[Ksyrup]

So here's the deal, in a nutshell - the combination of doing so well in Tennessee, playing great competition, and talking to some of those folks about how they handle the school/travel stuff and the absolute mind-numbing experience that middle school ball has been this year, got the coaches and number of the parents talking about some things.

First, we've thrown out to the girls the idea of dropping school ball altogether and playing year round as a travel team. Personally, I love the idea, but we're letting the girls make that decision. Playing for your school was a big deal back when I was a kid and travel ball either didn't exist or was secondary, but times have changed. Because we've got kids spread through 3 grade levels (one 8th grader skipped a grade, then we've got mostly 7th graders and 3 6th graders), this would require a commitment from the whole team to not play high school ball, because when most of our girls go to high school, there are still a few who will be in 8th grade and they obviously would not be welcomed on the middle school team. So it's a team decision, all or none.

Second, there are 2 extremely advanced 6th graders who we've invited to join our team. We need another strong pitcher and catcher, and those are their main positions. The pitcher throws a few MPH faster than Caitlin, but is a year younger. And they both can hit. Complicated issue, but they are still with their other team for the time being, but are going to play with us in May at a tournament and then in Panama City for the World Series. We hope they make a a full commitment before Panama City, because I don't like picking up players just for those kinds of tournaments, but we think they will. And truthfully, I kinda hope them playing with us in May forces the issue. But anyway, that's in the works as well.

The reason for both of these things is that we want to step up to the next level, to play the best competition in the southeast and midwest and get regionally and then nationally recognized so that we can start playing the types of tournaments that the D1 coaches scout. And we've already had the UK and Alabama coaches tell us that high school ball doesn't matter - they don't have time to scout during the spring because they are playing then, so it's pretty much only travel ball tournaments during the summer that matter to them. So that's where we are focusing. If we fail, then so be it - if our girls end up at regional/small colleges, they still get to play a game they love and we'll know we did everything in our power to try to get them to those top levels. The worst thing for us would be looking back on missed opportunities because we weren't brave enough to try something outside the box and push the limits of what's typically done around here. So that's what we're aiming for.