Transitioning from Rec Ball to Club @ 14U

[CatcherDad99]

My DD is getting to the point where she needs to start looking at moving to a club team to achieve her goals. I know at 14 most of these girls have been playing for 8+ years and most of that time with travel teams. What can I do to help her transition well to the next level.

She has a great instructor that we switched to a few months ago. She's a hard worker but I know she has a lot of work to reach her potential. Any suggestions?

[just4fun]

Three words:
Practice
Practice
Practice

It sounds like you have the right attitude and recognize your DD isn't currently the best player out there. If she truely loves the game, she will work hard hard to become that player. One of the biggest changes will be the pitching, so she should be swinging a bat every day.

And three more words:
Positive
Positive
Positive

[bart16761]

Find a club that she will fit on. Many people go right after the big name that may or may not be your best option. Find a club that needs a catcher. I would llook for a team that has a good catcher already that your daughter can watch and learn from and still get adequate playing time to get better.

Good luck

[Makina]

Find a team where she gets plenty of p/t and good coaching would be the most important. My daughter went travel after her 14U rec season and had no issues, but she had great coaching who maximized her unique talents correctly. Next season tried out with a lot of 16u teams with no success, so I said what the heck lets just go and check out a local 18u team. They immediately recognized her unique talents and knew how to use them, lead off hitter who could steal bases.
In our 3 seasons of playing 18u, we only left one team and it was because I made the mistake of going with a big name organization that gave her no p/t, had 21 girls on team. Went to other team that has excellent coaching n she.was given p/t. Last fall she was offered a 100% softball scholarship that she will be signing.

Good luck!

[ontheblack]

As said before, set all ego aside and find the right fit.

What area are you in?

[CatcherDad99]

Thanks for all the replies. I am lucky because she is a hard worker. She is always pushing me to work her out more. I'm usually the tired one lol.

I'll start working her swing a little more. I planned it anyway because I'm converting her to a loaded bat from a balanced one and I don't want it to affect her bat speed. At 13 she's 5'8 and strong as an ox so I think she'll be ok with it.

Were in northern L.A. county. I have been researching a lot of teams online but it is hard to tell what kind of fit she would be until your already on a team and then its pretty late. I have been thinking of maybe taking her to watch a try out or two so she know what there like.

[dustyshoes]

Were in northern L.A. county. I have been researching a lot of teams online but it is hard to tell what kind of fit she would be until your already on a team and then its pretty late. I have been thinking of maybe taking her to watch a try out or two so she know what there like.

Since the travel teams are fairly early in their spring seasons you could start by emailing the coaches of the ones you think are likely the best fit and asking them if your dd can practice with them with the possibility of guest playing in tournaments when they're short-handed. I took this approach with my oldest dd when she was in 12u and it worked out great, she got a feel for how travel teams run practices and got to know the players and coaches well before joining the team full-time the next fall.

14u is not too late to get into travel, there is a girl on my oldest dd's high school team who didn't start playing travel until after her freshman year of HS and she's been hitting the snot out of the ball in HS this year. Rec leagues in LA are probably a lot better then the ones around here so your dd may not be as far behind as you think. Good luck.

[Sam]

Thanks for all the replies. I am lucky because she is a hard worker. She is always pushing me to work her out more. I'm usually the tired one lol.

I'll start working her swing a little more. I planned it anyway because I'm converting her to a loaded bat from a balanced one and I don't want it to affect her bat speed. At 13 she's 5'8 and strong as an ox so I think she'll be ok with it.

Were in northern L.A. county. I have been researching a lot of teams online but it is hard to tell what kind of fit she would be until your already on a team and then its pretty late. I have been thinking of maybe taking her to watch a try out or two so she know what there like.

Thank you for resisting the urge to go to travel ball at an early age. Your daughter won't realize it, but you likely saved her body from a lot of future pain. I hope she catches on quickly and succeeds. Please let us know (or just me via PM) how she does.

[hit4power]

Mine didn't start TB until 14U and the biggest deficiency she had to overcome was adjusting to the speed of the game vs. rec. Everything happens at a faster pace in the field and on the bases. It's hard to get this experience in practice - nothing beats game experience, hence the importance of getting playing time and choosing a team with that in mind. Foolishly, mine wanted to try for a top team in our area (and I let her) - thankfully, they didn't take her and she ended up on a weaker team, but got PT which both exposed her shortcomings and allowed her to improve.

[jtat32]

I also think you've made a good decision to wait. We did the same thing with our second DD. I'm a little ambivalent on the good team/bench time vs. weaker team/playing time debate. My older DD learned more and progressed more in the one season she wasn't a starter on a very good team than she did in all her combined other years on weaker teams. That was our by far her most fun experience playing softball.

Something to keep in mind: just because a team is not strong does not mean that they are more equitable with playing time, in fact, it is often the opposite. Weaker teams often have less experienced coaches that feel like they need to keep what they perceive as their best 9 on the field nearly all of the time to remain competitive, or get to the next level of respect, or whatever. Make sure you find a team that ensures that every player gets at least 50% time on Saturdays, but two out of three games is better. It's hard to make guarantees about Sundays, but good coaches can find ways to get all of the players in if they get multiple games. Make sure the team you pick has this policy for all players (not just yours - you don't want to be around other pissed off parents). Don't expect more than that and stay away from parent drama. After going through a season you will have a much better idea what a good fit for your DD is, and where you might be able to find it, so be patient if things don't initially work out as you hoped.