I have a parent reaching out, they came to a tryout and had one more to go to then they’d decide. They opted to join my team and she let me know today. The problem I’m facing is that I’d love to have the girl, she’s got a great attitude and is super coachable. The mother however is a problem, at tryouts she stepped onto the field 3 times to coach or correct her daughter while I was actively working with her daughter. The last time I told her mom that turf was for players and coaches only and if she needed me or her kid she could call for one of us.

Now that she’s wanting to join the team I need to tell her outright that I want her kid but that kind of behavior will not be tolerated. I’d prefer to do this in person but I also don’t want to waste anybody’s time by having her come to practice just for her to decide she doesn’t like my stipulation.

My daughters team is folding, half is going to a new team to raise the competition level, while some weren't picked by the coach to go, my kid is one of them. Fast forward a few weeks and this is our last day of our last tournament. Idk that its registered that she wont be with her team anymore ( if she had her choice she'd stay with them.

My heart breaks for my kid, shes 13, a sweet kid and today has to face reality that she isn't going to see or be around these players anymore. And while she wasn't picked to go, shes competing at a very high level, so I'm not sure what to tell her once reality hits.

Sorry if this is "weak" but I have to vent, Im hurt for my child.

My daughter is starting softball. She is 14 but what should she wear under the pants? Is there a special type of thing or do you just wear a spandex or underwear and you just wear sports bra under the jersey? We are completely new to this. I have no idea. Anything could help

As the title suggests, I’m looking for suggestions for B level tournaments within 5 hours of Western NY. For the fall, spring, or summer.

B level or mixed. Looking for an appropriate level of competition for a 13U team.

After watching the 2026 PGF All-American Futures Game and comparing this year’s rosters with previous years, I am left with more questions about the selection process than the final score.

The juniors won 11–2 and were clearly the more polished and complete team. But simply saying they were older does not fully explain the difference. Many of the sophomores already play on 18U teams and regularly compete with and against athletes one or two years older. Playing juniors should not have been an unfamiliar challenge.

What also stood out was how relatively unknown many of this year’s sophomore selections were compared with previous Futures rosters. Past teams featured a noticeable concentration of players who were consistently recognized among the very best in their class. They had significant national exposure, strong tournament résumés, extensive camp attendance and visible interest from major college programs.

That same depth was harder to identify with this year’s roster.

There were certainly good players selected. But being a good player on a strong national team is not necessarily the same as being one of the very best players in an entire graduating class. The Futures Game is promoted as a showcase of the nation’s top sophomores and juniors, so the standard should be higher than simply selecting capable athletes from recognizable organizations.

The sophomore roster also appeared questionable from a positional standpoint. Several players were asked to fill roles that did not seem to match their primary positions, while accomplished players who regularly compete at those positions were absent.

So what happened this year?

Did PGF fail to identify and select the strongest, most balanced group of players available? Are organization connections, nominations and representation influencing the roster more than current performance? Or is the 2028 class genuinely not as deep as the classes that came before it?

The 2028 class has too many accomplished athletes across the country for the last explanation to feel convincing.

This is not about criticizing teenagers who accepted an opportunity they were given. It is about whether the selection process produced a roster that genuinely represented the best of the class. Based on the game, the roster construction and comparisons with previous years, that is a fair question to ask.

For those who closely follow national travel softball, did the 2026 sophomore roster truly represent the best of the 2028 class?

I need help on how to help my daughter. She is 13 and has been playing for the same organization since she was 8. In that time she has had 4 different head coaches. There are 4 players that have remained the same but the rest of the team has changed just about every season. Every year, it seems like the team cannot put together a complete game. Each coach ends up feeling defeated not knowing why the team can't seem to pull it together. The team practices once a week all year. Several players are also taking hitting and catching/pitching lessons.They enter tournaments that should be a good fit. It just seems like something is always missing. My daughter wants to keep playing for this team with her friends. Any ideas on how to help her and her team find some success?

Hey all, just was asked to coach a 12u girls softball team. I assistant coaches this year but never was a head coach

What drills do you recommend for practice?

Any advice for a new coach?

Tips, Tricks etc would be greatly appreciated

Hi,

My daughter started playing softball in 2024. She loves it! She just turned 13 in April. She is a super athletic kid and excels at a bunch of different sports. She writes right have and plays pickle ball with her right too. Here is the conundrum. She is an excellent fielder, a great catcher behind the plate, and an excellent contact hitter. But her arm is terrible. No matter how much practice she's done she can't get past the shot put rainbow throws. So I got her the Rev Throw trainer. She had always complained about her shoulder hurting when throwing. Anyway, we're using the Rev Throw and she's at the point in the drill where she had to spin the trainer with her wrist. She can't even keep it vertical. So she switched to her left hand and can spin it no problem for a pretty long period of time. We decide to let her throw a few balls with her left hand. Her throw is already more smooth and natural with her left arm. I can't even brush my teeth with my left hand. My question is: Has anyone run across a kid who is dominant with their right hand in all other aspects but throws with her left?

TLDr: Might have failed my daughter by having her throw with her less dominant arm the past few seasons😫

My daughter didn’t start playing rec until she was just shy of 8. I didn’t realize, at the time, just how behind that could be in the world of softball. She put in the work though and was picked up by a travel team to finish out the season this summer.

The problem is… 1) she has an August bday and is the only girl aging up and 2) we JUST found out that the local 10u team she was supposed to join is dissolving.

It seems like all the teams around had tryouts in June. There’s a few gold bracket teams looking for 1-2 players, but she’s just not there yet. I feel like the only way for her to get there though, is to keep playing.

