7 1/2 year old Ready for peewee?

Question
I have a 7 1/2 year old boy who has played t-ball for 3 seasons now, he started in pre-k and now is in 2nd grade.  I don't know whether to put him on coach pitch or the peewee team.  He went to one peewee practice and hit 7 out of 10 of the coach pitching him the ball, but I don't know how different a kid pitching to him will be.  He knows the fundamentals of the game really well and he thinks quick when fielding the ball.  He catches decent but his distance needs help, but he is accurate when throwing.  I am not sure which would be the best for him at his age.   Thank you.

Answer
Robyn,

Thanks for the question and I hope I can help. My question is: What are the other 7 year olds playing?

I have always had a problem with the concept of "moving a kid up" because we think he "is ready" or he is "too good to play with his own age".

You have described that he is very good, but still has a tough time with distance throwing.  The liklihood is that he will have a coach who wants to win those games and he will find himself in the outfield (which is a very important position) or sitting and not playing.

If he plays coach pitch, he will likely play one of the more dominant positions and he can work on his hitting without the pressure of playing against older kids.

He may be able to compete with older kids and he will be able to do that, it is called high school.

A quick point: My son is 14.  He is actually one of the best lefthanded pitchers in a large metro area of about a million people.  I have been asked to move him up to 15 and even 16 year old teams. I have not done that to this point because I don't feel it will benefit him right now.  He will do that next year in high school.  He will be playing with 15-18 year olds.  He will be ready, but part of that preparation has been the success and confidence he has obtained by competing with his own age group.

At 7, even 8-9 year olds will be bigger, faster, stronger.  You don't want to jeopardize his confidence and ability by sticking him up there and hoping everything goes well. Let him work on his game in his own comfort zone.  He is not 13, he is only 7.  Moving him up would be an unnecessary pressure that I have seen backfire and send a kid with promise to quit baseball.

I feel that at 7, he will be best handled with other 7 year olds in a coach pitch situation.  

Just my opinion.  Good luck with the season.

God Bless,

and Play Ball!

Mike Boss