Some fastpitch "newbie" questions

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Hi everyone,

I have been reading through the posts on the forums regarding tournaments and teams, etc. and had some very elemenatry questions I was hoping I could get answered.

First, when there is an age group (e.g. 10U U12, etc.) how do they calculate the birthday? Is it as of Jan 1st (or a different date) of the year? I know my one daughter swims competitively and the age they swim is the age they are on the date of that meet, but I can't see how softball could do that without the teams constantly losing players due to their birthdays.

Also, I never knew about fastpitch teams that were not associated with a school or city rec league, so I am surprised about all of these teams I am learning about (I shouldn't be surprised because they have this in every sport, I just had never heard of them for softball). As far as playing in college goes, is there any chance for girls who only play for a high school team and do not play for any of these "prviate" teams to go on and play softball in college? Are girls looked down upon in the sport if they do not play for these other teams?

Also, for parents who have girls playing softball on these types of teams: is this their only sport or do they play other sports throughout the year? If this is their only sport, at what age did your daughter concentrate on softball and stop playing the other sports?

For parents and coaches: do you think it is better or worse for a girls' development to play several different sports until a certain age (if so what is that age) before concentrating on a sport? Have you seen a lot of cases of burnout-- that is, a girls having concentrated on a sport too early and then no longer playing because they love the sport?

My daughter is 9 and plays fastpitch for her 4th grade team at school, swims, is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, runs track, and played on the CYO basketball team. I have been very hesitant to have her concentrate on any sport yet (to the detriment of others) but that seems to be the norm these days. I want her to be in good shape, love the sports she plays, be a well rounded athlete and have fun. However, I also want to give her every chance to be highly competitive at a sport if she loves it. Can you have both?

Sorry for such a long post- any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

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The cutoff date for the summer is January 1.

I can't say that no girls play college that only play HS ball. I do know that the travel ball system is very competitive.

 

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January 1st means whatever your child's age is then. For example, your daughter is 15 when January 1st rolls around, she would be eligible for 15U or first year 16U team (unless you would like her to play up).

A number of girls will play other sports. And that alone, would probably help with not having the burn out. That's life, you do too much of one thing, you probably would hit a burnout, no matter how much you love the sport, but normally that hits when they're older and realize there's other things to do, like dances, boyfriends, learning to drive, holding a job (obvious for money), etc.

 

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Also, for parents who have girls playing softball on these types of teams: is this their only sport or do they play other sports throughout the year? If this is their only sport, at what age did your daughter concentrate on softball and stop playing the other sports?

First off- WELCOME to the OFC!

I have a daughter who is in 6th grade (12U) and she plays travel softball, winter travel basketball (but not AAU because AAU tends to overlap with softball), and NOGLS travel $occer (oh yeah- we have to spell $occer with a dollar sign on this forum otherwise you will just see ****** ).

I have a friends who's daughters is a pitcher and she just verballed to a D1 school and this young lady currently plays multiple sports and always has. In my opinion, if the kid is getting good grades, there is no reason why they should have to "choose" one sport to concentrate on...multi-sport athletes are a good thing

 

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Thanks for the welcome and response! Your daughter must be a great athlete!

BTW, I already found out about the $occer issue on my very first post on this site (way to make a great first impression-huh?).

 

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thanks too joboo1drew and softballheart as well for the info!

 

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Also, I never knew about fastpitch teams that were not associated with a school or city rec league, so I am surprised about all of these teams I am learning about (I shouldn't be surprised because they have this in every sport, I just had never heard of them for softball). As far as playing in college goes, is there any chance for girls who only play for a high school team and do not play for any of these "prviate" teams to go on and play softball in college? Are girls looked down upon in the sport if they do not play for these other teams?


At your daughters age college should be the last thing on your mind. Her desire and talent level will change over the years. At her age just make it enjoyable and let her mature ( or at least get thru pubirty ) into the ball player she will become.

For parents and coaches: do you think it is better or worse for a girls' development to play several different sports until a certain age (if so what is that age) before concentrating on a sport? Have you seen a lot of cases of burnout-- that is, a girls having concentrated on a sport too early and then no longer playing because they love the sport?


Let her play as many as she can enjoy and handle, let her decide what sport she likes best. Again at her age its about exploration and enjoyment as much as anything else. She will decide when the time is right what sport she wants to make her priority.

Welcome to the madness that is Travel ball and OFC.


Tim

 

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Let her play as many as she can enjoy and handle, let her decide what sport she likes best. Again at her age its about exploration and enjoyment as much as anything else. She will decide when the time is right what sport she wants to make her priority.
Welcome to the madness that is Travel ball and OFC.

Tim

Very very true!

 

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I definitely want to echo Tim's thoughts that at your daughter's young age, she should play as many sports as she loves and as you can handle.

But if you sense sometime over the next three years that fastpitch is a real love of hers and that she may want to play in college, I'd recommend putting her on a travel ball team. It's hard to be recruited just from school ball, most notably because the college season overlaps entirely the high school season. Travel ball, as a rule (and there are always exceptions to the rule), has a higher level of competition than school ball, especially if she makes it onto one of the better Ohio organizations. More specifically, there are several teams in Ohio that aren't trophy hunting but are rather seeking out the best competition; unless you get into travel ball solely for the fun of it, you should seek out one of these highly competitive teams.

Burnout, whether or not she continues to play multiple sports, is always a possibility. But IMHO if you wait too long to wade into the travel ball world, you will lose many of the travel ball advantages. And as a parent, I guess that I would want to know earlier rather than later whether my daughter had the commitment that travel ball entails.

The good news is that you are asking all the right questions. The bad news is that many of us on the forum will have different answers to those questions. It's not easy finding the right balance for your particular daughter. I wish you all the luck in your quest.