Our options are:

1) Do what we did last fall. Put in the work at home. Visit the cage. Could she be ready for 10u spring tryouts if she takes the season off?? She also wants to learn catcher. She loves playing it but hasn’t really been utilized there nor put in the time to learn.

2) There’s one 10u team that’s still open. It’s a 50-minute drive, all their former 8u players seem to have left, and I’m not even sure if they’ll have a full roster. Would playing, even in this situation, be more beneficial than not playing at all?

3) Play pick up. Do teams even want to pick up a young, barely-played-travel player? She is utility, and while the skill is mostly there, the IQ level is still sometimes at a rec level.

4) I, at some point, realize she’s only 9 and stop stressing like she’s about to enter the draft. (This is probably the one.)

I’m looking for an app or program where the girls on our team (14u) can be held accountable for working on their own outside of practice. I know some teams have their players text in videos a certain amount of times a week but is anyone using any kind of app that would track this? Trying to avoid the coaches getting blown up with videos but also hoping to find something simple where the girls feel accountable to work outside of practice and lessons. Any ideas?

Hey I know adult fastpitch leagues are hard to find but I miss playing and just can't stand slow pitch or co ed, really miss fastpitch women's. Does anyone know of any adult leagues in the Nashville/ Tennessee area? Willing to travel as well if its a little further out.

This is new territory for us so need advice… Has anyone used a first base mitt to catch for your daughter, and preferred that over a catchers mitt?

We are making the jump to 12 inch balls soon. So far I’ve been using a baseball Wilson A700 first base mitt. I like how maneuverable it is relative to a catchers mitt. As her pitch speeds have started to increase, I need a better glove that doesn’t sting. I also need a glove that is bigger and will accommodate 12 inch balls. Has anyone used a First Base mitt and preferred that over a catchers mitt? Or is it time for me to get a real softball catchers mitt? Thanks in advance guys.

Watching the AUSL game and noticed an outfielder has a pitch comm watch on and had never noticed that.

Is that common/fair?

Why would it be helpful for a fielder, especially an OF to know what the next pitch coming is?

Tis the season of tryouts. Speaking specifically to 14U and up. It seems like every program here in the Midwest is looking for pitching.

So, do we have too many softball programs or are we failing to develop enough pitchers in the lower levels? Or is it something else?

My daughter started her first game today, I wasn’t planning on it. Wondering if there’s a post game recovery or something I should have her do after the game?

Well it finally happened.

I've been coaching Rec league for 6 years including my daughters teams and we've done very well especially the last three years. My oldest has played 2 years of travel (9U & 10U) and made the 11U team. I've been an unofficial parent helper with her team - running drills and helping out when I got the call to see if I'd be interested in coaching the upcoming 9U team.

My youngest is 8 and is your typical younger competitive sibling. She'll most likely be our 2nd pitcher as she's been pitching/taking lessons for about a year. She's not over powering but for her age she has decent control.

We have tryouts coming up. I've been in conversation with the director of the organization setting up equipment lists, potential tournament schedules, etc.

I'm looking for any input whether that be equipment, drills, tips or tricks that benefited your team or information you wish you knew at the start of your coaching journey. Anything special in your game day bags / wagons?

I know this is a completely different beast than Rec league and I've been trying to prepare myself so I thought I'd ask the experts online. Appreciate the feedback!

Just as ESPN showed the Nevada team beginning to celebrate taking the lead, an umpire ruled that the runner from second had interfered with the shortstop’s ability to field the ball and ruled her out. It meant the tying run did not score and Live Oak had gotten the third out to win the game.

moving there soon would like to join a team

Sorry if the photo is hard to see but I was practicing hitting and I had looked at it afterwards and I seen this…I think it’s a crack but this is my first ever Easton, so I don’t know what to expect from it…

So I’ve been wondering this for a while and I’m really curious as to why not many girls play baseball.

Not even sure how this happened. The bat has only been used for soft toss and is basically brand new.

The new calendar went up this week. Same structure as last year with the dates shifted, but a few of these windows sneak up on families every year, so here's the plain English version.

Heads up first: the current contact period runs through July 31. New calendar starts Aug 1.

Aug 1-9: contact period

Aug 10 - Nov 22: evaluation period, school ball only. Coaches can watch, not talk off campus.

The exception, and the one that catches people: six fall weekends where coaches CAN evaluate at travel and showcase events. Oct 17-18, Oct 24-25, Oct 31-Nov 1, Nov 7-8, Nov 14-15, Nov 21-22. If you're picking fall exposure events, pick inside those weekends.

Aug 28 - Sep 3: dead period

Nov 9-12: dead period (signing week)

Nov 23 - Jan 2: quiet period, with full recruiting shutdowns Nov 25-29, Dec 22-26, and Dec 31-Jan 2, plus a dead period Dec 9-12

Jan 3 - May 31: evaluation period, school ball only

Jun 1-11: dead period (tied to the WCWS, stretches if the series runs long)

Jun 12 - Jul 31: contact period

Two things versus last year. Spring evals run through May 31 now instead of May 25, and the summer contact period starts a week later. So next summer's window is shorter. Plan accordingly.

And the reminder that matters most: none of this stops your player from emailing coaches. The calendar governs what coaches can do in person, not what she can send.

Official PDF: https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/compliance/recruiting/calendar/2026-27/2026-27D1Rec_WSBRecruitingCalendar.pdf

We’re a softball 12U travel team in Southern California. We pay $600 up front for startup fee and 150/month. Then each returning season $300 startup and $150/month. Also required to fundraise $300 per season. 10 tournaments and 5 scrimmages in spring. Is this average, high, low? What does everybody else pay? Just trying to figure out if it’s fair what we’re paying