June birthday. Play 13u or 14u baseball?
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Anonymous
| Rising 8th grader and youngest in grade. Turning 13 this month. While we May hold him Back a year when transitioning to high school; Should he play 13u travel team baseball or 14u? |
Anonymous
| Depends on his size. If on smaller side, stick with 13u. |
Anonymous
| Do you have a choice? Baseball is usually by date isn’t it? Or are you asking if he should play up? I have a rising 7th grader who will be 13 in the fall. So they are the same baseball year. My son will play 13u. Some of the 7th graders who are really good have elected to play up in an effort to get ready for high school jv tryouts for the spring season. If he wants to play at higher levels, then I’d play him up if he’s good. If he’s just average stay in 13u. |
Anonymous
| You don’t have a choice to play down to a younger age. Baseball, particularly travel, is extremely strict about ages and it’s based on your birthday. The cut off is April 30. We have been at tournaments where birth certificates are required and checked. Your child is 13 u (if they turn 13 between may 1 2023 and April 30 2024). Your child actually has a great baseball birthday since the cut off is April 30. They are on the older side of all the other kids. |
Anonymous
| He has an option with one travel program to play up to 14u as he plays a certain position that they need. Or he stays 13u on his current travel team |
Anonymous
I will assume that you know at 13U this fall he will move up to a full-size Field. It is a huge transition for these kids as they have much further to run, throw, pitch, etc. Moving up to a 14 U team when the teammates have already had a year of that experience would be a very poor decision in my opinion. |
Anonymous
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If you’re in NVTBL, I believe starting at 13u, you can roster a certain number of older players as long as (I think) 60% of your team is the actual age group age. For example, you can have a couple of 14u players on a 13u team but the catch is tournaments require you to play at the 14u age level then.
If your son skips the transitional 13u year on the big field and plays with 14u kids who already have a year of that under their belt, it could be hard. But on the other hand, if your son wants to play high school ball, it would be more helpful to have him play with the faster pitching of his graduating class. |
Anonymous
It’s great when they are younger like 9u, 10u, 11u, but as op I assume is finding out, he son hasn’t played on 90ft bases yet, and kids entering 7th grade this fall will get two years on 90 ft bases before high school tryouts. He likely didn’t play 70 ft until 6th grade while others played in 5th. It’s a huge adjustment. What she should have done is just redshirt a July boy back in K. |
Anonymous
If the coaches aren’t pushing it, then I think there’s your answer. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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This is not helpful, but for any other parents in the same scenario:
The time to play up would have been this season. I know it sucks to skip the 12U season, since thats the last one on the small field. But as other posters have mentioned, the adustment to the big field can be tough. And if he wants to try out for the JV team in HS, having 2 years on the big field is very important |
Anonymous
| We are in the same situation only a year older and struggling with what to do in the fall. Up to this point he has played up in age but on par with his grad class (he's eligible to play 13 U but has been on a 14U team) I think we are leaning towards a second year of 14 U rather than move up to 15 U. His current 14U team has been playing in a few 15 U tournaments and it is a huge difference in size and ability. Agree with the poster who asked about his size. There are some huge 13 year olds that could easily play up while some haven't yet grown and could benefit from staying on age. Its better to be on a team where he can play than on a higher level team where he sits on the bench. |
Anonymous
| If he has not played on the big field yet, I would do 13u fall and 14u spring. Going from 13u to JV baseball is a tremendous jump. If your son is already working through puberty and is on the bigger side, or could reasonably play varsity as a freshman, I would for sure move up. For a smaller player, or if you are strongly leaning toward a redshirt year before high school, staying at 13u would be better. |
Anonymous
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Definitely 14U, unless you are very serious about holding him back a year in school. He really needs this year on the full size field before high school.
If you really do plan to hold him back, then 13U. As others have said, size and puberty make an enormous difference at these ages. |
Anonymous
13u is also the full sized field. I would consider a 13u fall ball team and then see if you can switch for the spring season |