Where are all the 10u players?

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I noticed that alot of teams are having trouble finding 10u players? Why do you think that is the case?

 

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I can tell you that one of the reasons is that several organizations have more than 3- 10U or younger teams. This is great for that organization but it takes away from other organizations having competitive teams to play against them. All this is doing is making other teams fold and allowing these organizations to only compete against themselves. Money for these organizations shouldn't be the only factor; they need to concider the kids. This may not be the organizations opinion, but it is mine.

 

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Exactly, orgs adding teams left and right and having 3 or 4 teams of the same age group. Goal for them is to push the competition out IMO.

 

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Now why would that be a goal? Our 9u and 10u teams will be comprised of many first time select level players. Our coaches attended rec league games, tournaments and recruited these kids in from the rec/all-star circuit. We also held a rec/all-star tourney several weeks ago and many of the parents and coaches had their first taste of travel ball by watching the travel teams that were playing at the same time. Many of these kids would have went right back to rec ball and instead came out for tryouts.

The fact is that for us, being located in Middletown, the VAST majority of our kids come from a 10 mile radius at that age. If a team located above Dayton or West Chester south is not getting players it is not due to an organization like us.

At 10u parents with kids in rec leagues have no idea what travel ball is, could not name a travel organization, never heard of OFC and unless the travel ball org goes out and markets to them - they are not going to show up at tryouts. We make sure to go out and place flyers in local establishments (Kroger's), rec league parks, and advertise on the local paper... like anything else, you have to go fish where the fish are, they ain't jumping into the boat...

 

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It is sometimes hard to convince the rec parents (and that is where the 10U's come from, rec leagues) to travel beyond 10 minutes or to spend that much time and money on a 9 year old. It is hard to explain unless you have experienced it that the amount of knowledge they gain is well worth it and it is a totally different game that is so much more enjoyable. They are afraid to make that committment and it is hard to convince them otherwise.

 

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Doug makes a good point, I think 10U is one of the more difficult age groups to fill up if you are not out working the rec all-star tourneys. Pitching and catching are especially tough positions and critically important if you are going to have a competitive team. With that said it seems every year another team or organization pops up which just waters down the talent pool even more. Last year I didn't fill my 11th roster spot until 3 weeks before our 1st tournament. This year I felt very lucky to have 3 quality pitchers and 2 catchers after the 1st weekend of tryouts but I am still looking for 2-3 players to round out our team.

 

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Unfortunately where I am from at least most put their little darlings in sooccer when they are 6 and most places dont even offer teeball level softball so girls would have to play with the boys. Not a big turn on. Around the 12u age they start to figure out they do not have the next Mia Hamm and start looking for something else to score a scholarship. I am being sarcastic but there is alot of truth in that.

 

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economy isn't helping either... believe that!! Numbers are up but talent is not...we have 25% increase in tryout attendees... selection process is hard!!!

 

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Unfortunately where I am from at least most put their little darlings in sooccer when they are 6 and most places dont even offer teeball level softball so girls would have to play with the boys. Not a big turn on. Around the 12u age they start to figure out they do not have the next Mia Hamm and start looking for something else to score a scholarship. I am being sarcastic but there is alot of truth in that.

You make some good points. A few of my DD's teammates started out in baseball because softball wasn't available. They claim it helped them to become better hitters at a young age. I don't know how much truth there is in that.

So the question is, are the kids (families) that wait until 12 or 13 to transition from rec to travel at a disadvantage?

 

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I can tell you that one of the reasons is that several organizations have more than 3- 10U or younger teams. This is great for that organization but it takes away from other organizations having competitive teams to play against them. All this is doing is making other teams fold and allowing these organizations to only compete against themselves. Money for these organizations shouldn't be the only factor; they need to concider the kids. This may not be the organizations opinion, but it is mine.

Look at how many 14U teams struggled to field teams the last few years. There was an opposite effect of too many orgs competing for the same talent. How is that any different than one org having several teams at 10U? In the end everyone is a winner if the players in the area are receiving quality instruction no matter what color their jersey is.

 

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s.o.ccer is exploding as well - especially select/travel .. I am sure that has had an impact.

 

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s.o.ccer is exploding as well - especially select/travel .. I am sure that has had an impact.

This is, truly, a big part of it.
My daughter will be entering the 5th grade at St. John's this year. There are probably 15 to 20 kids in her class that are either 10U or 11U eligible to play and ALL of them are skilled enough to play travel fastpitch...sadly, only three will. The remaining kids all play select sokker and most of the parents refuse to let their kids play anything else. The truly sad part is, most of the kids play on the same team and were only picked for sokker to fill out the roster and really aren't that good at it.
I'm not saying the kids shouldn't play sokker. I know my dd enjoys playing vollyball in the winter...but to totally cut off all other sports from your child, in my opinion, is a crime. Especially at this age.

