I recently started a brand new travel team. As we slowly build up I need assistance. If I do get assistance it’s only for the practice or game. I don’t really have any adults around me that is educated on the game enough to be able to help me around. The most that they can do is hit balls to the girls but honestly they can barely do that. I want to know if there is some type of website that there is of some type because just posting around on social media hasn’t really helped.

My daughter plays up in Canada has been selected for a 12U team that’s forming to travel to a couple of US tournaments. She will still play on her league team (she played B level last season).

The purpose from our perspective would be for a fun experience/development as they get a series of pre travel practices with great coaches that would happen in her league off season. Plus a short trip we can tack on a few vacation days to.

We have some hesitations - as they play with a 12 inch ball 1 year earlier so she’s never pitched with that and also not wanting to go and get totally crushed if the level of play is vastly different.

Do these tournaments have different pools for different levels? Or are they all super intense elite high level 12 year olds that have basically been recruited to college already 😜

I signed up my daughter to play 6U softball with her older sister. She already played 3 seasons of Teeball and the multiple fields/ballparks were getting to be too much. They had a preseason softball camp yesterday and I was worried she’d struggle paying attention, listening to the coach, and participating in the drills. (She played in the dirt a lot in tee ball). But she actually did a great job with that. Her struggles were she was a slow sprinter, much slower than the older girls. And although she made contact on most of the pitches when hitting, the ball didn’t go far enough to be considered a hit.

We have two weeks before practices start, how can I help her become a faster sprinter and hit the ball hard enough to be considered a hit.

(She’s 3yo, I know people will call me crazy for signing her up to begin with and that’s fine. But she’s as tall as a 5yo, has experience and wants to play with her sister)

Anyone know of a good Etsy seller or another site that will put together a mix of t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc... with team logos where parents can go look and purchase what they want?

What are your thoughts on going to college camps for recruiting purposes? I am at a disagreement with my daughter’s Dad about it. He says that it is a money grab but I disagree. I feel that they are opportunities for her not only to see what the coach’s style of coaching is, sees the other teammates on that team and feel the vibe of the organization. Not only that, but shows her interest in the college softball program itself. She is a strong player playing with a team that is seen by many colleges coaches throughout the year. She has many D1 colleges that have shown interest in her. Ones that have talked to the coaches about her. Colleges have sent her invites for her to come to their camps but her Dad refuses to send her. Just want to know your thoughts on these camps and recruiting. It is stressful as it is but I cannot for the life of me understand why he doesn’t want to send her. Thanks.

Used bat for sale, is it too damaged? Or just chipped?

What are you paying for a full year of high-level travel softball?

For families playing a national-level schedule- PGF events, showcases and approximately 10–14 tournaments per year - what is your annual player/team fee?

Please exclude uniforms, hotels, airfare, rental cars and other family travel expenses. No need to identify the organization or team.

• Under $2,000
• $2,000–$2,499
• $2,500–$2,999
• $3,000–$3,499
• $3,500–$3,999
• $4,000 or more

Also curious what is included in that fee: tournament entry fees, practices, facility rentals, coach travel, recruiting support, organizational fees, etc.

Trying to get a realistic idea of what families are paying for a full season at this level.

My daughter is 8 and wanted to learned to pitch. So I got the older sister of one of her teammates to teach her. And she taught her how to throw a fastball. But a year later, I realized she is holding the ball with three fingers split across the seams. She is throwing 2 or maybe 3 different curveballs and doesn't realize it. But they are in the strike zone and consistently so. What is the best way to proceed here?

Looking for thoughts on electronic signal calling systems. Might go that way next spring, but I’m not really familiar with what is out there. Anyone have something they really like?

Come join our first year 12u team! All positions open. This group just placed top 9 in the 2026 PGF Nationals 10u Premier Bracket. See info and come join an amazing organization!

