why is rec girls softball losing the girls ? Will travel Ball be next ?

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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 ?

No. I think it is what has held travel back. If you start in rec you are not getting the level of instruction or practice time you do with travel. Kids going right into travel with better instruction, more practice times and a more serious commitment will keep travel ball improving as it has. Starting in rec gives them a late start.

 

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We enjoyed our time in rec and the program was ran very well and I'm thankful for what they did. Not all programs are like that.

 

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I am currently head coach of a local 10u O.G.S.O. rec team and assistant on a 10u travel team. My daughter plays and pitches on both.

My perspective is that there is room for both (atleast at the younger ages), but parents and organizations need to understand when players are ready to play travel or not. We have had several players on our travel team, or try out, that would not start on our rec team and only "2" players on the rec team I would put into travel. We should take care to not "dilute" travel, but also not limit kid's from playing with their friends and represent their hometowns if they can.

However, I absultely love both environments for different reasons. Travel is all about the competetion level, attention to detail, etc. Rec is more of a hometown feel and the buzz generated within your community by a good rec team winning a championship will never happen in travel ball. We can win every travel tourney we have and It does not compare with the feeling of bringing home a state title in rec.....IMHO.

Our travel team has won "2" tourneys and runner ups in one and played some elite teams well. Been an absolute joy coaching these fun and driven young ladies. Our rec team is one of the better this year and should atleast contend for a state title and the local excitment is awsome. Call me a homer, but winning the title would beat any travel tourney we could ever win.

That being said, we will be leaving rec after this year to concentrate on travel ball due to the time constraints. I'll trully miss the rec girls enthusiasm for the game, it's just as high as my travel girls, even if they do not have the same skill level.

"We have Softball....let them have everything else."

Thx.

 

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I am one of the "DADDYS" that turned our rec slow pitch allstars into a travel fastpitch team. we have prob 5-6 kids that would get picked up on most travel teams. What should I have done stay rec or learn and grow taking our licks in travel?

 

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I am one of the "DADDYS" that turned our rec slow pitch allstars into a travel fastpitch team. we have prob 5-6 kids that would get picked up on most travel teams. What should I have done stay rec or learn and grow taking our licks in travel?

I think learning and growing while taking your licks is more fun as long as everyone can do the commitment thing. For some families rec is about all they can handle no matter how good the kid is. Whatever works.

 

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also in our town there is no rec fastpitch, so in order to play we either assemble a team or everyone tryout on their own to get on teams. We wanted to stay together.

 

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People always have and will continue to vote with their checkbooks (my family certainly does). Perhaps the namby-pamby mindset that we have to build the kids' self-esteem by not allowing winnners and losers is catching up to the rec world. It was always the vocal minority who really wanted that, no one else ever did. From where I sit, there has been no deterioration in fastpitch participation.

 

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Rec is more of a hometown feel and the buzz generated within your community by a good rec team winning a championship will never happen in travel ball. We can win every travel tourney we have and It does not compare with the feeling of bringing home a state title in rec.....IMHO.

Well said. Now fast forward a few years. Few will ask if you won your last travel ball game. Many will ask if you won your last high school game. The travel ball world sometimes forgets what a small bubble they live in.

But back to the original post. I think travel is hurting recreational ball more and more every year. I think the coaches that leave to do travel only hurt more than anything. They don't want to take the time to coach little Suzie that can't catch yet at age 9. I'm not saying it's wrong. It's just the way it is. And that good coach will take some girls with him when he goes to travel only. This leads to a lesser coach to take the lesser rec ball team, and he won't teach any advance skills, and will sit on 3rd with his arms crossed like many have said. Not that he is a bad guy. He just doesn't know what to do.

 

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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.

