

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SAD. CAMPS. You would be surprised at how many coach's attend college and other camps looking for and scouting for girls. My 12 DD has been asked to pitch for 4 teams. When she was 10 , we were told she didn't make the team, now they are asking her back. She is now playing for a new team that had no problems getting kids. The old team is on this web site asking for players. That should tell the organization they have a problem. 4 other girls followed her from the other organization. She has worked with a pitching coach for the last two years and this explains why you shouldn't give up on young kids. They mature and now she is 5' 5 and throws at 53 mph.

 

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Seems there were alot of young ladies at try-outs but I think coaches are looking for high quality players, not developmental ones. They also are looking for athletes that can run and throw. The programs from around my area seem to be trimming away from having developmental teams, or multiple teams in one age bracket. There are plenty of oppertunities at all levels for young ladies out there.

 

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There simply are not as many developed athletes in the 2007 12U age pool as there was in the 2006 12U age pool (the 13U players in 2007).
It's a cyclical thing. The beauty of all of this is the bigger, stronger kids with the higher sexual maturity index who star because of their size/strength at 12U magically stop growing very soon and must depend on developed skills that were never needed in the past.
On another point in this thread, softball most definitely a financially-discriminatory sport. Money does play a key factor in development of skills in terms of hiring top-line instructors and travelling for instruction and development. That's life.

 

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sbfamily,

You say camps is how our dd's can catch coaches eye. Camps as in pitching, hitting, fielding etc.. Camps? offered by colleges and such? Is that better than having them privately coached? My 11year old dd has been privately instructed in pitching and hitting for years. I haven't really went to any camps because their were multiple girls and her training is one on one. Which is best?

 

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I took my dd to a lot of 12u tryouts and she did not make any of those teams. But later during private tryouts she made 3. One we committed to that disbanded. Then 2 more private and she made both. We picked from that. I hope that all the teams out there find the players they are looking for in this age bracket. They are out there, so I'm sure you'll be seeing them at private tryouts. Good luck to all teams this year!

 

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SAD. We do both. Private pitching. I have coached at the high shool and many years at the traveling team level. You will be surprised how much you learn along with the DD. There ae some very good college camps that have defense, hitting , pitching. Bill Hillhouse is very good on pitching camps. Expensive, not really. I see the same coachs at these camps. They are recruiting. I have known some of these guys/gals for years . The rest of the teams wonder why the select teams keep getting the good players. These guys work at it and are passing out cards at the college camps getting kids to come and try out. That is what it takes to have a successful program. I see other programs running kids off and they constantly need fresh blood to survive. It takes a good organization, good coaching, and the right mix of kids/parents to make a good team. Go to the college web site and look at the camps. I agree with you about the private work outs. I had a coach call us that my DD didn't make the team. He was not present when she did her pitching. Yet her friend made the team and turned them down, after she found out that my DD wasn't playing for them. Some of the programs don't have the help to look at 30 kids at tryouts., when they are trying to multi-task.

 

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Catcher, you are right, it is for the girls. How do folks think these girls are going to play softball with out finances having a huge bearing on things? The reality is that it COST money to operate a team. LOTS of money. For a first year team especially! We have to buy all the equipment, pay for indoor training facilites, new uniforms, each tourney is at least $300.00. And most parents expect the team to do Fall and winter leagues above and beyond the Summer tourneys. If you say finances wouldnt come into the equation if it were all about the girls, just where do you think a team would go without finances? Even rec ball is $60.00 or more a child for 12 games.

 

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Whitehall

Rec in our area is $65.00 PLUS a mandatory $50.00 fundraiser. You pay the 50 up front then try and sell the fundraiser to re coop your money. Expensive for what your competition is in rec leagues.

 

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I agree that the money involved can be tough for alot of families. I have taken the perspective on how hard my dd works. I have told her that if she works hard enough on her own I would get her pitching lessons. She started pitching when she was 8 and I took her to some pitching lessons, she did not show the dedication so we cancelled the lessons. Then she saw that and started to work very hard and we moved and she started new pitching lessons.

My point of view is that if it is something she really wants to do, then I will do the best I can to help her. If she loved to play piano, I would pay for piano lessons. I have put her in volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, and a list of other activities and she just wanted to be great at softball, so as a parent I tried to provide everything I could to help her achieve that goal.

I know that we have sacrificed some things for her to be better, but most of the sacrifices have come from her ie. working hard every single day instead of playing video games or watching t.v. I just want my dd to be the best she can at what she loves to do. Finances are a struggle sometimes, but in the end the payback is better than the struggles.

