age

Listen up!....

...Abbey hits the spot on this subject! I understand the thought process of wanting a kid who really is above her age level to be pushed to the next but IT AINT THAT EASY! The game cahnges with speed and power! A 14u leaves a 60+ ball in the zone, or for that matter, any not-so-disciplined pitcher, regardless of age, will need a dentist, quick. Let your DD pitch at 14, 16, and HS now before she is thrown to the up level. This is not to say that she will get her outs. She will, but the speed and power when it comes back is awesome. I'm glad my DD is a SS, not a P or 3B. JMO, Good luck!

 

Play Up Rule?

What do you think about the sanctioning body ASA, NSA, ect. play up rule being the same as the playing down rule. Do you think the rule needs to be changed?

 

Continued

I just know that in some cases the older girls don't want to hang around the younger girls, because of those things mentioned previously,but if your kid can hold her own in this so called "REJECTION" , than maybe it will have to be considered an option to challenge your kid to the next level. I say sit her down and explain to her the options to stay where she is now or the other road of more competitive ball,and the possibility of injury by one bad location of a pitch...LET HER CHOOSE !!! A good point brought up in an earlier post..if we are truly honest there are tendacies to fufill our desires and not our kids desires...THE GURU IS GUILTY OF THIS ACTION, that's why I am not pointing fingers..

GURU HAS SPOKEN !!!

 

Lots of wisdom here

My DD also had good success in LIMITED action as a 14 vs 18's but played a couple of years of 16's before going to 18's. I asked Tommy Orndorf about this when she was 14. He coaches the most successful program on the east coast, the Shamrocks (the only east coast team to ever win ASA Gold, 2005). His view is that pitchers need to learn to ABSOLUTELY DOMINATE. He never brings pitchers up early in his organization. As a result he sometimes have pitchers on his 16U team get D1 offers. The point is that unless your DD is consistently throwing no-hitters at against the best 14U teams you can find then there's still a challenge there. If you and she can't find the challenge then you're probably overlooking something. There's probably no harm in moving up a year early (most good kids do) but to do so any earlier is risky business. If she's very good she'll have plenty of time to get noticed.

 

Rushing up to fail.... that's a good idea...

A 14yr old playing up against GREAT 18U teams is a recipe for failure...
This is too big of a jump......

Female athletes thrive on the team game... not like boys, who think they are bullet proof against any mental pressure.

Talent level has nothing to do with it. They must be accepted by their peers, as teamates on the field, but also within the social structure of the organization.

The comment was made about a small number of kids who have successfully competed... focus on the word SMALL.... These are special athletes.... not only phyically, but also mentally more mature.
Realistically, a female softball player has 4 years of exposure to top competition... 9th - 12th grade. Last time I checked, they don't
sort the HS teams by age... All of these "special" kids got their experience first on great HS teams..... They were exposed to playing agianst great players, just not whole teams full of them like a top level 18U team would bring. It helped them "learn" to pitch.

That is an example of where HS programs actually helped kids get better. The landscape is littered with disappointment and failure with hundreds that failed.

Just because Daddy thinks she ready, doesn't mean she is....

Let her progress at her own pace until she get to the 16U level...
If she can play...everyone will know.

If she is that good... a 14U National Championship is a pretty good prize.
Somebody is winning them, why not North Carolina girls?

Most college programs are dominated and feature upper class ( Junior and Senior ) pitchers. Freshman are brought along carefully through the process.

Maybe these coaches are on to something...........

 

Knowledgable

Charlie is an expert if there is an "expert" on this subject. He has played the game as a pitcher, coached at every level, and truly cares about the kids he coaches as well as others he does not coach. Great post! Please parents and coaches give these young girls a chance to be young, to develop, and to succeed at their pace! It will workout!