@BB328 posted:The weird thing is at 14U there seems to be a lots of team but then you jump to 15U and it's like cut in half. I guess this is part of funnel narrowing that that everyone talks about.
They are all good players but are different stages of puberty so it will be interesting how it will all work out.
I was going to write something similar about the number of teams in 15u-17u, but I haven’t experienced a high school summer season yet. It is true the number of teams does significantly drop and most tourneys are ‘open’ without separate class/divisions (AA, AAA, majors). I did notice this fall that there were significantly fewer teams. Outside of the bigger organizations, the rosters are mostly from the same high school. Competition was pretty good but, in the fall, most teams were focused on getting innings for pitchers and general playing time rather than winning the tourney - like batting all 14-16 kids rather than just 9.
The puberty factor is definitely more apparent starting at 15u+. The younger teams do look much younger. Our final tourney this fall was a mix of 15-18u teams. Some were monsters. I heard one of our boys say… you know why there aren’t any parents on the other sideline?…. Those kids all drove themselves here. 🤣Which reminded me that this journey is almost over - so enjoy it while you can!