 

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The Hawks should be commended for what they are doing. They are not building their 9u and 10u teams with players from around the state. They are working hard to bring local girls into select fastpitch. If other teams are having a hard time filling their 10u rosters I would say they are not working hard enough. Just posting on OFC and sitting around waiting for them to come to you isn't going to get it done. And then to say it's someone else's fault you can't get players. Please! You have to find local girls from outside the select fastpitch world. I had no idea what select fastpitch was until I saw something in a local paper that the Cincy Doom was looking for players. (years ago) Went to a practice to check it out and we have been hooked ever since. My daughter was playing slowpitch at the time. The coaches pitched and they didn't call strikes. What a torture that was.

 

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I don't understand why the Hawks feel so compelled to keep defending themselves. I don't see where they were accused.

 

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I'm not sure they are defending themselves because THEY were accused. They are for sure defending that they have more then one 10u team and against the statement made above about teams that do have more then one 10u team. Here it is to refresh your memory:

" I can tell you that one of the reasons is that several organizations have more than 3- 10U or younger teams. This is great for that organization but it takes away from other organizations having competitive teams to play against them. All this is doing is making other teams fold and allowing these organizations to only compete against themselves. Money for these organizations shouldn't be the only factor; they need to concider the kids."

That could be referring to the Hawks but only that accuser knows for sure. Shame if it was.

 

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I know Doug and his guys pretty well and we work together to make things happen many times a week at times. I'd defend myself if they called me out... not that Doug and i agree on all he does or will do but his efforts are killer! He's (and all his helpers, coaches, and families) building something at an incredible rate and "I'm sure the money is great"... the passion that most coaches have will always be "on the line" when someone calls them out or eludes to something that may be close to them. When you coaches dedicate your lives to these young DD's and your life is consumed... well... here I am chiming in. Good luck to all Ohio teams this year. Hope common ground can be sought and we can play ball here....

10u's are always hard to get in our area and unless we move our state below the Mason Dixon Line... or drop slow pitch across the board... welcome to my world of struggling to get girls year after year. Part of why we defend it is working so hard to get it and then having to start over again and then have your castle get knocked down no body wants that in their sandbox.

 

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Les and Edge00 are correct there, I don't think the post was referring to us, but we do have multiple teams at 10u and 11u so it fits us and that is why I wanted to chime in. It is not defending really, just explaining - there is nothing to defend but the fact we have some passionate coaches that want to offer our kids around the Middletown area an opportunity to reach outside of rec/all-star or slo-pitch softball.

The Static org is building a great rep as well, so many girls we tryout mention the Static or plan on trying out for them... you should see their parents faces when I tell them the the Static is a great org and they would be fortunate to play for Les, Kavin or one of the other coaches down there. It surprises them, but we always tell them that their first priority is the find a good team that they are comfortable with. We signed a very good player the other day, her older sister had an offer from the Static, I spoke highly of them and said we would love her to give our 14u a try but she would love being on Lane's team .. he parents thought I was joking... all the local org's will grow if we continue to build the SWO softball 'program' together ... we have a lot of catching up to do to compete with northern ohio and the teams down south...

 

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First, let's get something straight! NEVER was the response that was givin to the ladies ?'s on her post, reffering to ANY particular organization!!!!!!! All it was was an answer to her ?. Notice it says, In my opinion. It is my understanding that we all are allowed to have one of those. I think the Ohio Hawks are a good organization. Never once did I say otherwise. Never once was a comment made about their organization or their coaching staff or their commitement to the local girls to play select fastpitch softball. All teams have coaches that dedicate their time and efforts. Individual coaches dedicate what time they have to commit to a team to the best of their ability. That's why parents and girls have the option to pick and choose what team they play on. I also agree with the select ****** effecting turn-outs. This is a problem in all age groups, Not just 10U. The economy IS playing a factor also! I also agree that is great to keep "local" girls close. What I said was that if an organization takes all the local talent up with several team in one organization, who are they supposed to compete against locally? Expecially when there are sooooo many teams around. After all, we all have our kids play select ball to make them better with a "higher" quality of talent and coaching, instead of Rec. Is this not true? The kids and their softball futures should be the focus. Not parents and coaches bickering over things. I think we all need to remember "the kids"!!!!!

 

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I know Doug and his guys pretty well and we work together to make things happen many times a week at times. I'd defend myself if they called me out... not that Doug and i agree on all he does or will do but his efforts are killer! He's (and all his helpers, coaches, and families) building something at an incredible rate and "I'm sure the money is great"... the passion that most coaches have will always be "on the line" when someone calls them out or eludes to something that may be close to them. When you coaches dedicate your lives to these young DD's and your life is consumed... well... here I am chiming in. Good luck to all Ohio teams this year. Hope common ground can be sought and we can play ball here....

I keep seeing the words "called out", did someone get called out??? Does someone feel this is close to them? I seen something about S.O.C.C.E.R exploding well that didn't just happen. S.O.C.C.E.R has been extremely popular for more than a decade so thats not the problem.

 

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Hey Vipers10u - I never took any offense .. I know you did not direct it towards us .. the economy is hurting travel ball - I agree, that is one reason we did the pitchers scholarship to help families with that. As always, we wish you the best and look forward to seeing you guys next season....