 

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I agree on having them play multiple sports. My problem is that my daughter wants to play 2 at a time.

Spring - MS softball, track, travel SB
Fall - VB, Fall SB
Winter - BB (but it lasts forever...)

We are trying to get her to pick one at a time. But she always wants her SB fix while she plays the other sports. I suspect once she hits HS it will work itself out.

 

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My daughter was a 3-sport kid and wanted to add cross-country until she realized it would conflict with one of them. Now she's strictly SB and VB.

Back when she was 11 or 12 and not starting in BB we offered to get her some lessons. She wasn't interested in BB lessons but jumped at the chance for hitting lessons. That's when she figured out what her main sport really was.

You still have a few years left - suddenly a light will go on for her!

As far as burn-out goes, we take it one day at a time. I love softball so much I don't hardly dare talk about it around the house :lmao: I am sure that would cause burn-out! We were very happy to have her selected by a travel team that doesn't play every single weekend in the summer,

 

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Irish, some very good advice on this board, even from bouldersdad, but you gotta watch him as he does not like pitchers parents......

 

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Irish, some very good advice on this board, even from bouldersdad, but you gotta watch him as he does not like pitchers parents......

lol......... I like em more when they buy the beer

 

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You know that Bouldersdad stresses as much as us pitcher's dads do. He just doesn't have to do it as much. We are two sides of the same coin.

 

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You know that Bouldersdad stresses as much as us pitcher's dads do. He just doesn't have to do it as much. We are two sides of the same coin.

I've seen bouldersdad mad.....it's not pretty......:lmao:

 

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Trust this irish, there is no clearcut answer for your kid!

My DD was a 3-sport athlete her "whole life" - (15 years...haha!) She cut out "the sport not to be named" when she became a freshman, is playing basketball and really starting to hone in on softball...at the age your daughter is, she started developing some natural ability that gave her results that she enjoyed. Now, she is going to play some rec s.....r this fall but understands this is more for fun and exercise where her softball she takes very seriously.

 

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I'll answer from a different point of view...

My DD won't play anything other than softball. She is 11 (12U) and I can't get her to do anything else. granted she's short, slow, can't jump...which means she's an above average softball player. :lmao:

I do worry about burnout with all of the practices, lessons and speed/agility training...I figure it will happen at some point...so much so to the point that this fall I am forcing her to take three months off from softball to play CYO volleyball.

One of the big problems she had playing VB and travel SB two years ago is that the CYO "B" team wasn't nearly competitive enough for her and her teammate's happy go lucky attitude about winning and losing frustrated her. As she is only good enough to play other sports at a rec level I see this would be a huge problem so I didn't force her in to other sports this year....that will change next year. She is good at SB and I'd like to see her pursue it so I will do what I can to prevent the burnout.

 

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Irish196:

First of all welcome to the forum...I assure you, it will now dominate your online time...There are just WAAAAAYYY to many interesting posts to keep you entertained.

My only advice is to allow your DD (OFC slang for daughter) to choose her own way...Her desire and interests will change as she gets older. She will let you know, with her actions, which sport(s) she wants to play as she grows older. Offer her whatever support she is looking for in WHATEVER she wants to do - Regardless of what your Travel/School Ball coaches say (and I am one of those Travel coaches). For all you know, she could decide she wants to join the peace corp and change the world at 15, and that would be something to be proud of.

I do know that my DD has matured beyond her years and has grown socially by being involved in the Ohio travel softball community (4th year) - Regardless of if she decided to hang it up next year (she is only 12), she will be better prepared for whatever she decides to venture into becuase of her experiences. She plays travel $occer as well, and I can not say the same for that community (my reasoning would take up another entire post).

Regardless of what you hear, a very high majority of the coaches, former coaches, parents, TD's, umpires, and former fastpitch participants on this sight care about the Ohio Fastpitch Community, and the girls that come up through it. If your daughter chooses to stick with fastpitch and excel at the sport here in Ohio, she will have a great support group to help her regardless of if she chooses/makes it to college ball...and I think that is the most important thing of all!

Good Luck, and I hope to see you on the site for years to come!

Mike Petros
Ohio Stingrays 98

 

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The posts about how parents and kids manage multiple sports and burnout are interesting to me. This is our first year venturing into travel softball and I am still waiting to see how it affects DD's other sports. She plays $occer but only on the Jr. High team, and picked up Jr. High volleyball this year too. $occer will go way in 9th grade. Her main conflict is with golf. Last year she played in a few jr. golf tournaments which are on the weekdays. With her playing SB every weekend and then 2-3 times a week in her rec league, I'm afraid she's going to be too tired to participate in an all day golf tournament where she has to walk 18 holes and carry her own bag.
This summer will be the test to see if these sports are compatible. I don't see her every giving up SB or golf. She's been invited to join a JO volleyball team in the winter. Lots of $$$ going out the door!!

 

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The posts about how parents and kids manage multiple sports and burnout are interesting to me. This is our first year venturing into travel softball and I am still waiting to see how it affects DD's other sports. She plays $occer but only on the Jr. High team, and picked up Jr. High volleyball this year too. $occer will go way in 9th grade. Her main conflict is with golf. Last year she played in a few jr. golf tournaments which are on the weekdays. With her playing SB every weekend and then 2-3 times a week in her rec league, I'm afraid she's going to be too tired to participate in an all day golf tournament where she has to walk 18 holes and carry her own bag.
This summer will be the test to see if these sports are compatible. I don't see her every giving up SB or golf. She's been invited to join a JO volleyball team in the winter. Lots of $$$ going out the door!!

Mom let us know if you see a conflict between her golf swing and her ball swing. I have had a few kids that tried both sports and they both struggled because of the differences in the swings.

Good luck

Tim