- Oct 24, 2021
- 6
- 3
Hoping some more experienced parents and coaches can advise re: my DD current situation. She's first year 12U. The organization has four 12U teams and the one she's on is the weakest of the four. This team was formed in November after a "tryout" process, and has been practicing together since then, preparing for our short season that only just started - we live in the northeast.To give you a sense of the level, they recently played a B level tourney and got absolutely crushed in every game. We're not talking elite/showcase here. I know she's not at that level - she's just trying to get better and wants to improve by practicing with coaches and playing more than rec ball allows. She doesn't pitch or catch. I recently asked the coach for feedback on how she is doing and got no actionable feedback, just "she's doing great and the experience of this season will be good for her" - ok, good, I thought.
This past weekend, with no communication to parents, a bunch of roster moves were made. Three kids got dropped from the roster into the "development" group that only does practice and scrimmage. Taking their place were one kid from another of the org's teams (coach's daughter), one kid who joined a couple of weeks ago, and two kids who are literally brand new to the org as of this week. My daughter was not one of the kids who got dropped but as a knock-on effect of the changes her playing time was severely restricted this weekend - four at bats over three games, six and a half defensive innings out of sixteen. Meanwhile the ringer and the new players played 100%. And they lost 2 of 3 games.
This is our first travel ball experience and I'm trying to ascertain if that's simply what I should expect. Seems extremely cut-throat for this level. I have no problem with rotation and I understand that playing time is not guaranteed. At the same time, I'm spending hundreds (thousands, probably) of dollars and giving up precious weekends. I'm not doing it so I can watch other people's kids play softball, especially kids that haven't put the time in practicing with my kid all winter. It's pretty alarming and disheartening that kids who've been with the team for seven months were dropped in a heartbeat because some new players showed up.
If this is how it is everywhere, not sure I want any part of it.
This past weekend, with no communication to parents, a bunch of roster moves were made. Three kids got dropped from the roster into the "development" group that only does practice and scrimmage. Taking their place were one kid from another of the org's teams (coach's daughter), one kid who joined a couple of weeks ago, and two kids who are literally brand new to the org as of this week. My daughter was not one of the kids who got dropped but as a knock-on effect of the changes her playing time was severely restricted this weekend - four at bats over three games, six and a half defensive innings out of sixteen. Meanwhile the ringer and the new players played 100%. And they lost 2 of 3 games.
This is our first travel ball experience and I'm trying to ascertain if that's simply what I should expect. Seems extremely cut-throat for this level. I have no problem with rotation and I understand that playing time is not guaranteed. At the same time, I'm spending hundreds (thousands, probably) of dollars and giving up precious weekends. I'm not doing it so I can watch other people's kids play softball, especially kids that haven't put the time in practicing with my kid all winter. It's pretty alarming and disheartening that kids who've been with the team for seven months were dropped in a heartbeat because some new players showed up.
If this is how it is everywhere, not sure I want any part of it.