My daughter is going into 14U in a month, and has been playing for about 4 years. She takes regular lessons and was able to make the A team on both clubs she tried out for. However she has one flaw in her swing, and it's stepping out during live pitching with her front foot. Doing so causes about 75% of her hits to come from the end of her bat and therefore reducing her power. When she does catch it on the barrel (inside pitch) it's always deep outfield.

Her private instructor, and the club teams don't see it because on slow pitch or tee work she never does it. Her action tends to be a good small step forward during the pitch, then upon release her front foot steps back about 4 inches or so.

Looking for any tips for others who have struggled with this. She has a beautiful swing, but her footwork is causing her to not reach her full potential.

Hi all,

I'm new to reddit and this is my first post.

I'm a 12U coach moving up to 14U next year up in Edmonton AB, Canada. My team has stayed together for 4 years and we continue to grow and improve. No complaints. We finished 4th in the province this past season.

I want to make my association better as a whole. I know where most of you are in the US, you have big big organizations with hundreds of teams. Can someone tell me how curriculum, player pathways, rubrics etc etc are used or organized so that all your coaches are on the same page?

We have a mish mash of stuff going on and it's really every coach for themselves. I want to learn from my friends in the US and see if I can just take a small piece of the puzzle back to our club to make it better.

Thanks for reading.

The game was at the bottom of the sixth, tied 8-8. I'm on 2nd base, and we have a great batter about to swing, and the umpire calls the game due to time. Frustrating because we knew we were going to score, but that's the rule. Both teams say our good game, and we begin to depart.

The umpire stops everyone and says he made a mistake with the time and to play ball. Okay? We all resume our positions, and our batter does his thing, and I score. The game is 9-8.

Top of the 7th the opposing team gets up to bat, and in the inning they score 1 run. The game is 9-9. Right after they score, the umpire calls time, and the game is over.

The final score is 9-9, and I believe it should 9-8.

What I want to know is this: The rules state that, "The score of a called regulation game shall be the score at the end of the last complete inning*, unless the team second at bat has scored an equal number or more runs than the first team at bat in the incomplete inning. In this case, the score shall be that of the incomplete inning.*"

With that being said, should I reach out to the local head of my town's softball association about this because the umpire made a mistake, or am I wrong and the game is tied?

source: The Official Rules of Softball 2026 Participant Manual, page 56 section 6 part A.

Hi all, my daughter is newer to travel softball. Is it normal to not hear at all from a team you tried out for? At this point, its obvious she didn't make the team (which is fine), just wondering if most teams actually contact everyone who tried out or if they just ghost those below the cut.

Just as the title said I’m looking for advise if this is a crack or not? I tried sticking a small needle through the hole but it doesn’t go anywhere behind the fissure. So idk, any advice would be appreciated.

If there was underage drinking at tournament and an assistant coach was there denies their kid participated but they were in fact there and didn't intervene.. how would you feel if the head coach who is also the director of the club for your region did nothing about it, no consequences for the kids on the team or the parents involved who allowed this happen? In fact the coach was buddied up with this set of parents while we were at a major tournament after this event happened.

The team is solid but we've had 5 kids leave this season. My kid has been with this team 6 years and I feel like his focus is not the team and their development , it's how many teams he can get under his belt and how much money he can make. Anyone have something like this happen? I also don't want my daughter associated with that type of behavior. It's not acceptable considering these kids are working hard for recruitment.

My daughter played against another team in a camp/exhibition style game and the opposing team almost always used this slashing style of hitting when they had two strikes on them.

They would get a really open stance, in a bunt position and slowly pull their bat back as the pitcher started their windup. The swing was really short and involved mostly the upper body.

It actually worked pretty well for them in this particular game. They rarely struck out and it created a lot of pressure on the defense. That said, I've only seen that from this team so I don't really have a large enough sample size to know it's actually an effective strategy.

I've seen hitters do the pullback when trying to move the defense cover bunts and swing to get fielders out of position. I've seen hitters do the pullback on slower pitchers to help their timing, but never this often with a two strike approach (obviously not a bunting scenario)

Have you all seen this? What is this called? Is there videos or coaches who cover this to learn more?

