Which are the top organizations on Long Island?

Good question, there have been many issues with some "known" organizations lately. As in coaches/board members leaving, starting their own etc etc. As of know my opinion, and I have been around a while and seen them all go up and down, the following seem to be going along OK.
Team Long Island, careful though on the coach all ways good players on top teams, some teams not the best players, may be after the money now
LI Bandits, they seem to have some up and comers, and watch the coach and again too many teams top teams are very good, not always the case
LI Chargers, careful on the team/coach, some teams in trouble I hear
Sudden Impact again coach/team important, some issues
Find a good coach not a jersey name, then if/when recruiting becomes important look around,
Too many teams now, especially in Suffolk, talent spread out or watered down at younger ages, lots of Daddy teams, be careful. Can't say it enough find a coach not a jersey name. Good and bad everywhere, watch out for profit driven orgs

Depends what your looking for. If 8U-12U looking to collect trophies and not teach your kid anything, look for ones that say FREE BASEBALL and find out which ones have dad coaching and son playing SS, pitching and batting 3rd. If 13-18U with hopes your kid plays varsity and perhaps more, nothing better than word of mouth to find out who instructs the best, who has most connections, and who has most success with their kids having attended showcase events. To each his own, depends on your priority

I have heard the Chiefs and the Crush are very good organizations as well. They just won't take a player that isn't in that particular birth year. ex: They won't take 2004 for a 2003 team. I don't get it, if they are good enough what is the difference.

Chiefs and Crush? Any input on these. I have an 8 year old that is decent and would like to start her in travel ball.
thanks,

Is there any 8u teams?

LI Force in Bellmore/Wantagh area one of the best. Very good coaches and excellent new facility.

That’s a difficult question to ask on an Anonymous forum such as this because you do not know who is responding and if they have an agenda or not. So for what it’s worth here is how I would answer your question. I believe it depends more on your daughter’s age and what you are looking to achieve.

At the younger ages, it is not so as much about the Organization as it is about the coach of the team you are looking to play for. I have seen some of the top Organizations have teams that fail and some of the lower no name Organizations succeed at a team level primarily because of the coach who runs that team.

Younger ages need to be all about teaching and developing player skill sets. In doing so, a Coach needs to makes it fun and enjoyable for the kids. This will keep kids engaged and ensure that a player’s love for the sport continues to grow.

When it comes time for your daughter to play at the 18U level it most likely because she has interested in playing softball in college, so now it becomes more about recruiting. At this point the Organization you play for becomes a bigger part of your decision. You now need to get your daughter in an Organization that has developed a strong name and track record for placing kids into college.

Understand that College coaches want to talk to Travel Ball Coaches that understand what it takes to play softball in college. It is for this reason that it just about impossible for a father run team to get your daughter recruited. So at this point, finding the right Organization with a coach that has developed relationships with College Coaches to help get your kid recruited.

I think Fastpitch Junkie restated what I said, find a coach not a jersey. So when you say I hear Team XYZ is a good organization you have to realize you are not playing on an organization but rather a certain team in a certain organization. It is the TEAM and the COACH that runs the team and at the younger age groups, especiallly 8U, the organization has NO interest in what goes on with the team unless a coach is embarrasing the organization. Also understand why play for Team Awesome and be the 3rd pitcher or 2nd short stop when you can play for Team Sorta Awesome and be the #1 or 2 pitcher or the #1 short stop. Despite what the big teams say they are all basically the same animal, they go to the same recruiting tourny's for the most part, in fact they play each other all summer all over the north east. Some will BS you and say the get more kids into D-1 then others, well I call BS on that. Go to the big team web sites and discover yourself. My advice 12U and under dont worry what team your kid is on, just have fun and make sure she is learning and not being verbally abused. From 12U on and college is an option you gotta go to the big teams for recruiting for the exact reason Junkie said. I personally know several kids from softball, baseball and lacrosse that stayed on Daddy teams and found out in 11th grade no collleges knew who they were or cared. They often found themselves playing on the backfields or the off site fields at the college tourny's where no college coaches dare tread. Go to multiple try outs, talk to the coach and players on the team and find out what tourny's they play in. You may find yourself on a "B" team on Team Really Awesome that rarely leaves LI, kowledge is key, don't be afraid to move to another team but get yourself settled by 16U at the latest so the coaches have a personal interest in your childs success. For the really motivated guys ask around and find out what are the big college tourny's, then go to the tourny website and look up what teams are there from LI. It is usually the Big Teams and not always every big team, also look up the schedules and find out what fields they are playing on. Is it main fields, off site a mixture? This more than anything else should prove to you the value of a team to get your child exposed to college coaches. A friend of my daughters recently traveled to Disney with a Big Team for a big tourny only to find themselves off site and never played at Disney world but spent thousands of dollars to go. Meanwhile her other friend went and played at ESPN Fields 3 or 4 times against top teams from the Nation, she too plays for a Big Team. And I know people who swear by the other organization that got shut out of ESPN fields and trashes the other organization that played on the key fields. You decide what team is better for exposure, the one 10 miles away from ESPN or the one at ESPN. I know I got wordy but I wish I knew then what I know now, and it sickens me to listen to parents talk about certain organizations like they already made it to D-1 cause of their travel team, it don't go like that!!! And I feel sorry for their kids when it doesn't go like that and they are suddenly in 12th grade and are still looking for a college and are heartbroken when clearly less talented kids have been signed or verbaled for months but they played for Team Awesome and they can't understand why the 3rd string pithcer or 2nd string outfielder isn't playing for Michigan.

LOL