Midwest Fastpitch - keeptheboardcorrect@gmail.com

Midwest Fastpitch - keeptheboardcorrect@gmail.com
[ Midwest Fastpitch - keeptheboardcorrect@gmail.com ]

What's the difference?

Posted by Parent on April 13, 2026, 3:23 pm

.. between high-level travel play, PGF / Alliance Nationals, and P4 seasons? I know it's kind of an unanswerable question, but I've seen kids that I thought couldn't miss just crash and burn. Is it the added stress of being in college? Depth of talent you're competing against?

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by Honestly on April 14, 2026, 8:18 pm, in reply to "What's the difference?"

I will give you my perspective from what i seen when my daughter played back when it was P5. You have young ladies that have never fought for playing time having to battle for a spot, and when they are not in the starting line up they cannot handle it and then it becomes a mental thing. It does not help when parents do not bring them to reality that they may not start as a freshman and they need to push through. Then they get pissed and blame everyone else and they hit the portal and its rinse and repeat. You need to prepare your daughter's on how to face adversity.

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by Coach on April 14, 2026, 7:44 pm, in reply to "What's the difference?"

Keep in mind that each level of softball has a different number of contact hours for players. Disregard this information. Teams have found ways around this by having "volunteer" practices and events in which team captains run the event and not coaching staff, which means it does not count towards the contact hours.

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by How about on April 14, 2026, 4:05 pm, in reply to "What's the difference?"

Yes, the early morning work outs, going to class, going to practice, homework, etc. It's highly regimented structure and competing for playing time. Someone's looking to take your place on the team

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by How about on April 14, 2026, 2:14 pm, in reply to "What's the difference?"

How about knowing what it takes to play at that level? Let alone the work ethic needed to get there and stay there. Your player just can't show up to the travel practice and expect to get better at their position once a week if that.

Like all sports, your kid has to be working on their skills, lifting, lessons, etc

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by @How About on April 14, 2026, 3:21 pm, in reply to "Re: What's the difference?"

They're talking about kids that were recruited at P4, they knew how to get there, just not succeed there.

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by Baiting on April 14, 2026, 6:51 am, in reply to "What's the difference?"

Here come the Bandit woo woo parents to enlighten us

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by Want on April 13, 2026, 3:57 pm, in reply to "What's the difference?"

It's the inner want you don't have; mom & dad are there pushing you anymore.

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by @Parent on April 14, 2026, 10:41 am, in reply to "Re: What's the difference?"

A lot of parents, especially those who coach travel, have carefully crafted environments to showcase the players' skills and protect them from failure. This is the reason some college coaches prefer multi-sport athletes.

One thing I've noticed over the years is that the more rural the player, the better the chance of college success. Just my opinion, but if you look at a lot of kids on top of the stats, they seem to come from smaller communities.

Re: What's the difference?

Posted by @Want on April 14, 2026, 10:35 am, in reply to "Re: What's the difference?"

Agree .. it's the lack of experience with competition. You compete on the practice field, in the weight room, in the classroom, etc. If you've been P4 athletic your entire life, you may not have been pushed throughout your career.

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