My 2 sons have played baseball for several years; here are the questions I had when they started playing rec ball.
What is Rec Ball?
Rec ball is shorthand for recreational baseball. It's a local league generally split into two seasons: fall ball and spring ball. Rec ball focuses on fun and development. Coaches are volunteers, and the competition should not be overly intense.
Rec ball is the best place for your son or daughter to start in baseball. Since it's built around fun and development, and not around competition, everyone should get a turn on the field, and everyone will make a team. League rules and competitiveness vary, so check your local league's guidelines.
My two kids started in the coach pitch league. For their younger years, there were no tryouts for rec ball. When my boys reached 10 years old, our local league introduced tryouts for its rec ball teams. But don't worry, everyone makes a team in rec ball. The tryouts are simply for coaches so they can all pick their own teams.
While rec ball is built around fun and development, that does not mean your kid will get to play his favorite position in every game. Since there are typically 9 to 15 kids per team, not every kid will be able to pitch every game.
Is Rec Ball for Boys Only?
No, most baseball leagues today allow boys and girls to play rec ball. Your local league may have a girls-only softball league, but generally, rec ball is open to boys and girls.
In our local rec ball league, we will have about four to six teams per age group, which will generally consist of boys. But there will be one or two girls per age group that play baseball with us.
Our local league has softball, which is girls-only, so most of the girls play softball. But that doesn't mean girls aren't welcome to play baseball. It’s just that most feel more comfortable playing in the all-girls softball league.
Before puberty, there is very little difference between boy and girl strength and size. So, if your daughter wants to play rec ball with the boys, sign her up. Also, if your local league doesn't have enough girls for a softball league, they may simply have boys and girls who play together. You can always ask your local league if they allow girls to play and how many girls generally play per age group.
How Often are Practices and Games?
In our local rec ball league, we have one practice and one game per week. We always start the season with one or two weeks of just practices; that way coaches can get a feel for their players and everyone has an opportunity to learn the basics of baseball.
What Equipment Does My Kid Need for Rec Ball?
Generally, most rec ball leagues require your child to bring their own baseball glove, baseball bat, baseball helmet, baseball pants, and baseball cleats. For your first practice, I generally recommend bringing your own glove, helmet, and bat, and wearing the baseball pants and cleats. Most leagues do not require baseball pants for practice, but it's generally recommended in case the coach wants to practice sliding.
Another optional item is batting gloves. Most of the kids will have them, but they aren’t required to play.
What Glove Does My Kid Need for Rec Ball?
The baseball glove doesn't need to be anything fancy; you can go to Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart, or Amazon and let your kid pick one out that fits well and he likes. There are a number of different baseball glove types, including catcher mitts and first base gloves. For rec ball, you won’t want a catcher's Mitt or first base glove for your first time out.
As for size, something that fits your kids’ hand is fine. There are a LOT of options. If you’re nervous about purchasing the right glove, go to a specialty store like Dick’s Sporting Goods and ask one of the people for help. Tell them it’s your kids’ first year and they just need a regular glove. It can be overwhelming how many options there are.
What Bat Does My Kid Need for Rec Ball?
As for baseball bats, there are several different bat certifications. Most leagues from t-ball to 14 years old require a USA-certified baseball bat, but every league is different. They may allow USSSA bats or even BBCOR-certified bats. If the league does not specify what certification is required when you are signing up or on their website, you may want to wait until you meet your son’s new coach and ask them. They can always borrow someone else’s bat, or the coach will have an extra for the first practice.
Since the coaches are usually a dad of a player on the team, the coach can lend you their kid’s bat.
As for a bat size, you can check my other article to get the right length and weight.
What Cleats Does My Kid Need for Rec Ball?
Baseball cleats are typically recommended but not required. If you cannot find baseball cleats, cleats from other sports will do fine too. If your son already has football or soccer cleats, those will be fine. I generally do not recommend metal cleats for rec ball, especially for the first season. Some fields or batting cages do not allow metal cleats, so plastic cleats are safer to purchase. If you have concerns about which types of cleats, you probably won't need cleats for the first practice. Have your son show up in sneakers and ask the coach.