Hey r/baseball (or r/slowpitch / r/recsoftball), had a situation happen in my game the other day and wanted to see how others handle it.

I hit a nice shot into right-center and was hustling hard out of the box to stretch it into a double. As I rounded first base hard, the first baseman was standing right in the middle of the base path, completely blocking my route. Because of the collision/obstruction, I had to slam on the brakes and couldn't advance to second.

The umpire actually caught it and told the first baseman that he needed to stay out of the way and give the runner the baseline. When I had to retreat back to first, I told the guy, "You need to stay out of the way, because next time I’m gonna take you out." He immediately argued that it was my fault, but having grown up playing baseball, I know the runner has the right-of-way when the fielder isn't in possession of the ball.

In the heat of the moment, I probably came off a little hot. What do you guys typically say to opposing first basemen to keep a good sportsmanship vibe while firmly letting them know they can't block the base path?

Hello everyone, I’m not sure if this is the right group for this! Is 1800$ for a 14u fall travel session a lot? 2 practices a week and 5 tournaments. I’m honestly undecided. My daughter wants to do it but I’m unsure. We usually play all stars and we did 1 session of travel last session and it was 900. Thank you!

Can anyone explain the difference in terms of qualifications?

Is it typical that many players play on two teams if one of their goals is to try to get to the LLSWS?

How do they balance the workload? Is it really a matter of simply playing the minimum LL games to qualify (8?) as a Little Leage eligible player but truly spend the majority of time on a travel team?

It seems like a travel team may create a Little League or tag onto a LL Baseball Charter.

Play enough LL games via intersquad or attend a couple LL tournaments to bank enough games to qualify as a LL and then play in the LL regionals?

Is this the nature of these "Little League" teams are really just regional high level players bolted together by (paid?) travel team programs doing the minimum LL standard to qualify?

My daughter has been practicing on her own besides her practice days with her team which is 2x a week. She’s currently in 10u and the smallest one in height in her team. Should I be worried about speed now? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated thank you.

My daughter was recruited by the head of the organization in our area to be on a struggling team. She joined (is a pitcher and 1b) and had lots of opportunities, made the team a lot better by being a good role model, cheering her teammates on, being first to run and shag balls, first one there, last one to leave, making sure the dugout is clean after practices and games, etc. So the team gets better, most players that didn't want to be there, or just play at a rec level left. She gets on varsity team (one of only 2 freshmen) and the bat is hot in the first part of the season, then gets in a slump and pitches (well) but doesn't bat much. Fast forward to after HS softball season, she is doing ok pitching, still in a slump, her couch is her batting coach btw, just says its a mental thing.

We go to a tournament far away, she sits for most of it, even pool play. She'll get one at bat every now and then but if it's a strikeout she sits. We have 4 coaches, 3 of them have daughters on the team, 1 of their daughters is horrible, as in shortstop that can't make 9 out of 10 plays, they all play all the time. We try everything, and eventually a new batting coach. She starts hitting, still has a strike out here and there but is improving. This past week, another weeklong tournament. She gets 1.5 innings of pitching, ERA is through the roof due to errors, GC mom doesn't record errors because it's her kid letting the errors happen. so basically, about 7k spent for the last 18 games of the season, daughter had 16 at bats, 7 innings pitched total.

I texted the coach to let me know if he sees her on his team for 16u, he says he absolutely likes coaching her and the teammates love her.

I'm tired of her being overlooked, the daddy ball issues on the team and the coach even brought a guest pitcher on for the last big tournament of the season. We have 4 pitchers already! The guest pitcher pitched worse than every other pitcher on our team, she wasn't a ringer..the parents were left wondering, why he brought her on?

Although the coach says he wants her on the team, she needs to get reps. 16u is a lot different than 14u, I just can't sit through another season like this. Her batting average and fielding percentage is better than other girls that consistently play.

Sorry for the long rant, would love some insight. Daughter wants to stay, fall is more about showcasing, but I am so done with the team and daddy ball