REC BALL status??

Is rec softball fading? I talked to a district official for one of the well-known associations and he said their #'s were down in almost every county. He mentioned the popularity of TB, but also that kids have so many choices of sports and non-sports activities now.

if so, why do you see the decline?

maybe this is not true everywhere.

 

We stopped playing rec ball years ago when we found out about TB. Reason we were looking for something else and found TB was because of the skill level, or lack there of, on the rec ball teams.

Only know of a couple girls on the middle school team I help coach and the HS team my DDs were on that played rec ball last year.

 

Alive and well in Iredell county...but its..gone downhill I think...11-12's look like what 9-10's used to...14's look more like 12's or 10's use to....Some people blame the pitching machine at the 9-10 level for the lack of pitching...could be I guess....just looks different than it used to....

 

Rec Ball

Garner still has a fairly stong league, although the numbers have declined over the past 3 - 4 years. The talent level is not what it used to be but still have some good talent left. We have a few TB players at the 12u and 16u levels. TB has cut down the numbers for Rec Ball but the biggest thing that has hurt is soccer. CASYL is very big in Wake county area. We sometimes butt heads with soccer folks at our park when both are going on at the same time. We as HS coaches, encourage our girls that do not play TB to play Rec just to keep them playing in hopes of getting more practice time than we can give at school. I have noticed that some of the girls that play TB, almost take a step backwards because they don't the attention a less skilled player gets. This has caused some of these players to stop playing rec. WE try very hard to provide more skilled training for the younger girls in the form of clinics for players and coaches. Coach Dobbins has been helpfull in that area. Our league has always been a feeder for HS and we want to try and keep it as stong as it can possibly be.

 

My DD still plays rec ball, along with her TB. She just loves to play, but it is not as competitive, she sort of uses it for extra practice. She is playing in a tournament next weekend at Knightdale HS.

 

machine?

you guys use a pitching machine at ages 9-10?? in my county Johnston they use the pitching machine for 8&U then 10U starts pitching, albeit ugly at times.

 

They use it from 7 until 10 yrs old....Seems like alot..

 

The rec program in Garner does an excellent job of keeping kids interested in softball. Fastpitch softball. Real softball. Unlike some of the rec programs that have slow pitch for girls. Better than nothing I guess.

Soccer has taken away some of the girls who probably would have played softball. That soccer field at Garner should be somewhere else. Sooner or later there will be a serious problem there. Foul balls and soccer fields don't mix well. I guess it will finally be resolved after a lawsuit from someone getting hit in the head with a real ball. It used to be a near-perfect softball facility. Oh well, just another part of the invasion.

What would really be beneficial is the people with the knowledge of fastpitch to volunteer at your local community centers. The kids at rec level offer an excellent opportunity to help not only our sport but the kids playing at that level. It is so rewarding to see them learning and enjoying the sport. It really helps at the next level--high school. And quite a few end up in TB.

You will probably have to force yourself on Raleigh Parks and Rec, though. The Knightdale area has a good program. As does the Cleveland area in Johnston County. And it will make a difference at the hs level for all the effort of those programs.

Maybe the rec programs will rebound now that gas is so high. It's usually not that far to drive at rec level. Plus, the real bonus, kids and parents don't know everything yet!

 

Pleasant Garden

Pleasant Garden south of Greensboro has in the past had an excellent program for fastpitch with a Spring and Fall program even allowing some outside (travel) teams to bring their entire group in. Excellent level of play around there. Most of the time the travel ball girls used it as extra practice or the opportunity to play a position that they normally would not on the TB team.

 

Softball in Garner has been very strong since around 1990 and swithing to fastpitch in '95 when the HS's made the change. The biggest challenge has been soccer and there have already been problems with those folks with foul balls, warm-up areas and such. The soccer league, I understand, pays quite a bit of money to the town for use of their facilities. A new soccer facility was built a couple of years ago but is meant for the younger kids and not of regulation size. South Garner park has the only regulation size field. Still not enough softball fields in Garner for the girls. There was also a new field built for the adults. Imagine that!! As for volunteers in the program, There is still alot of very knowlegable people in the league. As I stated in my earlier post, we do everything we can to keep the league as strong as possible through clinics at least twice a year. My DD started playing in the league when she was 6 years old and that is when I started coaching. I have always been involved even after she aged out and last season she started coaching to help teach the girls and give back a little of what she recieved. The rec leagues are the foundation and starting point of a girls experience on the ball field. This is where you willl find the next level talent and maybe even that drop dead pitcher or homerun hitter that will go on play in college.