Tournament Questions

Well said CD, as I said early it is simply up to the responsible adults in this to make the right decision about what level their players should be competing at. Don't expect the money making machine that is has become to turn away teams.

 

my advice....

has always been to allow the girl to compete at her age level until she is dominant...then move up to the next age level and repeat step one. That should apply for teams as well, but once you move up...don't look back.

In my experience, it seems that the good, dedicated pitchers get really strong, speed wise, around 14 or 15 and continue to develop spins, accuracy, etc. as they age. So you will see dominant pitchers in the younger age groups while the majority of hitters seem to mature as they get older.

The goal for all players and coaches should be to play good competition to make your team better and increase the skill level of each individual player so that when they are older they will have opportunities to not only have fun and develop lifelong relationships, but to hopefully have their education paid for. It's a win, win situation if done correctly.

 

This thread was posted about "teams" playing up in the fall, not individuals playing up in older age groups for a season.
To me, there is a big difference between the two.

A team can play up in an age group and gain valuable experience if they can stay on the field with the upper age group team. But if the same team is getting waxed then the younger kids don't get there fair share of at bats, etc.

By the same token, if your, say 14u teams is the one that is laying the lumber on everybody in their own age group then it makes sense to me to go ahead and qualify for the national tourn. at 14u and then hone your skills against kids who have the talent that you'll face in the nats.
If that opposition happens to be an upper age group, say 16u, and 16u events are not happening, (as has been the case in NC), then jump on up to 18u.

I'm wrong alot, but I'm having a hard time seeing how wrong it is for a talented team not to seek competition in an upper age group if they can't find similar competition in their own age group.

Fishman


Prediction: NCSU 34 USC 14