Has anyone?

Has anyone researched what percentage of fast pitch softball players that played as 12U were still playing at the 18U level? Is it just me or is the talent pool getting smaller? I know we have spoken about the increase in teams at different levels causing a watered down talent pool but I think the 16U and 18U area is shrinking. Some of you that attend a lot of HS games are better suited than I to address.

Help, am I wrong?

 

Well you have to start mixing in the ole dreaded boyfriend then driver licesnes ETC Some getting jobs and so forth....Also you got the burn-out factor just to name a few..........We had 3 starters from last year not even play HS or TB

 

Had a conversation with a gentleman yesterday, whose DD is now a freshman playing in college. He said that of all the girls on her travel team that 8 had had offers to play beyond high school. Of those 8 only two are doing so.
He made the statement that, in comparison to boys, that girls seem to lose interest more often. The boys, as they achieve higher and higher levels, have that ultimate goal to strive for in MLB baseball. Very few actually make it but it is a hell of a motivator. Girls really don't have anything like that.

Add that to the "boys, cars, jobs" mix, as well as the burn out factor, which I think is higher with softball, and you will have a decrease in participation. In a way that's a good thing. Fewer teams, with better players, will result in higher competition levels and this will produce more "next level ready" candidates. The talent pool is like a pyramid, only a very few will make it to the top.

 

My dd is 17 and would have liked to continue playing travel ball (she helped a team out last summer that played some in the HS division, but they were really a 14u team)... but there just aren't many teams around us and if you come across a team they aren't looking players... most organizations stop at 16u and to find a 18u is rare... it doesn't help that my dd is one of the rare people who doesn't want to play in college, she just likes to play for fun and therefore could care less about traveling to Utah or wherever the "best" showcases are now...

 

I agree

Here in SC, I see the same trend. I noticed it about 2-3 years ago. In our area I believe soccer and lacrosse are pulling more and more girls away from softball.

In terms of kids in the 16U/18U age group, I agree with the other posters comments. Girls tend to have a lot of other interests. In addition, as much as I hate to say it/admit it, maybe the girls are more realistic than us parents. They realize that at some point it is time to move on with life. They aren't going to get full rides for softball (in most cases). So, it is time to become a normal student and do normal things.... I hope mine will pursue athletics in college. But, if not, I will understand too. She is playing 18U this summer. So, she is still playing for now.

 

Boy's, cells, IM, cars...

Need I say much more. The cells, IM, cars are things and I can completely cut them off, if I need too. But the boy's are a whole different matter....... The girls had rather go see the boys play and be seen. Late teenage years. Than play themselves...... My girl loves to play ball now at age 12, but I wonder what she will be doing at age 17......

 

It's not always the most talented that move on. For both boys and girls, there has to be a competitive fire inside them. Kids that are often described as "gamers", "field/gym rats" or "hustlers" are the ones that will work and fight to get to the next level. When you find one like that, who is also "eat up" with talent, you have found a future star.

 

Certainly true here in the east

My DD graduated in '05. Played on a HS team with 5 other girls who are still on college rosters, most D1. That same 4A HS no longer has enough players to field a JV squad. I hear the same story from travel ball coaches. The talent level in Pitt County, Wilmington & Fayetteville is no where close to what it was five years ago.

Folks, softball is a tough game. In soccer you can run up and down and do nothing and few people notice. In our game you screw up and everyone knows. There are lots of symptoms of the basic fact that there are fewer and fewer tough, competitive kids around.

 

HS varsity roster makeup

I was wondering this about the dwindling upperclassmen #'s..........
how many HS varsity rosters don't have any freshmen? well maybe a better question, how many starting lineups don't have at least 2-3 freshmen? and seems a lot of freshman pitchers on varsity, sometimes the main ace or at least the # 2 thrower.

 

Your dd is not that rare. There are a lot more girls who had rather just play and have fun and don't even want to play in college than there are girls who want to. Even a step further mnay of those who go on to play in college find out real fast it's not what they thought and give it up after a year.