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Youth Softball: Why You Should Play Rec League

by artomatic » Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:26 pm

FC2021 wrote:Hahahahaha.....this post is funny. What lessons can they learn in recball that they didn't in travel ball?

Why is it funny?
I've never understood why some look at rec ball with such disdain.
EVERY kid in Socal started in rec ball, and in my opinion, should stay through 10U.
There is no need to get these 9-10 yr old kids up at 4am every weekend to drive to Hemet, or 4 nights a week of lessons, crossfit, practices.

As far as lessons to be learned, leadership is a big one.
JMHO of course...
Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.
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by tbjd33 » Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:50 pm

artomatic wrote:
FC2021 wrote:Hahahahaha.....this post is funny. What lessons can they learn in recball that they didn't in travel ball?

Why is it funny?
I've never understood why some look at rec ball with such disdain.
EVERY kid in Socal started in rec ball, and in my opinion, should stay through 10U.
There is no need to get these 9-10 yr old kids up at 4am every weekend to drive to Hemet, or 4 nights a week of lessons, crossfit, practices.

As far as lessons to be learned, leadership is a big one.
JMHO of course...


Arto don't think I've agreed with you before but I agree 100% on this. These parents are nuts!!

All I can say is there is such thing as too much of one thing. What's the stat... 75% of ALL DD's will stop playing after 12u and then loose another 30% of the 25% remaining after 14u.

I would add most studs at 10u and 12u usually aren't studs at 14u and up. I have an 8u that is playing soccer and doin taekwondo. She works out with her sister and is way ahead of girls her age. Most importantly is she is happy! We will play rec ball through 11 years old and she will develop slowly. Then play travel from 12 years old on.

No need to play 100's of games at such a young age. Now I'm speaking from experience people...

Just sayin!
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by fastpitchdad05 » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:00 pm

FC2021 wrote:Hahahahaha.....this post is funny. What lessons can they learn in recball that they didn't in travel ball?


How to have fun for one thing.

Unless it's about what you want and who cares about what your kid wants and her having fun, right? :roll:
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by artomatic » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:06 pm

tbjd33 wrote:
artomatic wrote:
FC2021 wrote:Hahahahaha.....this post is funny. What lessons can they learn in recball that they didn't in travel ball?

Why is it funny?
I've never understood why some look at rec ball with such disdain.
EVERY kid in Socal started in rec ball, and in my opinion, should stay through 10U.
There is no need to get these 9-10 yr old kids up at 4am every weekend to drive to Hemet, or 4 nights a week of lessons, crossfit, practices.

As far as lessons to be learned, leadership is a big one.
JMHO of course...


Arto don't think I've agreed with you before but I agree 100% on this. These parents are nuts!!

All I can say is there is such thing as too much of one thing. What's the stat... 75% of ALL DD's will stop playing after 12u and then loose another 30% of the 25% remaining after 14u.

I would add most studs at 10u and 12u usually aren't studs at 14u and up. I have an 8u that is playing soccer and doin taekwondo. She works out with her sister and is way ahead of girls her age. Most importantly is she is happy! We will play rec ball through 11 years old and she will develop slowly. Then play travel from 12 years old on.

No need to play 100's of games at such a young age. Now I'm speaking from experience people...

Just sayin!

Holy crap!
Seriously, if I could do anything differently, I would:
encourage my kid to play different sports until high school.
give her plenty of off time to be a kid.
and personally, enjoy it more, worry less.

And again, I have never understood why rec is looked down on by many travel people. That is where it all starts, and seriously some of my best memories are from this part of her journey, when it was new and fun.
Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.
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by tbjd33 » Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:18 pm

artomatic wrote:
tbjd33 wrote:
artomatic wrote:
FC2021 wrote:Hahahahaha.....this post is funny. What lessons can they learn in recball that they didn't in travel ball?

