Are 12U Houston teams too watered down ?

[Joe]

The answer is not more teams. The answer, in part, is less teams. If you want to compete on a national level the talent needs to be concentrated not diluted.

Wrong! The answer is better coaching...developing the talent they have.

[justawatcher]

The only real "violations" I have seen is decent to strong lower age level teams playing up in a very weak tournament (by weak, I mean issues throwing and catching balls, not even mentioning the pitching) and thinking they did something great by scratching off a few wins.

That happens everywhere. Like this "loaded" pool in McKinney. Please. It was a halfway decent 12U pool.

[RlCldH2O]

The answer is not more teams. The answer, in part, is less teams.

This statement is so short sighted I wouldn't be suprised if you had to have glasses to see past the computer screen in front of you. Seriously, do you believe the powerhouse 'Orginizations' that come out of CA are the only teams that they have? There is a HUGE group of young talent busting it to even get looked at by those teams.

[22'sDad]

I don’t know if the teams are watered down but there sure are a lot of them. Here is a list of the tournament teams just in the greater Houston area. There might be even more not listed.

Force
Aces 12U
Arsenal
Austin's finest
Ballistix
Cobras 98
Cobras 99
Cobras 99,
Cruisers
Hawks
Heat 99
Hit A Way
Houston power
Hustle 99
Impact 98
Intruders
Kaos 99
Legendz
Mizuno
Panthers
Pasadena Angels 99
Peppers
Peppers 99
Phantomz 99
Rage
Redhots 99
Shockwave
Smash
Speed
Stampede 98
Storm Elite
Stroz 99
Sudden Impact 99
Surge
Texas Thunder
Tide 99
Total Package
TPS 98,
TPS 99

[Joe]

About 40? There should be 400! That way... we'd know our sport is healthy and growing, and people are starting to pay attention to a great game. Perhaps then we could attract some real coaches and parents who want to teach and develop, instead of assembling (recruiting) championship teams.

[3monkeys]

Found a few more...(*)

Force
Aces 12U
Arsenal
Austin's finest
Ballistix
Cobras 98
Cobras 99
Cobras 99,
Cruisers
*Cypress Renegades
*Force 99 (Katy)
*Fort Bend Stars
Hawks
Heat 99
*Heat 98
Hit A Way
Houston power
Hustle 99
Impact 98
Intruders
Kaos 99
*Lady Stros 99
*Lady Stros 98
Legendz
*Lone Star Pride
Mizuno
Panthers
Pasadena Angels 99
Peppers
Peppers 99
Phantomz 99
Rage
Redhots 99
*Rose Rich Mustangs
Shockwave
Smash
Speed
Stampede 98
*Storm Elite 99
Storm Elite 98
Stroz 99
Sudden Impact 99
Surge
*Texas Instinct 99
*Texas Sabotage
*Texas Terror
Texas Thunder
*Texas TNT
Tide 99
Total Package 98
*Toxic 98
TPS 98,
TPS 99
*Turn 2
*Xtreme

[txfastptchcoach]

I know one thing. Baseball has a racket. They start paying coaches when the kids get to 7 years old. I've been coaching girl’s softball for 8 years and I love every minute I'm doing it. My payment has been watching my girls evolve into really good softball players. What everyone has to understand is quit worrying about winning so much at the younger ages and teach the fundamentals of the game to these kids and the winning will come!!!!!! How many girls have fielding lessons????? Practically NONE and it shows. Boys do hitting/fielding and pitching if they are a pitcher. Softball parents believe in hitting and pitching. There is a proper way to approach a ground ball, be it is hit at you, to your left, to your right and slow rollers. You should always transfer the ball out front of you and go THRU the ball. I see a lot of girls that have not been taught how to work the 2B bag on double play. You have to step one way or the other because in softball they have to go straight into the bag not like baseball. Don't even get me started on catchers. There are only small # with proper foot work behind the plate and bring their glove to their ear for throw down. Outfielder’s need to be taught how to take angles and to not put there glove up until before you make a catch do to it slows you down. They need to be taught how to crop hop properly. If you haven't played much ball all this can be found on the internet. But as we know this is far from happening in the softball world and all we can do is teach them when we get them.