I too have enjoyed watching my 6 yr old play 8U coach pitch this year after her older sister has played travel ball since she was 8 (3 years). It is fun to just watch 6 and 7 year old girls play the game and have fun no matter who wins or loses so going from weekends of high competition to weeknights of fun and smiles is a nice change. Since my 6 year old has been going to her sisters games for the past 3 summers it is her "game night" so to say so we make a big deal out of every hit, every throw, etc. She also says that after she is done playing this year she is going to be better than her older sister... Gotta love the competitive nature! Either got it or you don't.

 

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I know here in Morrow County (Northmor) our numbers are down for a couple reasons. One we built a new school combining elementary's so in turn they combined the ball organizations, which has families traveling a little more for practices. Second and more importantly is the number of girls that have left to play travel ball. In our 10U/12U we have close to 10 girls who decided to not play rec ball and focus on travel. Great for those girls and in ways for my HS team, but in turn there are girls who didn't want to play on the rec teams because their travel friends weren't playing...or we couldn't field enough players because those travel players left so we didn't have teams.

I am very torn on this because we need the travel players to be competitive at the HS level...but we need those athletes that can't/won't travel to be playing during the summer as well. Take also into consideration that when the child leaves for travel ball you are also losing a very good coach in most cases.

My oldest who is now playing college ball played all the way through in rec ball and travel ball...mainly because she enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of rec ball, plus she understood the need to keep girls playing to feed the HS program. I have stepped back the last few years from rec ball and I have seen it go into a tail spin. I am making a huge push to build our rec program back up her in Morrow County...which in turn will develop better players all the way around.

 

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Over the next 7 days, I will be posting questions about rec/youth softball programs.

Wait until you see the question on Thursday ! May get some real flames going.

 

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I know we left rec ball because of the inane rules at the time.
No Bunting, No Sliding, etc.
You cannot improve the players by only showing half the game.
There were/are good coaches in the rec programs, just limited to what they can do.
DDs have worked in travel with some of the best instructors in the country, (Kobata, Doug Finch to name a few)

 

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Wait until you see the question on Thursday ! May get some real flames going.

'Not a difficult task around here. We're all experts and Never wrong about any topic...

 

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So if rec keep losing players/coaches to Girls Fast Pitch Travel Programs.

Sooner or later there will be no entry level ?

 

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Communities with strong Rec. programs that try to compete for state titles will probably always be around. For others, the entry level just changes and you start out with a local travel team. Some call them "glorified Rec. teams" who only play local tourneys with no hotel stays.

 

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One thing to keep in mind is "What is the purpose of rec fastpitch?". Is it to prepare players to go on to high school? Is it to give players somewhere to start and then see where their skills/interests take them? Or what? That's a question that people should be asking themselves for each community. If the rec program achieves it's purpose then it's awesome. It should meet their goals, not yours. If you don't like their goals then present to whomever runs the league and see what can be done. And don't try to achieve YOUR goals at the expense of a bunch of other players who would be weeded out or minimized.

 

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Communities with strong Rec. programs that try to compete for state titles will probably always be around. For others, the entry level just changes and you start out with a local travel team. Some call them "glorified Rec. teams" who only play local tourneys with no hotel stays.

And those teams are great if that is what you want to do. Many of those players can go on to play high school and do just fine.

 

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So if rec keep losing players/coaches to Girls Fast Pitch Travel Programs.

Sooner or later there will be no entry level ?

There will always be entry level. Parents aren't aware or if they are aware think it is too early to go travel. Players may not want all that practice and games or the players may just not be developed enough to get on a team that would be considered travel.

 

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WM_83 said it.

There has to be a starting point. If my daughter would have come to me at 8 years old saying "Mom, I think I want to play softball. It's $450 dollars a year + we'll be away from home every weekend for 3 months" I would have messed my pants.

Side story; my daughter didn't "convert" to travel until her second year of 14U, and she's playing in college now. Don't be in a hurry to leave Rec.

 

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She must have had great instruction at the Rec. level. For many, the 2nd year of 14U would be almost too late to convert in order to play at the college level down the road. 16U is the age that they really need to play ASA and true Showcases.