14U TEAMS

[dittoz]

One of those things I wondered about...

How many of those damn little medals does a kid need at 14? Why not just do friendlies for the most part every weekend, then play in only the big tournies like Force, HB, Metros and Nats. If teams all did this, it would save a lot of the $400 tourny costs and allow coaches to get players in an teach/develop.

Of course, places like DF and the local ASA affiliates would go under, but honestly...

[Iluvblue]

If teams all did this, it would save a lot of the $400 tourny costs and allow coaches to get players in an teach/develop



There is nothing keeping a coach from getting EVERYONE in now(Except their own ego). I have 13 players and different 4 players sat in ALL SIX of our games. I did the lineups for all 3 game son Saturday on Wed, prior to knowing how strong or weak any of those teams are. Saturday night I did our lineup for all 3 games on Sunday. I sat 2 of my best hitters in the championship game. Why? Because I must give everyone one of those kids a chance to show me what they can and cant do, and not only against weak teams.


Friendlies are ok, but you can not get the same level of intensity out of them. That is why I will play mostly tournaments scattered with a few friendlies. I want the kids to get used to playing on Sunday when it is lose and go home. You cant do that in friendlies.


JMO.

[dittoz]

Do you really see the intensity level change from the KIDS in a friendly or is it a reaction to the coaches' or parents' mentality? You're a different kind of coach compared to many, but in general I've always seen that real players play, no matter what the venue. They react to the way coaches and parents act and approach situations - give them a task, challenge them, set goals and point out improvements as well as correct errors (positively) and the kids will react accordingly. Walk into a friendly with a low-impact, low effort mindset and yeah - it ain't gonna be pretty. (And yes, I know your team isn't run that way...)

Note that I never said kids aren't or don't get in during tourneys. I always got everyone in on Saturdays, and even again on Sundays. I know there are some coaches who only play the best 9 and everyone else just needs to get better if they want to play, but that isn't the way to develop a player in my opinion. Not at 12 and 13 anyway.

But when it comes to a friendly versus a tourney, and esp in the fall, it's really all about teaching and developing in my opinion. Why wouldn't you sit a good hitter at times in the fall? Regardless, that can be done in either venue, and why pay $400 just so little Sally can have yet another medal or get to experience going home early on Sunday?

[Iluvblue]

The kids always give it their all, but there is no getting around it. A friendly is a friendly. It is different all the way around.


I had a player last Summer that went from my 14u team to the Grapettes Gold team. She is very good and when i sat her last year, i thought she was going to fall over. I asked her if she had EVER sat before, and she said no. So while in theory what you say is correct (why cant you sit one of your best hitters in Fall) the reality is that the coaches still want to win the championship game, even in Fall. And they are not going to sit one of their best players. That is just the way it is.

Most teams have 5-6 players that rarely sit, and it is the other 6-7 kids that do all of the sitting.
And you are correct, fall is about teaching, as is Summer, as is every single time you get together with the kids. But you can do that teaching in games as well, not just practice. But that is not what happens. I watch coach after coach sit on their bucket and never say a word to their team as they make mistake after mistake. And I am not talking about physical errors. I'm talking about defensive positioning, throwing to wrong base etc.,


Knowing what you should do, and then doing it on Sundays are two different things. How many coaches do you know that say one thing and then do something else?????

And by the way, those people running those tournaments are doing us a service also. Easy to forget that as well. The guy running BRAT tournaments gave every team that qualified from our metro/assoc. 500 bucks to take to nationals. But I am really talking about making sure we all have a place to play each week.

[Instig8or]

Best 14u teams in Northern California?

Instig8or has performed an internet search of teams in the NorCal area and finds there are few that stand out when it comes to "Best"

Note that this does not infer they are not good in their own right, but many simply do not play in venues where "Best" can even relate.

Teams of note that could be considered in the upper Eschelon:

-----Strikkers
-----Sharks
-----Sorcerers
-----Grapettes
-----AASA
-----Lady Magic (former F/I)

If teams are playing NSA, USSSA, IFA or any other non-ASA event in NorCal, chances are great that they are not "top" teams. Instig8or also finds that teams playing in small ASA tournaments against other non-competing teams are likewise not "top" teams. Teams need to be competitive in top tournaments such as RR Gold or Grapettes on a regular basis before they can be considered TOP teams.

Aside from competing in quality tournaments, Instig8or also finds that teams generally do not push to win during fall seasons as they would in Spring - others have commented on this already.

[Iluvblue]

Not sure where Lady Magic fall into things as they have been around only a few years, and that was primarily a one team deal. I was not aware of a Lady Magic 14u team this year or last year that was a top team.


But then again, I dont venture up to Sac very often anymore.

[LadyMagic83]

The 12u (now 14u) team formerly known as Sacramento Fire & Ice have joined the Lady Magic organization and have begun play this fall as the Lady Magic 14u team. Sacramento Fire & Ice finished 2-2 (T49th) at 12u A Nationals in Normal this past August.

While not yet a powerhouse in the national sense, they have done very well in the Northern California area and we are proud to have them as a part of the Lady Magic family.

And just FYI, Lady Magic has been around since 1983. In that year their Women's Class A team finished third at nationals. Two years later the 15u team finished second to Lisa Fernandez and Gordons Panthers at the 15u Nationals in Sioux Falls. Since then Magic teams have been to Nationals at least a dozen times with multiple teams in the various age groups. As an active organization, only in the last 2 years have we fielded a single team.

Beginning in the Fall of 2009, we once again will be fielding 3 teams, one each in the 12u, 14u and 18Gold age groups.

[Iluvblue]

I started coaching in 1998.

So I can not speak back to the early 80s when the number of travel teams was very small. I dont think success in the 80s is relevant to the current topic of this thread.

In my time in this area Magic were not in the mix as a top team in any age group until the recent success of the current Gold team starting back when they were in 12u... 3 or 4 years ago.


Im not knocking them, Im just saying that if people asked me to name the top teams in sac area in the last 10 years(In any age group), the Magic would only be brought up in terms of the current Gold team.

[LadyMagic83]

Actually, the Lady Magic team coached by Laura and Joe went to Nationals every year except their last in Gold, finishing as high as 7th in Seattle in 16u. At the same time the current Gold team (two years younger on avg.), coached by Jim and Joe H. were simultaneously going to Nationals, finishing as high as 3rd in 14u. When the older Gold team aged out, the two younger players, still age eligible for 16u, moved down and the result is history.

Just because you didn't notice or were in another division doesn't mean they weren't there in NorCal. But you're right, the history lesson was more to the "they have been around only a few years, and that was primarily a one team deal" comment and not the title of the thread at hand.

[Iluvblue]

By the way, I love the current Gold team. Everything about them, the way they play, the coaches... everything.