14U vs 16U vs 18G

[coach12021964]

I think it is pretty clear that the pinacle of softball is 18G. Along the way it might be a little bit less cut and dry. Should a good 14U team play up to 16U. What are the benefits and drawbacks. What are the benefits and drawbacks to playing 16U now that the mound is at 43? It just seems like 16U is kind of skipped over and an after thought. In my opinion it really should be the most important age group. You have way too many non Gold teams playing Gold and not enough quality teams and players playing 16U. Maybe this is an old argument but what impact do you think moving the mound back will have on this delimma. Comments and insight please.

[Iluvblue]

Gold is not what it used to be. It was only 5 or 6 years when the Grapettes, Scorcerer, Breeze, and on and on had no gold teams. Then all at once, they all jumped into Gold. Then everyone else jumped into Gold.

The reasons were simple. Gold was where the best teams and players were at. So if your kid was playing 18u, that was viewed in the softball community as a weaker team, and that must mean your kid is not as good. Now since this is the age for recruitment, parents darn sure didnt want recruiters to think their kid was not good enough to play Gold, so they searched for Gold teams for their kid to play on. Thus, an explosion of "Gold" teams happened.


Now your question has no absolute answers. Many different variables (IMO) factor into a decision of what to do as far as 14, 16, or 18u or 18g.

In no order:
1) Costs is it worth it to you to take a 14 year old kid that is a freshman and pay over 2400 dollars to play Gold?
2)Travel Your family will travel all over the place costing you THOUSANDS of dollars.
3) Competitiveness of team- Personally, I could not have my kid playing for a "Gold" team that got whipped or had NO SHOT at qualifying for Gold nationals. What is the point of playing if you can not compete?
4) Learning where or on what team will your kid get the best learning experience?
5) Exposure At what age is this your main focus? I never thought it should be the main focus personally. It is part of the equation, but plays too big a part for me.
6) Fun- The game should be fun. Is it just a business to get signed? Can your kid handle playing games where nobody cares about who wins or loses?
7)Teammates- all players should be on a team with players of similar ability. Your kid shouldnt be too good or too weak for her team.


There are many issues and no real answers. But at 14, keep your kid playing in a competitive atmosphere for as long as possible. Have her somewhere where she is getting better and being taught the game. Each individual family has to figure out the answer for themselves.

I personally do not like what has happened in the upper age divisions. 17-18 players per team is ridiculous...... but hey, nobody seems to mind:)

[Instig8or]

Instig8or agrees with ILB in that there are several considerations in whether it's appropriate to take a group of girls at 12 or 14 yr-olds and play them up at a higher level.

There seems to be a generalized push by parents to have kids compete at higher levels than they are ready for, mostly because there is this presumption that a player must be "noticed" as soon as possible. The unfortunate aspect to this is that not only are extraordinary amounts of money spent in the quest (often unneccesarily) to be recruited but these children are being asked to perform more and more as adults and at a level higher than what many professional athletes do!

At what point should a player consider playing "up"? Instig8or feels that if "Up" means moving into a level where showcases, recruiting, and what is generally referred to as "highest level" of play abounds, then it should not occur until the player is clearly one of the top players at their current level. Why waste $2500 in "fees" to play on a gold team when it is "Gold" in name only or the player is not ready to compete against true Gold-level opponents? There is plenty of quality 14u coaching and far too many players playing up because of the ego of their respective parents!