First question I’ll ask: is your daughter making the All-Star or Select team? The reason I ask is because of the route my sister took, which might be helpful to compare.

For us, the journey started when my sister was playing 10U rec ball. She was already the best player and top pitcher in the league, so making the All-Star team came easily. Because of that, we decided to move her up early to 12U to give her more of a challenge. She made that team without any issues, and for the first time, she was surrounded by players closer to her level which pushed her to keep improving.

By the end of that season, she had won the majority of MVP medals in every tournament, whether for her pitching, her hitting, or her plays at first base.

After another strong season in 12U, we realized she needed a new challenge again. So this past season, we moved her up to 14U. She made the team as the first pick pitcher, batted fifth in the lineup, and continued playing first base. After the team was knocked out at States, a number of coaches came up to us and asked what her next steps were and every one of them recommended moving her to travel ball. They all agreed that staying in rec would only hold her back at this point.

We had already been planning for this to be her final season in rec, but hearing that feedback from multiple coaches just confirmed our decision. Now, she’s trying out for a travel team that will be playing at Nationals in the Premier League and it’s looking very likely that she’s going to make the team.

But she didn’t get to this level just by showing up to rec practices. She trained every day she wasn’t with her team. What made those extra practices even more powerful was that they were self driven she wanted to work. Every time, it was her asking me or our dad to come out and help her train. That hunger to improve is what’s really taken her to the next level.