East Short on Talent?

I think Phreak is right. There is not allot of recruiting and developing. Much of what we see at tryouts, practices, and the grapevine chatter is the lack of stability. Some kind of drama. Mom/Dad doesn't get to call DD's pitches, somebody said the wrong thing, the politics of daddy ball, someone leaves and changes a team or starts their own, the list just goes on. But then you see so many teams with 9, 10 girls....STILL....looking for more girls. There is this ever revolving door. No matter where we go you get this sence of instability. You can smell it. And once you've been well educated in the art of TB you see things go on and people act like no one notices. The stronger teams/organizations just get stronger (the FEW), and the rest....I've seen some great talent break up over selfishness. I don't know what the answer is. My DD just keeps working and laying it out there as best she can waiting for a chance to play. But...who's kid is going to sit so my and your DD can play, even when she is the better or equal player? Then you have the issue of money. At what point do parents stop paying for all the drama and instability? The talent is out there. It's just not organized very well. JMHO.

 

Hello

I wouldn't really call Raleigh area the east ,maybe central,and the talent there is spilling over from the west (J/K) so maybe there is some validity in the statement. Maybe the western part of the state has been better at marketing their kids publically, than the eastern part of the state,who knows ?? I just know that you don't hear as much about eastern schools verses western schools. I will agree though the triangle area has in the past had some very tough teams, Dominators,Bombs,Cape Fear,Triangle Lightning, just to name a few !! I have played against them and have high respect for them ....even you fishman !!

 

Could be that the talent is more spread out in the east? Seems to me like there are soooo many more TB teams here then there used to be at the younger age groups. Been watching some 12U teams play and no way are they as good as the 12U teams that played when my DD was at that age. Seems like every year the younger girls are playing on different teams every year.....like someone said......any number of reasons for that. Who thinks that to develop a good team and talent, girls need to play together for a while? Back in the day the dominators, bombs, storm, challangers, rockets....etc...pretty much the same girls where on these teams year after year. They seem to get better the longer they play together. Something said for team chemistry? JMO.....since my husband doesn't think I know anything about softball!! ha

 

One of the issues we have at my daughters high school is that we have a lot of very good softball players playing soccer. The schedule is such that they can't play both sports. The soccer team has a history of sending girls to the next level in part because of the commitment of the coach working to that end. The softball coach is in her 31st year working toward retirement.

 

culture

I was wondering where all the Bombs and CF Storm girls were playing in HS. I remember taking some beatings from both a couple years ago in TB tournamnets. Maybe those girls do not attend the same HS.

 

That's a good one!

Don't think I quite have the resources that my good friend John does! He did matter in that there were at least five kids (including mine) who were part of his original 12U team that went on to D1 careers. The local softball scene here in Gville is confusing. We still have a really active rec ball program but its' focus has gotten younger since my DD played. Back then there were a dozen 12U teams in the league. Now I think they are lucky to field half that many. There may be a few more travel teams but I don't think that's the issue with rec ball. As has been suggested in this thread earlier it just seems that girls aren't as motivated to put the time in that is required to be good.

 

Too many travel teams?

I think this is an issue. When my DD played TB there were only a few teams. She played for three different teams over six years. The 12U Rockets (aged out of that team as most girls were younger), Diamonds (14U & 16U) and the 18U Wildcats. These teams were very talented. The girls pushed one another to excellence. The 2004/05 wildcats had 10 girls get D1 $$ and almost all were starters for their respective schools. The Wildcat team we joined was essentially a group that had been together since 12U. I really don't think team chemistry, per se, has much to do with talent development (if talent is defined by college coaches thinking you're good enough to deserve a scholarship) but I do think that being part of a team that includes players who are (1) as good as you are and (2) have the same goal as you do (a scholarship) is important. As a pitcher, for example, this means willing to share innings with other pitchers on your team who are as good as you are and accepting the challenge of earning those innings. I think too many teams result from the fact that girls (or their Dads) insist that they be the star of the team. The result is lots of mediocre teams and the players on those teams never being challenged to develop to their full potential. Of course the counter is that a scholarship should not be the goal and that more teams means more girls playing.

 

TB TALLENT AND HS BALL

I read all these post and can agree with 99% of all on here. But here is my 1% worth. I've been around Rec and TB and HS ball now for about 13 yrs. About 10 yr ago when my now 21 yr old was playing rec ball. In Stanly Co the rec teams were really good. You had 1 or 2 rec teams per Elem school dist. which played all the other teams in the county. But then along came TB and the rec leagues started drying up. Now rec teams have 2 or 3 good players and others just glad to get to bat or have fun and a free drink after the game. Now TB is getting so wide spread in the Charlotte area. Yes daddy ball is rampant. But now my 11 yr old is playing and rec ball is so bad in Stanly that TB is the only option. I think in the West Stanly and S Cabarrus area there are 5 or 6 TB 10u teams alone. My 11 yr old DD has played on 2 teams in 3 yrs. 1 that folded up after 2 1/2 ys and all the players some where else and the current team. With about 6 players that will have to move up in to the next age group. So I'm like others. We will have to bring in new players or look for another "new" team. It is totally frustrating when the coaches don't want to keep the TB kids together for a while, 4yrs or more. If a 8-10yr old plays together with others for 4 or 5 yrs. Their playing ability will surely increase faster than just jumping from team to team. That is the same in the NBA or NFL or MLB. Take a NBA team "Celtics" with Larry Bird..... They played together for 10yrs or more and won titles back to back or the Lakers, same there. Now today it's all about show me the $$$$$. Yes TB in Concord this weekend 75 teams with over 800 girls. But my 21 yr old DD old REC team could beat about 95% or more of the TB teams that will be there this weekend. In any of those age groups. Why? Because they were together for that 5 or 6 yrs and knew what each other was thinking or going to do. About the 4th yr, the coaches usely just filled out the lineup and the girls did the rest. And now many of the girls on my oldest DD team have played or are playing D1 or D2 softball somewhere. Of the current HS players at West, South, North Stanly or Albemarle HS softball teams. You may get enough to make 1 good team that might could beat SWR or AC or ND. Why? Because in the SWR or AC or ND areas the Rec and TB teams are pushed and worked to be a team. Especially in the AC area....... JMHO

 

Some What True, But A Little More Needs To Be Said !

I think what happened about 8-10 years ago the very tallented rec ball players were not getting challenged enough, so many of them decided to expand their boundaries and go into the travel ball circuit. I know that is what we did with another core of girls, and became very successful in our endeavor. Saying that I have been to many rec facilities over the past few years,and to say it as nice as I know how only in Lincoln County do I see the quality of the program as it was 8-10 years ago,and a large majority of the kids have transitioned nicely to travel ball without missing a beat !! On the other hand I've been to some organizations that the kids didn't even know the difference between R/F or L/F in other parts of the States of N.C. / S.C. !! Hey to each his own !!

 

The difference

Many programs in the East would be a lot better but there are too many sports to compete with. First of all Womens soccer is big here. No excuses because that has always been the case. But now the emergence of Womens lacrosse, and with sport specialization, ie.. club field hockey and volleyball, a lot of girls are moving into those areas because it is new and all you really have to do is be able to run to play them. Every team in our conference but 2 (out of 8 schools) now has womens lacrosse, when before it was only 3 teams playing it. Also a lot of these major programs don't have to deal with sports like swimming in the winter as well. You don't really see any big city area teams winning in softball anymore, the small rural areas seem to be the ones winning. Every so often some of the larger cities will pop up a good team but not as often as the smaller areas. You could bring Mike Candrea to our area and he can coach and recruit all he wants and he still couldn't compete with soccer and womens lacrosse.