TROUBLE AHEAD ?

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Just wondering how others are feeling about the shortage of talented 12u players for 2007 ? It seems that a lot of 12U teams are struggling to fill their rosters with travel ball experienced players who can make an impact. Does this mean that this trend of a shortage of players will move up year after year ? This may mean that lots of playing time will be the way to go in the future which may mean 10 or 11 player rosters may draw the top players to teams in hopes of lots of playing time. Just wondering if anyone else is starting to look at this possible problem also.
The Valley Storm 12U and 15U only keep 11 players now, but it may be less next year if that is what it takes to draw the better players with talented players being in short supply.
:-/

 

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Storm!!
? I think you have a fair concern. I do believe the talent is there but there are alot of NEW SELECT Teams ( like ourselves) that just started this year that took alot of talent from some here and there. But I think with all the new teams starting up that probably over half will FOLD Up and then the players that were on those teams will have to go somewhere. Then I hope to see a flood of 12u talent about the begining of spring!! But sooner or later we might only want to keep 10 DEDICATED players with TALENT. And instead of maybe 5 new select programs people (Coachs of Selcet Kids) might consider (1) club and take those 10 and keep then for along time!! But at some point Us as Head Coaches need to get together from all clubs and break the kids down and put them all on the same team instead of looking at trying and struggling to get 4 wins in the season!!!! I guess I might have went on about nothing . ?I will say that the Dayton area has alot of good talent but it is all over the place!!! I have yet to see ONE TEAM DOMINATE the season so far. But if you take 5 from here 5 there put them on the same team. DOMINATE THE WHOLE STATE!!!!! Just my thinking!!!!


MIAMI VALLEY VIPERS

 

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Its a problem at all the levels, but you don't see it till you reach the 12U and 10U teams. ?The biggest problem is that so many girls are now playing up an age level, that the older teams keep taking from the younger levels to fill there openings, and it cause a trickle down effect at the younger levels.
What is causing the younger girls to play up? ?To many teams causing a watering down of the talent pool, so younger girls are playing up to find more competition?

 

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I also think a lot has to do with getting the word out to a lot of the Miami Valley communities about the option to play travel/select. ?I know that I did not know anything about OFC until last year and exactly how BIG fastpitch was until a couple of years ago. She played on an 18U team when she was 14/15 because her JV coach had the team. Then last year, I know I Googled for days trying to find Ohio faspitch select teams, leagues, etc, and then someone told me about OFC. My daughter is now a senior in high school and started playing fastpitch in 8th grade!! ?She had always played slow pitch and finally decided to tryout for school ball... I am glad she did now, LOL, she just got an offer to play in college. ? ;D

Also, I have connections with a couple of other communities who do not have any knowledge at all about their opportunities to play fastpitch at this level at the ages of 10, 11 and 12. ?I talked to a lady at great lengths last week about this site, the select game, etc. ?She took her rec. "All-Star" team to a couple of tournaments last year and could not believe what other girls of this age could do!! ?Her team really got MUTILATED. ?They probably will not even be able to do rec. ball this year, at the 12U level, because they barely had enough girls sign up to roster 1 team. ?There are some communities that are WAY BEHIND!!!

I also know the city where I live, they teach it in rec. but IT'S HORRIBLE... ?Our kids lose interest in the whole game before the age of 10.

Hasn't it been stated that our area, the Miami Valley as a whole, and maybe Ohio, is way behind other parts of the state and United States??

These last 2 years have been very educating for me for sure.. ?I did not realize how big fastpitch softball was until my DD started playing select.

 

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The saturation of new teams and or orginizations seems to be a problem, take a disgruntled parent and boom we have a new team/orginization and new [edit][/edit]coach to accomidate there DD.

There are plenty of solid orginizations ( Buckeye Heat , Lasers, Heart Of Ohio and Classics just to name a few and in no paticular order to cover the entire state. I've seen some of the "New" teams first hand and the coaching and instruction is Rec League at best. Most the established teams have secure coaching (many non parents). If we truely want whats best for our DD's find and support a solid orginization and stick with it.

