CaCO3Girl posted:I have a 14u son in travel ball who has always played well and I have a 7u daughter in rec ball that does not, lol! There is a boy on my daughters team that reminds me a lot of my son. He can throw from third to first without a rainbow throw and hit two out of the park home runs last weekend. The kid has above average hand eye coordination and he's athletic is what it boils down to.
I pulled the dad aside just this past weekend and said "I'm going to give you some unsolicited advice, don't leave the rec park for travel ball until at least 9u." He of course asked for my reasoning, I said there is no point to travel ball until the kids are pitching, don't waste your money and don't buy into the hype.
I hope he listens.
I would say, don't worry about travel ball until you move to the 60/90 field (13U). Ok, maybe 12U so you can go to Cooperstown, but no sooner than that. The fact is, anything earlier than that, the time and $ is better spent on lessons and instruction. Use rec ball to refine what has been taught during those lessons. And lets face it, most travel ball teams are no better than a rec league all star team.
As far as the 7u kid, let him and his dad have fun and enjoy the time with his friends and teammates. How do you determine that his hand/eye coordination is "above average"? What is 7u average?