So much of this youth sports journey has had an end goal of college and perhaps something more. I remember during Joey’s 8u season I used to get so mad that the kids were rotating and not staying at their primary position. It would bother me to no end. I was always chasing that next best thing in hopes that the next team would be “serious”. Now that my kids are on the serious teams, I wish I could have enjoyed the fun teams a little more. We are in Colorado with Sav’s softball team. We are the new addition as the majority of the girls have been on this team since they were 8,9 and 10. Having been on a few teams now this is almost an anomaly. The longevity and loyalty is pretty great, I say this as I am the biggest offender who makes this hard to come by and the reason this is an anomaly. I am speaking from experience and mistakes. This team's vibe and chemistry is pretty awesome. They have managed to have fun and all the while stay competitive and get better. The parents all seem to cheer on the other kids while cheering on their own. These types of teams do exist but it is not the norm. Team drama is all too common with baseball, softball and basketball. No team is perfect but these guys have had a good run. I think it is in part to the family vibe I mentioned.
Ratings (Individuals)… I think I have touched on this one but let's hit it again in case you have not seen it before. Ratings before the age of 16 are only cool to the kid ranked high. On the same token it is a genius way to make money and a way to get our kids to want to get over to these events and participate. Most of these ratings are based on pop times, velo, yard dashes and can't really take into account any of the players baseball/softball iq or actual ability to play the sport. These are metrics and as a good friend of mine would always tell Joey and Savannah “Don’t be the best 12 year old be the best 18 year old.” It's all about improving each year and loving what you do. Keep this at the forefront of what your child is doing. We recently saw a girl who was ranked as high 89 and is easily a top 5 kid in the country. Have I seen every kid in the country? Nope but I know what I see and I can assure you this girl is at the top of the food chain. This was a great example for all the girls who know her and hopefully for herself that rankings are silly. If we put her in the circle or in the batters box against any of the girls in the top 20 I would bet a month's paycheck her stats would still be off the charts. Moral of the story is that she has not participated in whatever that ranking services use to give their rankings. She still is at the top of each program's list I can assure you.
Rankings (Teams)…This one is similar to the above but is funny cuz you will get the top ranked teams and inevitably you will have beat them and automatically put yourself above them in your head rankings lol. The Rankings are similar in the sense that they can only rank teams that participate in their program. It's not like a college team ranking or a major league ranking. Those teams all play in the same events. However even in college you get people who don't agree with the rankings because all the teams can't play each other. Moral of the story is that unless you’re playing in the org who does the rankings then you can't really be ranked. Don’t be the parent who touts how you are ranked in the country because every team in the country does not participate in the events you were ranked with.
Recruiting…. So I am going to sound like I'm contradicting myself here but when it comes to recruiting it doesn't hurt to be on a highly ranked team. WHEN YOU ARE OLDER. I'd say around 14 is the right age to start worrying about that. If you are on a top 5 team then you will enjoy a few extra eyes on your program and team. My point is that your kid still has to be one of the top 5 kids on a top 5 team. It won't matter if you are on the bench on a great team. I know people have sold you this story about being on a great team and you might get the opportunity to play in front of a coach on some random chance they notice you. Yes this happens but let's be honest. You still have to be good. You have to be playing to get better. Stop chasing college in 10 and 12u and instead focus on a great team vibe and get better on your own time. Pick a team with a coach that cares about your kid and creates an environment where learning is above winning. Everyone wants to win but don’t prioritize that 5 dollar trophy over the experience. Reminds me of when the kids were young and I was on a camping trip with a dad of a major league player. This player had won a world series,made millions and had a great career that was coming to an end. He was on a team but currently was not in the line up as he was in a slump. His dad was upset about explaining how his son was supposed to get out of a slump if he wasn't in the line up. I remember thinking “Dang even if your kid is in the bigs you will still be upset if he doesn't play, regardless of how many millions he is making”
After all, sports are here to teach our children what to do in the real world when they are done playing. Make no mistakes about it. They will all stop playing at some point. Except golfers, they can play till they are dead lol. This is more team sports based. Don't misunderstand what I am saying, your team matters, your kid’s experience matters and most of all our times as parents providing for our children matter. This is only to explain that we can not get caught up in what other kids are doing or being ranked at. It is human nature to be upset when we feel our children have been slighted and I can get that but ultimately it is our job to reassure them that they are doing great when they are and when they are not show them what they need to do to get better. Enjoy the journey and the ups and downs. It will all be over at some point and I hope it's not too late for me to just enjoy the journey in all its varieties. The losses, wins and more importantly the time I get to spend with the kids chasing their dreams.
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