Playing up

[catchers_rock]

What are the Key signs your player needs to play up? Looking for impute from both sides . Have you done that? wish you made the move?
seams the talent moved up with age and the younger ones get left behind. sucks for the ones that played with the older girls and able to keep up to get left behind with the newbies coming up from lower age groups. Great chance to mentor but what do you do if your kid just wants to play and play hard?

[Tenshun]

What are the Key signs your player needs to play up? Looking for impute from both sides . Have you done that? wish you made the move?
seams the talent moved up with age and the younger ones get left behind. sucks for the ones that played with the older girls and able to keep up to get left behind with the newbies coming up from lower age groups. Great chance to mentor but what do you do if your kid just wants to play and play hard?

Is this a rhetorical question? The signs?

The "signs" should be pretty obvious. If they're not, your DD probably shouldn't be playing up.

[bruisedshin]

I think this is the correct path, but I'm sure lots of people will disagree:

1) If the player is not playing on an elite team in the area, you should do that first. By elite team, I mean one that is bound for ASA/USA nationals or PGF. Not that says they're aiming at that, but has actually qualified and has a reasonable expectation of doing it again. If the team you're on is going to Westerns, or IFA/USSA/NSA, you shouldn't be thinking about moving up in age groups yet. Get on a better team. If you can't make a better team, you're probably not really ready for the next age group.

2) If the player is on an elite team (playing elite competition), but is not a dominating pitcher or is not one of the top couple players on the team (if the player is batting 7th, they're not one of the top players on the team), there's obviously still work to do in your age group.

In short, if the player is one of the very best players on one of the very best teams, maybe they should be playing up. I've seen a lot of parents who are very proud of their 12 year old who plays 16U rec ball. While that's probably better than playing 12U rec, that player would probably improve more rapidly playing on a good 12U ASA team, even if it doesn't sound as impressive when talking to friends and relatives.

The downside of playing up is typically maturity. Inappropriate conversation and difficulty relating to teammates (who typically view younger players as immature) are common. Don't be surprised when your girl comes home with some new vocabulary.

From what I have seen, elite 12U ball is better than mediocre 16U. While I don't think it's necessary for players to play on older teams (most of the time), it's very common for elite teams to play up an age division or two and compete. To me this seems very reasonable. If a 14U team can win tough tournaments in their age bracket, there's every reason to compete at 16U locally as they get ready to compete nationally.

Once players get to 16U/18U, I don't see any issue with playing up. At that point it's about finding the best team you can get on. Also, if you live in some backwater and there are not a lot of options, playing up may be best.

[Old Darter]

I think this is the correct path, but I'm sure lots of people will disagree:

1) If the player is not playing on an elite team in the area, you should do that first. By elite team, I mean one that is bound for ASA/USA nationals or PGF. Not that says they're aiming at that, but has actually qualified and has a reasonable expectation of doing it again. If the team you're on is going to Westerns, or IFA/USSA/NSA, you shouldn't be thinking about moving up in age groups yet. Get on a better team. If you can't make a better team, you're probably not really ready for the next age group.

2) If the player is on an elite team (playing elite competition), but is not a dominating pitcher or is not one of the top couple players on the team (if the player is batting 7th, they're not one of the top players on the team), there's obviously still work to do in your age group.

In short, if the player is one of the very best players on one of the very best teams, maybe they should be playing up. I've seen a lot of parents who are very proud of their 12 year old who plays 16U rec ball. While that's probably better than playing 12U rec, that player would probably improve more rapidly playing on a good 12U ASA team, even if it doesn't sound as impressive when talking to friends and relatives.

The downside of playing up is typically maturity. Inappropriate conversation and difficulty relating to teammates (who typically view younger players as immature) are common. Don't be surprised when your girl comes home with some new vocabulary.

From what I have seen, elite 12U ball is better than mediocre 16U. While I don't think it's necessary for players to play on older teams (most of the time), it's very common for elite teams to play up an age division or two and compete. To me this seems very reasonable. If a 14U team can win tough tournaments in their age bracket, there's every reason to compete at 16U locally as they get ready to compete nationally.

Once players get to 16U/18U, I don't see any issue with playing up. At that point it's about finding the best team you can get on. Also, if you live in some backwater and there are not a lot of options, playing up may be best.

Great post!

[SoftballSoccerDad]

What are the Key signs your player needs to play up? Looking for impute from both sides . Have you done that? wish you made the move?

If you played softball or baseball in college, that is a clear and definitive sign that your child MUST play up. It doesn't matter if they aren't even in the top half of 8u players, they must go up or else you'll have nothing to brag about.

I had to move my DD up to keep her from being on such a bad rec team again and 'bad' didn't have a thing to do with wins and losses. She could play 12u now, but needs to stay with her age group a while.

[#1fann]

Agreed on the great post! If your DD is playing up, make sure she`s getting ample quality playing time. Won`t do a bit of good trying to learn from the bench. Also, stay away from daddy ball driven organizations. Most elite teams don`t have this problem. MOST, NOT ALL! If a father is a head coach, cast a wary eye. Even if you believe he`s the greatest coach ever, chances are he`s gonna hit the road as soon as his daughter is gone.

I think this is the correct path, but I'm sure lots of people will disagree:

1) If the player is not playing on an elite team in the area, you should do that first. By elite team, I mean one that is bound for ASA/USA nationals or PGF. Not that says they're aiming at that, but has actually qualified and has a reasonable expectation of doing it again. If the team you're on is going to Westerns, or IFA/USSA/NSA, you shouldn't be thinking about moving up in age groups yet. Get on a better team. If you can't make a better team, you're probably not really ready for the next age group.

2) If the player is on an elite team (playing elite competition), but is not a dominating pitcher or is not one of the top couple players on the team (if the player is batting 7th, they're not one of the top players on the team), there's obviously still work to do in your age group.

In short, if the player is one of the very best players on one of the very best teams, maybe they should be playing up. I've seen a lot of parents who are very proud of their 12 year old who plays 16U rec ball. While that's probably better than playing 12U rec, that player would probably improve more rapidly playing on a good 12U ASA team, even if it doesn't sound as impressive when talking to friends and relatives.

The downside of playing up is typically maturity. Inappropriate conversation and difficulty relating to teammates (who typically view younger players as immature) are common. Don't be surprised when your girl comes home with some new vocabulary.

From what I have seen, elite 12U ball is better than mediocre 16U. While I don't think it's necessary for players to play on older teams (most of the time), it's very common for elite teams to play up an age division or two and compete. To me this seems very reasonable. If a 14U team can win tough tournaments in their age bracket, there's every reason to compete at 16U locally as they get ready to compete nationally.

Once players get to 16U/18U, I don't see any issue with playing up. At that point it's about finding the best team you can get on. Also, if you live in some backwater and there are not a lot of options, playing up may be best.

[ICMTM]

Find the best situation for your kid. I am generally not a fan of kids playing up unless they are clearly more gifted than most of the kids in the division she's playing up in. So if you have a 9 year old on a 12U team she better be on a good 12U team AND one of the core players. Otherwise she can still play 10U and be very successful.

Some people will move a kid up on a non talented older team. AVOID that situation.

[bring'nheat]

I do agree with bruisedshin. There are several factors that you need to address before you alloww DD to play up. What is DD's current age, what level are you considering allowing her to play and position?
As bruised mentioned the age & maturity level difference should be looked at seriously. I can say, that NOT all teams allow the inappropriate talk or conversation. That's where you as a parent need to talk to the coaches and listen to how the older girls talk.
Good luck!