Why is it funny?
I've never understood why some look at rec ball with such disdain.
EVERY kid in Socal started in rec ball, and in my opinion, should stay through 10U.
There is no need to get these 9-10 yr old kids up at 4am every weekend to drive to Hemet, or 4 nights a week of lessons, crossfit, practices.

As far as lessons to be learned, leadership is a big one.
JMHO of course...


Arto don't think I've agreed with you before but I agree 100% on this. These parents are nuts!!

All I can say is there is such thing as too much of one thing. What's the stat... 75% of ALL DD's will stop playing after 12u and then loose another 30% of the 25% remaining after 14u.

I would add most studs at 10u and 12u usually aren't studs at 14u and up. I have an 8u that is playing soccer and doin taekwondo. She works out with her sister and is way ahead of girls her age. Most importantly is she is happy! We will play rec ball through 11 years old and she will develop slowly. Then play travel from 12 years old on.

No need to play 100's of games at such a young age. Now I'm speaking from experience people...

Just sayin!

Holy crap!
Seriously, if I could do anything differently, I would:
encourage my kid to play different sports until high school.
give her plenty of off time to be a kid.
and personally, enjoy it more, worry less.

And again, I have never understood why rec is looked down on by many travel people. That is where it all starts, and seriously some of my best memories are from this part of her journey, when it was new and fun.


That's exactly why we are changing things up for my younger DD.

Worst thing ever is that PGF started the 10u Natty. Notice the explosion of travel teams. It's crazy!
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by 4th & Forever » Tue Jan 26, 2016 4:46 pm

One thing that doesn't get taken in account enough on this topic is that many players going to Travel sooner are the second and in some cases third generation girls. Either their older sisters played or Moms played. As our sport continues to grow the need for different levels are in fact necessary. The important piece is that there is a place for everyone to play based on their individual needs. For my youngest who grew up on the fields, her personal desire was to be like her older sister and that meant as her skills developed to move into Travel much sooner than I originally thought she would want to. That was what she wanted to do because she wanted to challenge herself and she isn't the type of kid who can be around unmotivated people in any area of her life.... At the end of the day that was what worked for her.

The interesting part that I do see is the travel world consistently getting slammed by the rec leagues. There have been instances where leagues will block field useage, players being told that their All-star elligability will be forfeit for taking lessons with certain travel coaches and All-Star teams being (for lack of a better term) threatened to have their All Star accomplishments stripped if they participate in a Travel Nationals that takes place AFTER the Rec All-Star season is completed.

Interesting topic as always but if people take their egos out of it we will find what works best for our individual kids. There is value for every level
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by artomatic » Tue Jan 26, 2016 4:57 pm

4th & Forever wrote:One thing that doesn't get taken in account enough on this topic is that many players going to Travel sooner are the second and in some cases third generation girls. Either their older sisters played or Moms played. As our sport continues to grow the need for different levels are in fact necessary. The important piece is that there is a place for everyone to play based on their individual needs. For my youngest who grew up on the fields, her personal desire was to be like her older sister and that meant as her skills developed to move into Travel much sooner than I originally thought she would want to. That was what she wanted to do because she wanted to challenge herself and she isn't the type of kid who can be around unmotivated people in any area of her life.... At the end of the day that was what worked for her.

The interesting part that I do see is the travel world consistently getting slammed by the rec leagues. There have been instances where leagues will block field useage, players being told that their All-star elligability will be forfeit for taking lessons with certain travel coaches and All-Star teams being (for lack of a better term) threatened to have their All Star accomplishments stripped if they participate in a Travel Nationals that takes place AFTER the Rec All-Star season is completed.

Interesting topic as always but if people take their egos out of it we will find what works best for our individual kids. There is value for every level

Some very good points 4th. Our kid that is still playing followed this path, growing up on the fields watching first her old man playing slowpitch, then her older sister playing fastpitch. If you've been around, you most likely know the importance of balance, rest, and playing.

