I'm a rising sophomore and I'm 14u eligible playing on a competitive 14u team this summer. Going forward, is it better to play on a team that goes by grad year, or is it still ok to play my true age group? Next summer my current team will be doing all showcase tournaments and perfect game events, so does it make a difference in what age group I'm playing for if I'm still playing at these tournaments?
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Our older son had this same situation. Grad year is better, but riding the bench with grad year is not. Play at the highest level you're capable of playing.
He waited until junior year in HS to make the jump up, but that was in 2002. He could've done it earlier talent-wise, but back then we didn't see the point and I/we were less informed than folks are today. With today's much earlier commitments I think its probably best to make the jump at the beginning of HS. College coaches may tend to 'group' players as being from a certain grad year by the team they play on. You probably don't want to have that confusion.
Agree with JBB. My oldest is a mid-July, so he had options to play age or grad year. Ultimately, grad year is all that matters, but as JBB suggested, you have to be able to get innings at that level.
Grad year if you can play with them for sure. But you need to play.
DEbaseball01 posted:I'm a rising sophomore and I'm 14u eligible playing on a competitive 14u team this summer. Going forward, is it better to play on a team that goes by grad year, or is it still ok to play my true age group? Next summer my current team will be doing all showcase tournaments and perfect game events, so does it make a difference in what age group I'm playing for if I'm still playing at these tournaments?
I think it depends what kind of baseball you will see, my son also has a summer b-day, he will be in 9th grade next year. I am going to let him tryout for the 14u Major level teams here, they play the best of the best teams and see a LOT of great pitching. I think he will see better players/pitchers on the 14u Major team than the 15u AAA teams. However, if he doesn't make the 14u Major team then he will be playing 15u.
See what types of teams are open to you in both age groups, and how they will use you. Sitting 50% of the time on an older team probably won't make you a better player.
If you would like to play at the collegiate level and will be showcasing and playing in PG events, then you should play with your graduating class.
If you can't compete and get play time at that level (against other 2019's) then you will need to work harder if the next level is your goal. These are the guys that you will be competing against for next level spots.
If you just want to play for fun and not go to the next level, play the least expensive competitive baseball you can where you will play.
Talked to founder of my son's organization and he says that you should play with the team that will get you the most exposure, if college is the goal.
For example, it's better to play with a high level 15U team (with lots of prospects) than maybe a mid-level 16U team (without a lot of prospects). His current 17U (2017's) team has four (2016's) kids who are playing with age group, instead of grade, and all four are committed to D1 schools. That team also has seven other D1 commits who are 2017's.
As the guys mentioned in previous posts, this is assuming that you're getting plenty of PT.
Been there done that ....sorta. My son is just across the border dateline. April 13 bday so he is almost always the youngest in his age group. Played 14u as a rising 9th grader last summer at 4 PG tournaments and we saw 14u teams that 1 thru 9 were better than a lot of high school teams he saw as a freshman. His school had 3 freshman who were varsity starters that played with him 14u last summer. All three were in the conversation for freshman of the year and one actually won it! Point is, play where the competition is best, and you will see playing time. My son will be a 17u pitcher only as a 15 year old this summer so we will see how that works. I think he can compete and he will have better players behind him so I agreed to the bump up for the summer. I have taken a lot of heat from folks on this board over that, but I still think it will be the right call for him. But again, I say play where you can compete and against the best competition if it is a case of playing time being equal!
As others have said exposure and playing time are key. Son's opportunities to play up in age levels served him well in preparing for college ball and his recruitment. Here it sounds like grad year is higher than U-year designation.
Once you've proven you can play on the 60/90 you should play to the highest level possible. In high school you will be competing with eighteen and nineteen year olds. Play at the highest ,even you can get on the field. Unless you're a physical late bloomer you shou,d be looking to play grade over age appropriate. Until the ridiculous age change to May 1 most everyone was playing grade appropriate.
