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Is Fastpitch softball going in reverse?
why is rec girls softball losing the girls ? Will travel Ball be next ?
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More and more kids seem to be playing travel ball exclusively. Where we live, they really don't allow travel players to play in the Rec. league. They want to keep the level of play down rather than build it up.
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I think that it's more a case of girls leaving rec to play TB. I don't think fastpitch, as a whole, is losing girls. I think it's more rec ball is losing them to a higher level of play.
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I want to agree, but I get to thinking that in our rec ball league the 8u and teeball is down too. The older leagues are down, but I think it is in fact because of travel.
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Seems to have been an explosion in travel teams the last few years. I'd say sport is growing and getting to a better level of play.
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Well, I know around here, some families are getting their kids involved with TB at 7-8 years of age and never playing a day of rec ball. I wonder if that's the case?
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def. girls leaving rec ball and going to travel ball. Where I am it is absolutely brutal sitting through a 10u rec ball game.. Walk after walk after walk after walk.... UGH!!
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Just went to 8u game because my daughter was umpiring. Gave me back great memories and I truly enjoyed kids having fun and families cheering for their DD. Lots of kids having fun in coach pitch couldn't care less kids couldn't hit or field, just enjoyed watching.
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I think this is mostly true. An accurate count of the youngest age of rec would have to be looked at to see if the entry numbers are down, up or the same.
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You just have to look at all the new teams existing at the travel level. Most of these teams are started by a daddy with 5-6 players and when they dont get enough at tryouts, end up taking players that otherwise would be playing rec.
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Agreed. Usually an All-Star team, etc.
How many conversations started like "You know, wouldn't it be nice if these players could stay together and...."
How many conversations started like "You know, wouldn't it be nice if these players could stay together and...."
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Rec is diluted and travel is diluted for opposite reasons...IMO, no its just changing. There is more intermediate skilled teams/players. This is what I have noticed at 10u,12u & 14u. I think if you were to take all of the advanced player from the intermediate teams there might be more advanced teams than before, but there are more teams options to play locally. Of course assuming your talking about talent/skill?
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omg - watched a 10u wreck game the other day and 12u a week ago and it was horrible to say the least........ weak pitching, hitting, no bunting, no leadoffs, stealing, passed balls all over, no rotation on D, balls thrown all over the place, nobody backing eachother up, parents yelling at thier kids acting like they know how to coach, and coaches standing there with their arms folded...... would you play rec still? nuff said.......
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There is/was a team in the town that I live in that the rec all-star team was beating all the other locals, so they thought they were "the poo" and decided to go travel. They played a friendly with a local 11u travel team and with one of the currently top ranked 11u travel teams. Needless to say, they got served their lunch. When I talked to their coach in the fall, he told me that these girls play volleyball and basketball together and they would like to keep them playing softball together. Well, after their failed friendly, I don't think they ever played together again and this year in LL, the girls are all spread out with a couple of them playing in the next town over. I would love to know why they didn't "stay together.
Rec ball is alive and well and "king" in Ashtabula County. Travel players who live here are much fewer than in other areas around here.
Rec ball is alive and well and "king" in Ashtabula County. Travel players who live here are much fewer than in other areas around here.
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Since rec/youth league has been the farm system so to speak for Girls Faspitch Softball
Travel Teams.
Won't Girls Softball Suffer at all levels sooner or later ?
Travel Teams.
Won't Girls Softball Suffer at all levels sooner or later ?
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Starting travel at 8-9 years old can only help softball in the long term. My dd played Rec. first and after 10U, it was not worth the time because travel ball was where she improved as a player.
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I don't think so. At least not in our lifetime. There will always be more girls being born...lol. Truthfully, a large number of softball parents don't even know travel ball exists. Or if they do, they don't really know much about it.
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My 10U daughter has never played rec, started her in travel at age 8. I didnt want her to think softball was getting walked 5 times a game and moving base to base on walks, cause of bad pitching.
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Some players/parents don't want to play travel, nor do their skills lead to it. Some just want an activity and like it enough. Rec could keep many kids in rec by having layers to their program but that is difficult to manage and leads to parents getting worked up on why their player didn't make the higher layer, etc.
I think there is a healthy aspect of the more skilled players leaving rec as players then get more time in positions that they may not have been in before. The downside is that is can become a walk-fest, no action, no players to learn from (which is huge) and so on. No one answer to this.
I think there is a healthy aspect of the more skilled players leaving rec as players then get more time in positions that they may not have been in before. The downside is that is can become a walk-fest, no action, no players to learn from (which is huge) and so on. No one answer to this.
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