Have to agree that every age group has its own set of challenges. What follows started as a brief one-line comment, but has ended up being my observations to date:
For me, first year 12Us (11U) are the toughest as a coach. Not so much the kids, but because for many parents this is the first time that little Suzy is on a team where she isn't the "star", and the object isn't just to make sure everyone gets to play. Many times this is also the first time any of the team have met, or maybe you have groups of 2-3 that know each other, but in general the group really hasn't bonded. It's also a time where one year of difference can make a huge difference in the athletic ability, so you have a team (and parents) who are new to travel, and if they're playing a lot of older 12U teams you have a big difference in ability and the wins aren't easy. Throw in a parent or two that has "coached" rec ball and think they know more than the coach because they didn't have this trouble when they coached and aren't afraid to voice their opinion when the coach is on the field (but seldom to the coach), and you have the makings of a very long summer.
Second year 12s are generally a little better. Couple of reasons for this I believe:
- [1]Most of the team (and parents) know each other.
[2]They are the older group of the age bracket and will normally be winning more than they lose.
[3]The malcontents from year 1, have left and been replaced - sometimes with a different set of problems, but even if you replace them with 50% problems you're ahead of the curve from the prior year.
First year 14s. Again you're on the young end of the age group, so all other things being even, you can figure on working for your wins. Parents and kids generally have a couple of years travel experience by this point and so generally have found how to cope with the rigors of playing a tournament every weekend. Still some conflict here though as the girls are maturing at different rates and kids that didn't have to work at being superior suddenly find themselves struggling to keep up >>> parents will start being a little anxious about this point. About 20%-25% of the girls will stop playing travel around this time as other interests kick in and the effort required to remain competitive increases.
Second year 14s. You're still teaching technique, but also starting to stress the mental part of the game - some will get it and some, well.... Still a gap in physical development, but it's closer. Many times this is where you'll see two teams get combined, so you can have some issues there. You'll again see some girls decide to pursue other interests after this season. This is also the time parents start stressing out about what D-I college Suzy will getting a full ride from, and that you as a coach are hurting her chances if she doesn't get 110% of the playing time and recognition. So as a coach, you can expect some "input" from parents. I've seen a lot of teams dissolve after the season at this age.
First year 16s. Cars, jobs, boyfriends... lots of distractions, but most of the girls who were playing for everyone but themselves are gone (still some around, but they're fewer). Anxiety about colleges continues to build. As a coach you're starting to do more tweaking of techniques instead of teaching new ones. Knowledge of the game becomes more critical at this point, and the girls need to be thinking for themselves instead of relying on the coach to make all of the decisions. Pitchers have learned that the fastball isn't the only pitch by this point, and are more in control of a variety of pitches; thus hitting becomes harder and in addition to pitching coaches you now have hitting instructors helping your girls - I've learned never to disagree with what a paid instructor has told the girl/parents, no matter how much I may not agree. The scheduling of showcases and larger tournaments now becomes more of a priority, and makes winning consistently more of a challenge.
Second year 16s. The distractions build, and this is the time that the incoming seniors are really trying and need to be seen by colleges. Also a time where the coach has to start balancing out winning and playing time versus making sure that girls are playing when a college coach is there to see them. Repetition, strengthening fundamentals, and increasing game knowledge are key. Start seeing less of the parents as the girls are driving themselves to practice.
First year 18s. Life is very complicated as half the team has graduated and is either committed to a college or not planning on playing in college, while the other half still wants to be seen and find a college to play for. The challenge as a coach is juggling the need to get half the team ready for their college positions (which may or may not be what you recruited them for), and getting the other half exposure in their preferred positions.
Second 18s. As a general rule you have a mix of players finishing their freshman year of college and graduating seniors, but mainly graduating seniors as the girls who decided not to play in college, don't tend to play in the summer, and some that do play college ball decide to take some time off. Also tend to have a few new faces on the team to replace those that have left, thus the team chemistry is somewhat different. Not as much teaching going on, more repetition and getting the graduating seniors ready to play in college.