The BIGGEST mistakes I see with teams are that the COACHES hit the ball to HARD at their kids and they wonder why they play the ball on their hills.

[slaphitter]

I don’t know if the teams are watered down but there sure are a lot of them. Here is a list of the tournament teams just in the greater Houston area. There might be even more not listed.

Force
Aces 12U
Arsenal
Austin's finest
Ballistix
Cobras 98
Cobras 99
Cobras 99,
Cruisers
Hawks
Heat 99
Hit A Way
Houston power
Hustle 99
Impact 98
Intruders
Kaos 99
Legendz
Mizuno
Panthers
Pasadena Angels 99
Peppers
Peppers 99
Phantomz 99
Rage
Redhots 99
Shockwave
Smash
Speed
Stampede 98
Storm Elite
Stroz 99
Sudden Impact 99
Surge
Texas Thunder
Tide 99
Total Package
TPS 98,
TPS 99

Joe I agree with you that we need better coaching and keep the team core together but until parents realize that there dd needs to be with equal or better talent to improve and grow we will continue to have new teams forming every year so a parent can showcase their dd.

How many of these teams have been formed in the last 2 years ??? How many have been around longer than 2 years with the same core girls (5 or more)??? This can give you an indication of building talent or trying to just put a team together (to spotlight your dd) just because it felt like the thing to do. But we have discussed all of this before.

[DP3816]

I know one thing. Baseball has a racket. They start paying coaches when the kids get to 7 years old. I've been coaching girl’s softball for 8 years and I love every minute I'm doing it. My payment has been watching my girls evolve into really good softball players. What everyone has to understand is quit worrying about winning so much at the younger ages and teach the fundamentals of the game to these kids and the winning will come!!!!!! How many girls have fielding lessons????? Practically NONE and it shows. Boys do hitting/fielding and pitching if they are a pitcher. Softball parents believe in hitting and pitching. There is a proper way to approach a ground ball, be it is hit at you, to your left, to your right and slow rollers. You should always transfer the ball out front of you and go THRU the ball. I see a lot of girls that have not been taught how to work the 2B bag on double play. You have to step one way or the other because in softball they have to go straight into the bag not like baseball. Don't even get me started on catchers. There are only small # with proper foot work behind the plate and bring their glove to their ear for throw down. Outfielder’s need to be taught how to take angles and to not put there glove up until before you make a catch do to it slows you down. They need to be taught how to crop hop properly. If you haven't played much ball all this can be found on the internet. But as we know this is far from happening in the softball world and all we can do is teach them when we get them.

The BIGGEST mistakes I see with teams are that the COACHES hit the ball to HARD at their kids and they wonder why they play the ball on their hills.

Very well put. Coach kids up! I see teams looking for player and most of the time it says "do you hve what takes to help our team achieve its goals?" It would be really refreshing to see a request for players that says "come out for our team and we'll help you achieve your goals."

[soreshins]

It does depend on "goals." If your goal is to compete nationally (and the goal of every team my kid has been on was to compete nationally), you have to do what nationally competitive programs do. In California it is not uncommon to have paid coaches. Some programs in California have 3 or 4 contacts per week at 12U. Team hitting, team fielding, individual hitting and you are expected to take hitting/pitching lessons on your own. If we did this in Texas the parents would riot. But it gives the California programs a significant edge.

Fathers who are coaches are the backbone of softball. But, you can't expect someone's dad to develop your player. Few have the qualifications and none have the time (they have jobs too). You have to get lessons from a qualifed instructor and you have to practice on your own. One team practice per week and two per week during the summer is not going to develop players.

You have to have chicken to make chicken salad. You have to have good players to compete nationally. We have a finite number of good players in Texas. If those players are spread over 50 teams rather than 15 teams it is hard to compete. On the other hand if your goal is get a few friends together and play tournament ball locally. Then the current situation is just fine. More teams equals more fun.