Parent coaches

BobInMadison said:

My DDs have had some excellent parent coaches, both male and female. The HC for DD #3's TB team is a woman who has coached DD #1 in rec ball and DD #3 in both rec ball and TB. She was also a long-term substitute teacher for DD #2. DD #1 and DD #3 say she is an excellent coach, while DD #2 says she is an excellent teacher.

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That's awesome. When I think back to my DDs teams from 6U - 12U (probably 20 different teams from rec, all-stars, tournament team, and now TB) the number of head coaches that she has had that were female is ZERO. And of all the assistant coaches she has had (at least 60), 1 was female. It's really a shame since these women have so much to offer but its not a priority for a variety of reasons.

To help compensate for the lack of female coaches in DDs softball life, I have matched her up with female hitting coaches, pitching coaches, college camps, and one of the great things about her travel ball organization is the older teams 14u, 16u, and 18u frequently coach and practice with her 12u team. Invaluable in my opinion...

Rocketech1 said:

To help compensate for the lack of female coaches in DDs softball life, I have matched her up with female hitting coaches, pitching coaches, college camps, and one of the great things about her travel ball organization is the older teams 14u, 16u, and 18u frequently coach and practice with her 12u team. Invaluable in my opinion...

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And what is the primary difference between your DD's rec, all-star, tournament team, and now TB coaches and her pitching and hitting coaches........$$$!!!

The young women who come out of college around here are trying to make a living off of coaching while staying in the game they love. Unfortunately those two items just don't go together at the rec. or TB level. Most of the parent coaches actually spend more money while coaching. It's a labor of love.

Also, when in school athletes should really research what degrees they can get. Then look up the availability of jobs with those degrees along with the salary. You don't want to waste your college education getting a degree in something that doesn't have a decent job outlook. Relying on being a TB coach for income, even supplemental income, is not a wise career decision.

Two of the three high school softball programs in my area are coached by dads. And the two that are coached by dads are far superior programs to the one that is coached by former college players. To be fair, one of the best programs in the state is coached by a former college player.

This past summer, there were four 16U softball teams in my immediate area. All four were coached by dads. My assistant was a former college player.

Looking at all the softball teams in my immediate area (all ages)... Of the 11-12 teams, I can only think of two that had former players as coaches. The vast majority of the TB teams in the extended area around here are daddy coaches. Why? Because, as stated earlier, there wouldn't be but a fraction of the teams if people just waited around for former players who want to coach to fall from the heavens.

Do I think there are issues that arise when dads coach? Absolutely! But issues arise with non-parent coaches, even bias-type issues that daddy coaches seem to struggle with.

Having played college softball isn't necessary nor sufficient. That is, just because you've played college ball doesn't at all mean you'll be a good coach. Being a dad doesn't mean it either.

Good coaches are folks who have the capacity to learn. Having the capacity to learn requires a constant open mind, and requires one to remain curious. For me, Rick Pauly exemplifies these qualities. When he was able to post here, though he was very knowledgeable, he was always curious and always learning.

Doug Romrell said:

Two of the three high school softball programs in my area are coached by dads. And the two that are coached by dads are far superior programs to the one that is coached by former college players. To be fair, one of the best programs in the state is coached by a former college player.

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I am not sure if it is like this everywhere, but in my neck of the woods the best high school softball teams are the ones with the best TB players. An autistic monkey could coach my DD's high school team to a winning season with the talent they have. Even high level TB teams just recruit the best players they can find. My DD just changed TB teams and her new coach has had 0% influence on how she performs.

How dare you guys contradict or disagree with the high school coach. It is sexism, plain and simple. There is no way some guy that has sat on a bucket or in the stands watching could see more or know more that the coach that is watching from the dugout. Especially since the majority of this particular coach's time has been watching from the high school level dugout. Not the typical low rate gold tournament ball team. I am sure this sport is being dominated by men because of sexism. There is no way that money, starting a family of their own, or having no desire to coach could remotely be a possibility. Seriously guys, go find a high school to coach at and become enlightened.

JAD said:

[[daddy high school coaches]] I am not sure if it is like this ....

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Well, here, I've not had much of a problem with the "daddy" part of it as much as the "daddy's" TB team owning the HS program. But that's an OLD story!

As an autistic monkey I take offense to JADs reference.

JAD said:

I have never been paid a dime, and it probably cost me more money to coach than other parents

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Out of my pocket purchases for the team over the years:
Jugs Jr Pitching Machine
2 Dozen Jugs Machine Balls
2 Dozen Jugs Lite Flight Balls
1 Dozen Jugs Softies
1 Dozen Champ-pro Foam Balls
3 Deep Cycle Batteries
2 Inverters
300 12" Softballs
2 Dozen 11" Softballs
4 Dozen TCB Hole Balls
2 Dozen TCB Balls
2 Bow-nets
1 Champ-pro L Screen
1 Insider Bat
3 Slillz Batting Tees
1 Tanner Tee
2 Jugs Nets
1 Champ-pro Sock Net
2 Base sets
2 Sets of catchers gear

"So who makes a better coach, some aging parent, usually dad, in the stands who never played a day in his life? Someone who understands it, simply, what, from watching videos and sitting in the stands, snarking like sports talk radio? Anyone can do that....boy I think everyone should sign up to coach any sport they see."

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...give me "some aging parent", who cares, "usually dad" any day of the week...

oh and BTW, thanks to all the aging parents who never played the game I learn from on a daily basis on this forum.

Both of my daughters played. Neither has any interest in coaching at this point despite my having been a coach for a long time.

My guess is we'll start to see more female softball coaches as former players have daughters who express an interest in playing. The reason you have so many dads coaching right now is no one else wanted the job. In order for their daughters to play they stepped up. Some did better than others. The moms likely didn't step up because they hadn't played, didn't know anything about it, or were expected to watch the other kids. My wife was a fan of our kids, but it would never have occurred to her to coach them in any sport. She just wasn't sports oriented.

We are not all that removed from Title IX being enacted. The girls in my graduating class never had the chance to play competitive sports like the girls do today. They were given a watered-down version of sports in high school, for the most part, so it was a different experience than players from the recent past.

Young people are having children at an older age than when I was in that position. So figure if a 28 year old female has her first daughter January 1, 2015, that daughter probably won't be looking to play until at least 2020 (T-ball), or maybe 2022 (rec or 8U). At that point, for her own daughter, the former player is much more likely to want to take the reins and coach the team that just jumping in to coach other people's kids. She will likely also have a much higher comfort level volunteering, which means dads won't have to step in just to make sure there is a team. That doesn't mean there won't be dad coaches anymore. There will always be those of us who love fastpitch softball and coaching girls generally.

Whether those newly minted females coaches will be any good is TBD. I imagine those moms will be just like the dads are now. Some will be good at it, some won't. Some will rely on what they did as players, others will look to learn more so they're giving their players the best possible experience they can have. Some will probably take what they've learned about coaching their daughters and even apply it to baseball with their sons. A few may continue on after their own kids are done playing just because they love working with young people and love the game.

I started coaching because my daughter's team needed a coach. I continue because I enjoy it. Keeps me from being an old coot sitting on the sofa watching TV and complaining about everybody else all the time.