Is Playing Time Equal In Rec Ball?
No, playing time will not be equal simply because of how baseball and teams are divided. Most rec ball games generally only have 6 innings. If your team has 10 kids, nine of those kids will take the field every inning. That means 1 kid will sit out an inning. With only 6 innings, that means at most, 6 kids will sit on the bench for 1 inning each.
Our local league does have minimum playing time and minimum innings in the infield, though. At most, we can only sit for 1 kid for 2 innings unless they are hurt, acting out, or don’t want to play.
We also have a minimum infield rule too. That means every kid has to play at least 1 inning in the infield.
Generally, I find most kids don’t care if they are on the bench. Simply don’t bring it up to them, and they won’t care if they are watching from the sidelines, especially when they are new.
Do Players Get to Try Different Positions?
Yes, we always move kids around and let them play in different positions.
I always ask the kids what position they want to play. I make it clear to them that if everybody wants to pitch, you'll probably only get one or two innings throughout the season pitching. But if I only have one kid that wants to play third base, they will generally play third base for most of the season. That's something I like to do, and the kids really enjoy getting to pick their own position. A lot of the coaches won't ask; they'll simply put your kid where they feel they are best at.
If it's your kids’ first time playing baseball, I wouldn't worry too much about what position they play. Simply getting on the field and getting some reps in is generally enough for them to experience baseball.
If you're a son or daughter has their heart set on playing shortstop or another position, then have your kid ask the coach to play that spot. As a parent, you can speak on behalf of your kid, but at some point in their life they will need to speak up, and rec ball is a great place to teach your kid how to ask for what they want.
How to Ask the Coach to Play a Certain Position
Developing my two boys into men is important to me. So, when they were older and more experienced and wanted to play a certain position, I told them they had to speak to the coach on their own. I didn't send them blindly, though.
The best way to have your kid ask the coach to play a certain position is using this sentence:
“Hey coach, I want to play shortstop. What do I need to work on to be good enough to play that position?”
Anything along those lines works very well because it does two things:
- It tells the coach that they want to play a certain position.
- It allows the coach to explain why they aren't playing there now.
If you simply tell the coach you want to play a certain position, he might just say no with 0 explanation. That's not helpful for your kid. It can also come off very whiny, which can annoy a lot of dads and coaches.
As I mentioned above, I always ask the kids what position they want to play, but not all coaches will.
Can My Child Request to Play with Friends or Classmates?
I don't typically recommend requesting that your kid play with friends or classmates, with a few exceptions. The challenge is the league wants to make the teams as fair as possible. The league also needs to make sure everybody can make all the practices and games and avoid any scheduling conflicts. So, it's quite a challenge to create the league in the first place, and adding another layer makes it even more complicated. There are a few exceptions to that.
For example, if you have a neighbor who plays in the same league and you won't be able to drive your kid to every practice or game, but the neighbor can, it makes a lot of sense to have your kid on the same team as your neighbor. Our local league has a notes section when you're signing up where you can put in notes for things like this.
If your kid is diagnosed with anxiety or another mental illness, I would generally think it's OK to request that the league put your kid on the same team as one of their friends. But know that the league may not be able to accommodate your kid's request, so your kid may not be able to play. Also, if your kid has a mental illness, I'd expect that parent to stay for the entire practice and games and be attentive the entire time. As a volunteer coach, I don't have much experience with mental illness, so I wouldn't know what to do. And if your kid has an issue that will cause others to accommodate them, then you need to take responsibility and be attentive the entire time.
Lastly, I have two boys that play in the same age group, and they are always on the same team. So, I don’t have to drive them to two different practices and two different games.
If your kid is shy, I would typically recommend AGAINST asking to be on the same team as friends. Your kid will have to grow up eventually, and getting into the real world can be scary. Rec ball is a great place for your kid to meet new people and develop social skills without the safety net of friends and family.
When should a player transition to club or select teams?
It’s entirely up to you. But know there is a range of different travel and select teams. Some are cutthroat. Some are expensive. It’s an entirely different level of chaos than rec ball.