 

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Sorry for the edit

 

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Never ending problem.....wouldn't it be great if those so called solid teams were that easy to get tryouts for? Most of the team is already committed and they simply fill the holes left open...I have personally witnessed tryouts where some girls were head and shoulders above other girls and did not get a fair look because of parents knowing coaches or whatever....before judging coaches who form new teams perhaps the reason why should be asked........if girls are talented enough to play travel ball why should they be forced to play rec ball because 3 or 4 powerhouses in Ohio want their pick of the talent and the other girls get left out. Remember all the powerhouse teams mentioned started new at some point.

 

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Because of this saturation of teams you will find teams such as Laser Silver and Lil Slammers playing up at 14U most of the season to better prepare themselves for states and nationals

 

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Boldcatcher!!

I dont think I can agree with the disgruntled parent comment! I do however believe that parents get a little upset when the teams are already full like (DJPARCO) stated. Let me ask you this? What are the parents and kids supposed to do when the team is full and the kid has talent but the comments are ( tryout next year) or ( you can play but you might not play what your really good at because Sally is already playing that)???? What should they do? QUIT or What??? As far as some of those teams you stated. They are good but I have seen them beat by some of those Saturated teams!!!! Kinda tells me somthing weather its NON Parent or Parent. JMOH!!!!

VIPERS

 

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Ok here we go on the Parent-Coach bashing again! My suggestion is first and foremost find a team and organization that 1-You Trust and ?is going to further your daughter's development and 2- Let's the girls have fun .I have seen to many "Professional Coaches" as they like to say treat girls like a piece of meat and when they continous pickup girls during the season your DD gets dropped like a lead weight. There are lots of organizations our there , to many to name right now that are good solid organizations . Find the one that fits your DD needs and stay with them .I also blame the Daddy whoever year is switching teams and organizations for that "Golden Trophy" that some organizations claim to have .I also suggest talk to the High School and Colege coaches as there opinions matter very much.I found it very interesting what some are now saying about the "Burn-out" of girls at such younger ages.Remeber not every organization is a fit for your daughter! ?

 

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I do not think that there is an overall shortage of talented players. The problem is our definition of talent. This question we should all ask ourselves. Is 12-U to young to not be considered instructional? With the growing popularity of Travel Ball many kids are bypassing any level of rec-ball and entering directly into Travel Ball thus limiting the game time for many of the secondary players. I think most of all the teams have held try-outs and have not selected all the players that have attended. At 11-12 years old many DD's are miles away from their peak potential, maybe we just need to give more kids a chance. I am not trying to preach and may also be guilty of this, I just think it is food for thought.

 

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I feel there are some exellent parent/coachs' I was refering to the saturation of teams more than anything, if your DD 's didn't make one of the more established teams many are still posting for players, it's not to late. My DD chose to start with a new team and turned down many teams to play with her friends, now the team has folded due to lack of participation. Fortunetly we were able to be a late addition to a established team.

 

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I think it is something to be worried about when you see 12U teams having to play up at the High school level to find the competition (Silver for Example). ?I think organisations that start concentrating on the younger ages like 8U travel & Select will help this gap decrease. ?But the coaching will need to be so important at that level..I can't say it enough. ?I think the bigger more solid organisations need to take the rains on this one. ?So if the bigger organisation does not have the 8U they need to get it going so to assure the quality is being put out for the future of Ohio F.P. and not rely on the hope of the disgruntled dad or saturation teams for quality player's. ?Those kids when taught at the 8U level in these org. will not all stay with in that org. you can be assured there will be a rotating door and of course that organisation will benefit a little. My thoughts.

 

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Personally I do not see trouble ahead. I see more players playing now then ever before. Over here in our neck of the woods we have 40+ kids ages 7 to 10 playing fastpitch every weekend. Just have to get them started.

I do think that there is a shortage of travel ball quality 12U players around. Partly due as some mentioned previously to more teams popping up and partly due to not enough 10U programs available. Without a feeder system most programs have to rely on rec ball players or some other organizations 10U players to fill thier new found 12U team.

The upper level organizations have one thing that most teams do not. That is totally committed players and parents. That is not to say that there is not plenty of committed players and parents playing for other teams and programs but the big difference is those top teams have 12 of them. And softball is normally the only sport they play and the expectations on them is more then most families will endure. That is what most people miss. Most teams out there do a good job teaching their players and preparing them to compete. Most of these teams do very well, and yes they even defeat those top teams once in a while. Again it is not just the skill level of the player, but the commitment level as well. I realize that many on here will misunderstand what I am trying to say as if I am trying to be negative. Not the case at all, just realistic.

