Does REC BALL matter?

I signed my DD up for REC BALL. To be honest I really did not know why. We had out first practice today. At first I signed her up because I thought she might be able to use it for quasi practices outside of when her travel ball team does not practice...AND....just something extra outside of what she does with her Dad. To make a long story short....there are a bunch of girls who would benefit greatly from experienced travel ballers who want to give something back to the game. There are a bunch of HS girls who love softball and really do want to be good at it. They do look up to the more talented girls and learn a ton without all the pressure. Whether they found softball late or not, what matters is they found it and it is important for the growth of the game. Kids can relate allot better to other kids than us adults can (hehehe), sometimes. I've heard all the stories about how REC ball ruins travel ball girls and I think that is a bunch of BS. I always see these posts of the hard working girls getting all these well deserved accolades for getting scholarships, etc., and the rest who grunt through the grind of travel ball as we know it. But REC Ball should be a time when kids who can make a difference do it with positive input, and raise the bar. There are a bunch of girls who would love to have some of that experience and expertise spill over onto them, if nothing more than for the benefit of the game and the relationships it fosters. JMHO.

 

That's a good idea. You need to give some contact info. Maybe post something at Grand Slam. Or make direct queries to TB players and/or coaches. Be careful not to overwhelm the rec coaches. Also, try to avoid giving one team an unfair advantage over the others.

Definitely a worthy endeavor!

 

All Orgs. Matter

I support Rec. Ball, TB and I'll support 3 or 4 kids playing wiffle ball in their back yard just to see them have fun.

Fishman

 

Rec Ball

I agree. It may not be the most challenging league, but it provides more practice time, playing time, and most of all. Fun for the girls.

 

If done correctly, REC ball can be the most important time of development for any ballplayer. It's where the fundamentals should be taught---also the love and respect for the game.

 

My girls have always played rec ball, having a few TB players on the team sort of pushes the other girls to work harder. I am all for that. My DD has even told the coaches of the younger teams that she would come help out. Rec ball is important, my kids play where I used to play and that facility has been around a long time, and hopefully some of the rec players will feed the TB program. Like you said, they just need some volunteers. There are plenty on this board that have graciously offered there expertise to help rec teams.

 

Yes, rec ball does matter. It gives a player a chance to play with their school friends and local friends. Usually all rec ball teams in a given league are somewhat local and the players will know lots of kids on all the teams. It does help to give a sense of community just like high school ball does.

However, I believe the travel ball team should take precedent over the rec team, but both coaches should attempt to help the other. I never had a problem with the rec leagues except for when it came time to go to a traval ball nationals. The rec league all-star tournaments were in direct conflict and it did pose a problem. I suggested to the tb girls to play rec ball, but let the coach know they did not want to be selected as all-stars. This seemed to work very well the next year.

 

It all matters

I think Rec. High school and travel ball all matter and should be respected.
I know here in Mecklenburg county there a few coaches , myself included, that are involved in all three areas of the spot and it has been like that for awhile. The result seems to be positive in that there is more communication and less animosity between the groups which make it better for the girls.
The rec kids look towards getting better and playing TB one day and both the rec and young TB players attend the HS games. The coolest part is when the little ones come up to our HS girls to talk to them and ask for their autograph.
But like everything else there is positive and negative, The positive seems to come naturally from the kids and sadly it seems the negative is usually from the adults associated with the game.
They are kids playing a lids game, just let it stay that way.

 

Another View...

I respect rec ball as a great way to build a player's skill set, especially prior to joining the travel ball. However, I question a player that plays rec ball after the age of say 12 or so if they are also playing travel. I liken the problems of rec ball to those in middle school ball at times. Since the number of very good/great ball players is smaller, the overall quality of the league will obviously be less than the teams a player will play in TB. Because of this, I feel that playing rec ball lets a player "get away with" more fundamental errors. Rather, the TB player playing RB can use her superior skill set to overcome mistakes that will be much more costly in TB. I would liken it to the superior player who is 12U eligible, but has been playing up at 14U, dropping back down to play 12U.

I would ask the question: If you are the superior player, is practicing/playing games in a situation where you can make fundamental mistakes and still succeed really a good thing? I would say no. Comments?

 

You may remember

Ray, you may remember how we tried to work with Rec leagues in Mint Hill to have an allstar team to play travel ball and keep all the players in Rec leagues to continue to support all players, however the leaders of Rec would not have any part of that idea. Thus Mint Hill lost many families and players, as well as coaches that would have kept a great league heading forward. I enjoyed playing Matthews, Indian Trail and other teams and organizations.
Blaze, Cobras, Curve, Blues, and others were born from Mint Hill!
As in life and sports their are various levels of competition and Rec leagues provide a great service for kids wanting to have fun playing ball and being with their friends as well as helping young kids learn the game. Kudos to all of you that support those leagues.