 

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catcher, I understand where you are coming from but you must understand the situation that every single athlete that plays travel ball should know. That is that somewhere somebody else is working hard because they want a spot. If a player or family decides that enough is enough, or that they want to play but not work as hard as the next player, then they should at least realize that others are already hard at work to earn the spot. The same is true for any high level sport such as JO volleyball, AAU basketball etc.

We never dictate to the parent or player what they must do. Fourtunately we had been able to find players who for the most part are self motivated. If there are 3 pitchers on a team then who wants to be number one? Thats the question I ask of each player at each position. Wanting it is not enough....earning it will define real success.

I have come to find that travel ball is not for everyone. Over the years we have seen some really nice kids get passed by others who simply out worked them. If the goal of your organization or team is to just play ball then expect drama to exist because there is no way to avoid it. If the goal is to produce players who really know how to compete not only on the field, but with themselves as well. Then both the parents and the players will have a better understanding about what it will take to make the grade.

I think that this problem will never go away because way too many teams are made up of players and parents with different agendas. Most teams have 3 or 4 families that will eat drink and breath softball 24/7 365. Then there are 3 or 4 who really like to play and take the sport serious, but they also have other sports interests that occupy some of their time. Then there are alwys 2 or 3 who like to play the game when it is in season, but put a minimum amount of effort into the training and oppertunity to get better.

Obviously the families on the lower end of that spectrum will always feel as if they are getting less out of the experience. They perhaps do not see the enormous amount of effort that others are putting into the game and this leads to issues.

Back to what I feel has become the point of this thread, I guess not all players are really cut out to be true travel ball players. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, but it becaosme a bad thing when thier expectations are the same as the players who make softball thier number one priority.

 

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the problem of $$$ is not just limited to U12 and just gets more expensive as they get older. This part of this post could take on a thread all of its own.
Softball isn't much more than soccer, to play on a premier team for soccer your talking any where from $300-$1500 getting more expensive each age group and you don't go to near as many tournaments. Alot of that is the training and everything else. AAU basketball is getting expensive too (and yes there are even basketball trainers) i have one dd who does basketbal and soccer while my other DD plays fastpitch all year.

Most of the camps are during the off season and my dd only takes pitching lessons during off season. During school ball and summer ball she's pitching so much she doesn't have the time and her coach's help out more and let her know what she needs to work on.

Fact is to compete it takes $$ which i think is getting away from the original poster's point.

 

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It is sad when there are a lot of girls, my dd included, who would love to play, learn and develop. ?She is not afraid of the ball and is in no danger playing any position, she just needs coached! ?There are plenty to fill rosters, coaches just don't want them.

I took this from the post you just mentioned. ?

I think this is REALLY sad. ?As a coach, what he is saying is exactly MY JOB. ?It is pretty pathetic when someone calls themself a coach but doesn't want any part of taking the time take the time to teach a child who has a desire to learn and play the game. ?People like this should reevaluate their reason for being here in the first place.

 

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I was looking at this last week. 22 Teams needed players in the last two weeks. I have talked to some teams that added any girl they could find so they could play earlier tournaments . I was at a clinic and most of the parents stated that they were not trying out for teams that played more than 6 tournaments. At this age level you find that two a week pratice and games don't fly, but to a few. My DD plays rec and traveling like most kids and 5 days a week all summer is pushing it. ..

 

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As mentioned earlier in this thread it is difficult to get to a lot of tryouts since many teams have them on the same day. As a parent it is good to scout teams that are in the age level your dd will play in. to determine which team she might be a good fit with. I usually watch the players, the coaches, the parents on team that my dd might try out for and if we like what we see make sure we make that teams tryouts. Never put your eggs in one basket though, go to several tryouts to make sure you find a spot. There is a team for every player out there, sometimes it is just hard to find it.

 

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My vote: Too many teams.

 

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What fortunes some of you must have to have so many to show for tryouts. ?Must just be Northeast Ohio that I think has a shortage. ?And yes I do think there is a shortage, ?I have been to several tryouts and there were not many trying out. ?Our team is a very good team with a good organization and caring coaches but still cant seem to get girls to show.

In our area I know that 12u teams are still looking. ?Not just for the stud but for any willing girl who is coachable. ?I think Northeast Ohio has a long way to go to build competitive teams. We may have a couple but it seems most of the very good teams are definately south of Cleveland.

 

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I pay big money for my dd to have private pitching and hitting coaches. She is now on a travel team which also cost alot of money and she will play rec this summer as well. This is not chump change to me. I feel I am investing in her future. However, I truly believe that the coaching of these girls is the key. If a girl has drive, and a love of the game, and has a positive attitude, then give her a shot. My experience with travel ball tryouts was definately not positive. > I am glad it's over. ;D Most likely if the team she is on now still wants her we're staying!! :