Back to the main point however, I do not see trouble ahead at all. I see more players getting involved and more oppertunities opening up for them. What I do expect to see is the some teams closing the gap on the top level programs (I have seen alot of this already) but the gap will become even wider between the middle to the bottom as rec ball will go by the wayside. Rec fastpitch is an oximoron IMHO.

 

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The girls at this age are not the ones making the decision. I would think that the parents are choosing the organization for their daughter. We as parents did. About not having talent, all I can say is there is a ton of talent out there. The organizations out there might not be seeing the talent because mom and dad made a choice to go elsewhere. We were approached by some of these teams you all call loaded. The schedule they keep is not for our daughter. Does that make her any less talented? I don't think so, she is looking forward to playing against those teams. It should help her developement for the future. About the future, we are looking forward to seeing her in college. The one thing I know is that her academic future is bright. As far as softball goes, who knows.

I hope that everyone can fill their rosters, giving more girls the opportunity to play travel softball.

 

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Perhaps there is also just a blip on the radar screen this year ? The 12u's last year seemed pretty strong to me. There were a lot of tournaments (the bigs) where multiple teams could have won (Laser Silver, Laser Orange, Ohio Ice, Stingrays, Slammers, Lady Irish, Gahanna Lady Lions, Chain Reaction, etc, .....

Certainly, there is the consideration of saturation of teams, or maybe an age group has fallen victim to soccer and basketball, but maybe it is just simply a coincidence in this age group?

 

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If I am not mistaken, those teams you say were full of talent in the central/Northern Ohio area. How many of those have originated from the Dayton/Miami Valley??

Kids at the ages of 10 to 12 are very coachable. The organization I spoke of early, has a tremendous amount of talent, just needs the right coaching. This organization is about the best I know around that teaches girls how to play the defensive game of softball. These girls will have tremendeous strength when it comes to their skills.

I still believe for those of us who live in the Dayton/Beavercreek/Miamisburg/West Carrollton/Stebbins areas should reach out fo some of these communities that are not up-to-date in this type and skill level of the game and find girls that have plenty of talent...Teach these kids.

Just my opinion.

JODI :

 

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? ?I believe that many of the 12U coaches (many who have now moved up) were saying the same thing last year at this time. ?I really don't believe anything different has happened, simply that 12U in particular seems to be an age where many more girls (or maybe I should say parents) become aware of the options available beyond rec. ball, thus deciding to join the ranks of travel ball. ?In response to the influx of girls at this level, or maybe interest created by the parents, more teams seem to appear. ?
? ? I also agree very much with Rich's comment about the level of commitment among the larger organizations. ?I believe it actually contributes (not necessarily in a negative way) to the diversity among travel teams. ? There are many talented players (and their families) who choose to make a serious commitment to play ball for the larger organizations, however, there are also many talented players who choose to go with smaller organizations, or with what we now affectionately call "community travel teams". ?I believe they make this decision based the desire to play at a higher level, but not to the same extent. ?The larger established organizations easily play 10-12 tournaments a year traveling all over and attending nationals/worlds, where many smaller teams play 6-8 tournaments. ?The players for the larger organizations are mostly focused on softball, while smaller teams work around basketball and J.O. volleyball. ?Those girls willing to commit to the larger organizations have families who are willing to travel hours to practice and pay for hitting, pitching, and/or fitness instructors. I suspect the overall cost to smaller travel team families is far less than that of its larger counter part. ?Again, this is not a negative, simply a reality and well throughout choice. ?Varied levels of commitment in regards to money, time, and travel, result in the creation of other options, thus a variety of travel teams to meet the varied needs.
? ? IMHO the more girls playing softball at a higher level the better for fast pitch in Ohio as a whole! ?
? ?

 

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I brought this up back in August and think there is a problem.

I don't see a shortage of players. The Valley Storm had over 40 players tryout for the 12U Team. We are still looking for a Starting Catcher. Plenty of players showed up though.

shortage of 12u players?
http://www.game-ex.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1156768929/0

 

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Maybe they should have worded it as "talented players." They had plenty try out but who said there was plenty of talent in the 40 that attended.