Playing travel during Rec. Ball

[Battle]

1) In SoCal it is not the "norm" a potential scholarship softballer plays RecBall after 11. Just too competitive in SoCal and she would loose ground on skill and opportunity 2) Most parents are focused on $$$ more than they are the level of education. I on several occasions have witnessed a family turn down less $$$ to an elite school to attend a school offering an all expenses paid offer. Again, that's the norm!

I'm sure JonRiv will have something clever in response that is purely opinion and/or an exception to the rule that disproves my comments... Again, I digress!

Just the fact that more Cali people are not posting calling you an idiot tells me that you are right.

Some of us recognize the posts of trolls and choose not to bite.

That only explains why no one else bit on Battle's post...

LOL...It's called a flip maneuver just in case you missed it and you obviously did. That suprises me about you...not really.

[TReck]

I think this is a regional or local issue and depends on if the rec association is sanctioned ASA. Many of the Rec All-Star teams in our area turn into travel teams for the last summer and fall events.

But always be careful of burnout.

[Pale Rider]

...go ahead...call me a Redneck...I'll pull that race card on ya:-)...

[McGee]

The funny thing is that in southern CA, ASA fails to enforce this and other rules applying to rec all-star teams. At the same time the level of play at the rec all-star level has collapsed at 12u and older.
On reason is the tremendous exodus of marginal players to "tee shirt" travel teams that are often poorly coached with inadequate leadership and focus on the needs of the girls.
It is tough to get full softball scholarships and if you get one may be nudged into a major with little academic challenge and marginal employability.

On the flip side good grades will get into a college and based on the parental finances, a plethora of scholarships will be available. Students with great grades and well-off parents won,t get money from selective schools, but other schools will line up with competitive offers to get the good students to come.

[jonriv]

It is tough to get full softball scholarships and if you get one may be nudged into a major with little academic challenge and marginal employability.

On the flip side good grades will get into a college and based on the parental finances, a plethora of scholarships will be available. Students with great grades and well-off parents won,t get money from selective schools, but other schools will line up with competitive offers to get the good students to come.

Everyone involved in the recruiting process should read this very carefully- very wise indeed.

[ontheblack]

Im back coaching rec ball for my youngest and I agree that the t-shirt travel (love that term) teams are killing rec at 12u. That said, my oldest started playing travel 2nd year 12s, It wasnt because of a full ride "pipe dream" but because she wanted to play ball and our rec league had become an inbred cesspool of arrogant parents with big egos and little ability to coach or teach.

She landed on a pretty competitive travel team quite by accident. We had no preconceived notions of what we were getting into - in fact we had no clue at all. We just showed and played. She will tell you that year was the most fun she ever had in softball. And I will tell you that the bond she and I developed as a result of the time spent in the car driving to and from points all over SoCal several hours a week I wouldnt trade for a full ride anywhere. So please put to rest the idea that all of SoCal is in it for the scholarship. The vast majority of us are in it for our kids.

It wasnt until after 12u Nationals and the move to 14s that the focus of most teams switched from playing because of the love of the game to playing to get into college. Even then, she hit the dirt because she loves the game. Playing in college was something that was a great bonus if it happens, but never the goal. She has several friends who are not playing in college now with no regrets, and two who went away to play D1, but came home at Christmas and never went back.

Injuries have now taken Thing 1 off the dirt for good, but she would play tomorrow if she could simply because she loves the game.

FWIW, the money saved annually since she stopped playing, plus some grants, will cover her annual college expenses for the school she is headed to now. The great irony here is that she is currently in Spain on an educational trip over Spring Break. She wants to teach Spanish and she wants to study abroad, which wouldnt happen on a softball scholarship. She texted me last night from Granada, she was at the Alhambra and then headed to Seville. She said she loved Spain and was hoping she would get a chance to see the university in Barcelona later this week. The caption on one of the pics was "Life After Softball".

Not all of us in SoCal are myopic. Some of us just love softball and want our kids to enjoy what they are doing in each stage of their lives. Sometimes it really is just that simple.

[Hurricane]

thanks for sharing OTB! good post.

I agree. My DD is playing TB because she likes the comaraderie and the higher level of competition. Good coaching helps improve her skills, too. After all is said and done and she is lucky to get a call from a college...then, all the more better. If not, her feet are planted firmly on the ground.

[DonnieS]

Not all of us in SoCal are myopic. Some of us just love softball and want our kids to enjoy what they are doing in each stage of their lives. Sometimes it really is just that simple.

In our area, rec ball wasn't a positive experience after about 9 or so - kids who have athletic talent through no fault of their own, being hassled by ignorant parent/coaches whose kids today, are fatter now than they were when they played wreck-ball, wanted to play with "other kids more like us". 10-12 years ago, down here in South Texas, there was a considerable amount of cheating on ASA rules by corrupt ASA officials, allowing travel teams to play in classes they shouldn't have, so we went off and played travel, going to towns all over the state that had nice softball facilities (Austin, Houston, Dallas, Seguin, etc.) and honestly had a blast.

Its fun to listen to kids who are still playing ball and - omg, could it be, still love the game after being pushed and tortured into playing 10-12 games in a weekend - and then being pushed and tortured into practicing the next week 100-120 games a year - and then after all of this abuse - still cant wait for the next game , 14 years later. Keep it fun - remember after all else, it really is a game and most importantly, its their game, not yours.

I posted all of this before - if you are tired of it, tough shit. I remember reading a lot of this crap years ago and started worrying about the abuse that I was laying down on my daughters - I asked them, "Are you guys tired of this - do you want to do something else (like one of the posters above - doing nothing is not an option) , is this too much ?". The youngest is quiet for a while and then says, "Lets see, we get to travel somewhere every weekend, hang out with our best friends in the whole world, eat at some of the craziest places , and on top of that, we get to play a lot of softball. Which part of this am I supposed to get tired of ?"

[jonriv]

Donnie's experience seems similar to our's. DDA moved to TB at 14u after rec was just not doing it. Nothing better than getting phone calls or text messages from my DD in college about practices or games. She will go out of her way to talk FP with me now(something she never did in the car during TB!) We have one more season after this. I think she loves it more now than ever!!!

Keep it fun, it is a game and should always be fun!!

[ontheblack]

Donnie,

My kid has no regrets. Her drive and motivation came from within. The fact that her body quit on her is what it is. She would do it again if she could go back in time, even knowing the outcome. Second time around though she probably wouldnt bitch quite as much about not pitching in all 3 games of a meaningless 3 game friendly.

Hope they are all doing well.

JR, man time flies. Glad things have worked out for her as well as they have.