Question about dues....

Rocketech1 said:

We are talking travel ball and a 2nd year 12U correct? While 12 players is great if and when you have everyone there, but IME players miss many scrimmages and tournaments for a variety of reasons (injuries, family vacations, sick, other commitments, a few kids changing teams after a couple of months, etc) and then teams are scrambling to field a team. Maybe its different where DD plays, but the players basically play 11 months out of the year, so having 13 on a roster still gives everybody an opportunity to get plenty of playing time.

Click to expand...

Basing it primarily on my experience coaching one particular 12U team. We had only 10 players and 2 pitchers. Not saying that's ideal. It's not. But after getting away w/ 10, I sure don't think I'd want to 13. I'd prefer 11. Maybe we were fortunate, but players planned around vacations or other commitments. Or if I knew before making the schedule, I might plan around a commitment. Nobody ever missed a tournament. We didn't have injuries or sickness, although we were in metro ATL and part of an organization where if we needed a pickup player, we wouldn't have to scramble to get it. I can't recall using a pickup. We might've played w/ 9 a couple of times. We played tournaments 7 months a year, not 11. About 2.5 months off for middle school ball, 2.5 months off in winter (DEC through FEB).

Maybe it was just the situation we were in. I wonder if having 13 makes people more willing to take a weekend off. If you have 11 and they know they're going to play substantially, maybe they plan. We didn't want to just have 10. We wanted 11, which would've been a third pitcher. But never found the right girl.

Hope it works out for the original team members. Some coaches may want parent input, but usually that occurs as a team discussion first. Since that didn't happen, likely the coach wasn't looking for input and your DD could be on the outs. Depends in your relationship so tread carefully.

Curious, are you committed for the season or are fall and spring different?

Himarix said:

First off let me start by saying we are going on year 2 with same team in 12u. Our dues are monthly and have been required every month. Recently our HC posted in another forum that he was looking for two players SS and Pitcher and that he would consider no dues for the fall. Now I am kind of upset with this because of obvious reasons. So yesterday we had a practice and guess what...a new player showed up and today they were added to the team. The player we added is no more talented than the rest of our team and we have several players IMO that can play SS, 2nd, etc. We also already had 12 girls so adding a 13th player just adds more possible benching for my child in the future. So my concern is that this new player isnt paying dues while the rest of us do and she will get special treatment to the tune of free softball and most likely playtime. Its a real shame because the coach is a likeable guy but we are not a winning ball club. I guess he wants to win at all costs but this is pushing me and my family out the door. What would I be teaching my daughter if we stayed knowing that some people arent paying and following the rules set by our HC at the beginning of every season. Now everything is in question, the books, whos paying, whos not, where is my money going, etc. To me its kind of messed up and I want other people to weigh in and give me their opinions.

Click to expand...

Depending on where you are in the Fall season, offering a new player "no dues" for the Fall is not uncommon. Sometimes financial incentives work to get an extra player or two to tryout. There could also be a good player currently sitting out the fall for financial reasons and this would give her a chance to play and see how she "fits" with the team. Do you ever use pickup players for tournaments? Do you ask the pickup players to pay a portion of the fall dues for picking up? If a coach offers a pickup player a spot after the tournament do they retroactively ask for back fees? If your happiness is going to be determined by insuring that everyone pays their fair share I would suggest sticking with REC ball...

It might be just me but you sound very defensive and insecure.

So let's ask the uncomfortable questions...you said you are worried your DD might not get to play, now does that mean she is in the bottom half on the bench now? You said the new player is not an upgrade does she hit hard balls to the gap in BP and have a strong arm? Without your rose colored glasses on is she better than your DD? I only ask because as we are all aware there are always two sides to the story. You said he is a good coach but you are not winning much it could be because he only has half the team at the level he is playing and wants to bring in more players at that level.

If it is just until winter break the no dues thing is not a big deal to me. Now you have a decision to make and the next couple tournaments should help you see what the coaches plans are, if your DD does ride the bench all season, what good is it doing her if she is not a fit for the team? It could be the coaches way of pushing players out without cutting them, then he can say he did not break his end of the deal. My guess the parents with girls on the top half of the roster are happy the coach is looking to upgrade.

Bottomline: After a couple tournaments I would sit down and have a serious conversation with the coach, then figure out if your DD can put the work in to get to the top half of the roster and what that means to this coach. If I am completely off base and you are just worried about dues, then bring it up with the coach and validate that it is just for the Fall Season and everyone is paying starting January if you are really upset about it, but in the end as long as I knew what the dues were and what I was getting and I get everything I paid for I should not worry about other peoples business...he can't give everyone a free ride forever.

I know many guest players do not pay to play. Maybe,since there are only 4 tournaments left this season, the coach figures if I treat her like a guest player, she would like the team and decide to commit. My daughters current team had her guest play for the first tournament but she got the least amount of playing time. Which I think that is the way it should be. As soon as we said, yes, we want to join, we paid the remaining fees for the year. We have also played for a team that used the free guest players and sat the normal girls on the team on the bench. We walked away…not long afterwards, they collapsed and no longer playing. I would say wait and see what happens before saying or doing anything.

DD has guest played a bunch and only paid one time. The coach asked if we would mind because their budget was toast and they were asking everyone to split the tourney fee.

First off, I would make sure the info is correct on the new player not paying. You will not know for sure unless you ask. If that is the case and its not just weeks left in the fall, it's not right! We once played for an organization that had "scholarships" for players who could not afford dues, but it needed to be established that they were committed to following club rules and in the status of not being able to truly afford dues. But free loaders with extra privileges is not good for team chemistry. Our team has 15-16 players this fall and my daughter is working her tail off to earn her position. This is only going to help her be a better player because she wants to play college ball. Think about it, if your DD wants to play college ball, how many are on their roster? Better get used to it now.

Sometimes Coaches do whatever they can to get talent on team. In some cases the coaches just want to player to come for a tournament or two to see the team's philosophy, meet the girls etc. That could be enough for a player to leave current team if they are on the fence.
DD was asked last season to guest pitch for a weekend. She did well and they offered us a freebee for the rest of the season 6 tournaments left. Their feeling was that we would not get our dues back from our team. We respectfully declined but I learned that some teams are open to wave fees if they want a kid bad enough. I always say to my kids "your play time is dictated by how hard you work and more so by how well you play". The minute I think my kid is not getting a fair shake I will pull her from the team. To be fully transparent I am the toughest person on my kids so it would take a ton before I would go nuclear.