It's too bad rec and travel have the animosity you mention.
I have seen it from both sides. Travel people looking down at the little rec players, and rec board members making it tough for local travel teams.
I remember when we left our league back in 2006, we worked out a deal to use the rec batting cages in return for hosting a clinic. But board members were complaining that "these big travel girls (11 and 12 yr olds) are going to ruin the batting cage fences hitting the ball so hard"... :)
Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.
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by McGee » Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:22 pm

Most rec league board are simply following the yellow rules regarding all-star eligibility. This isn't bias or anything untoward. It in not surprizing that a rec league doesn't let travel team use their fields during the season. Fields are a scarce resource and many leagues struggle to provide adequate field time for their teams. A Rec board's number one job is to give their players best best experience and resources possible. People should also realize that if a rec league allows a travel team use their fields, they are likely violating their field use agreement they have with the entity that controls access.
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by Nicelag » Wed Feb 03, 2016 6:06 am

HIGHNTIGHT wrote:I don't remember exactly how it works but I think the rec Allstar team is limited to 4 travel ball players who participate in any form of travel ball after January. Is there anything related to the game that can be learned by returning to rec ball ?


I do believe this rule was eliminated when ASA went to the "Select" program last year (So Cal ASA anyway). How "Select" was written and set up would have violated this rule. As a result no more than 4 of the girls on the "Select" team would be eligible for all-stars. Unless of course they put the rule back in for this year.

On another note, as having done both rec and travel I can tell you that nothing at the 10U level can replace the all-star experience "if your league is competitive". Our league was very competitive, but I know many people who played for leagues that were not real competitive and they did not have much fun.

As far as leaving rec for travel at 10U I think that the abundance of travel ball teams has made it easy to make the jump. There is literally a team for everyone regardless of skill level, and parents love saying "my kid plays travel ball". That being said I hear a lot of people say ASA is to blame. Well, that may be partially correct. I think the biggest factor causing kids to leave rec and go to travel at 10U is the individual league themselves. Parental delusion as to their daughters playing ability is also a factor, but on a smaller scale in my view. There are too many leagues out there with agendas, and the problem persists when the board members who complain the most about agendas in fact have agendas themselves. I know our league has 200+ kids and most are all gold all-stars. Just ask the parents. It's a shame really.
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by eclipse09 » Wed Feb 03, 2016 7:31 am

Nicelag wrote:
HIGHNTIGHT wrote:I don't remember exactly how it works but I think the rec Allstar team is limited to 4 travel ball players who participate in any form of travel ball after January. Is there anything related to the game that can be learned by returning to rec ball ?


I do believe this rule was eliminated when ASA went to the "Select" program last year (So Cal ASA anyway). How "Select" was written and set up would have violated this rule. As a result no more than 4 of the girls on the "Select" team would be eligible for all-stars. Unless of course they put the rule back in for this year.

On another note, as having done both rec and travel I can tell you that nothing at the 10U level can replace the all-star experience "if your league is competitive". Our league was very competitive, but I know many people who played for leagues that were not real competitive and they did not have much fun.

As far as leaving rec for travel at 10U I think that the abundance of travel ball teams has made it easy to make the jump. There is literally a team for everyone regardless of skill level, and parents love saying "my kid plays travel ball". That being said I hear a lot of people say ASA is to blame. Well, that may be partially correct. I think the biggest factor causing kids to leave rec and go to travel at 10U is the individual league themselves. Parental delusion as to their daughters playing ability is also a factor, but on a smaller scale in my view. There are too many leagues out there with agendas, and the problem persists when the board members who complain the most about agendas in fact have agendas themselves. I know our league has 200+ kids and most are all gold all-stars. Just ask the parents. It's a shame really.


The rule has not been put back so any group of players can play travel up until the end of March and then either stay travel or commit to rec. They still have to play 50% of rec games to be all-star eligible.

The select teams only play rec along with select games on Sunday (not super clear on the rules for select).
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