Team hopping

I'm watching with a distant kind of amusement as fall ends and the movement begins. I've noticed a few girls who over just the first year of 10U have been on 3+ teams. Even significantly more than that. And yet teams keep taking them - big name teams. I imagine in 10U, the studliness of the players still beats out the lack of stability. Every coach wants that ace pitcher or catcher (the big team hoppers seem to be in those 2 positions, at this age anyway). I suppose they're hoping that even though it's her 8th team of the year or whatever, that this will be the one that sticks? I always hear that nobody takes team hoppers. Doesn't seem to be the case yet though. I'm thinking in 12U and 14U as things equalize and the girls who developed early move towards average, they will be less in demand?

On the flip side, what can coaches do to prevent this? DH is AC on a solid B team. We've played B this fall, will dip our toes into some A this spring and see how we fare. We've got a lot of potential on our team. Both DH and HC seem to have a good eye for talent. And they genuinely care about the girls. I would love more than anything to keep as many of them together as possible. So far, we haven't had any drama; great parents, it's awesome. But I just know, as we get better and start getting noticed some (assuming that happens) the bigger name orgs will come after our girls. Is there any way to battle that? We don't have a big name. Our org is relatively big in baseball but new to softball, only has 2 teams. Our team is a start up this year. Just curious if any coaches with a high retention rate would care to share their secrets

Well I too ran a B team in the younger ages 10,12's I had no problem if kids wanted to leave for a higher playing team. There were a couple that left to play on another B team (could never figure out why as we were always a pretty solid B team).

I guess what I would say is, don't sweat it, plan on a new team every year (this will happen when you start to become more competitive but some girls just don't want to put in the work to get better with the rest of the team... )

So basically, nature of the beast. I guess I kind of knew that. Bummer though!

In club hockey, there is only a single governing body, and the rules are such that you have to get a release from a team in order to play for another team. If you quit, chances are you sit out the rest of the year.

grcsftbll said:

But I just know, as we get better and start getting noticed some (assuming that happens) the bigger name orgs will come after our girls.

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More likely in reverse. Your girls (and their parents) will have noticed the big org's before the big org's notice them. Some are plucked from the nest, but most fly away on their own.

CoogansBluff said:

More likely in reverse. Your girls (and their parents) will have noticed the big org's before the big org's notice them. Some are plucked from the nest, but most fly away on their own.

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I guess that's probably true.

Not saying that your best players are destined for those org's. Hard to project the course of a team or its players. Just making the point that the big org's don't necessarily need to go out and recruit. People will come to them.

Wouldn't be surprised if you felt differently about your team in a year. Don't mean you won't like it, but it might be at a different stage. Might be at a crossroads. Players develop at different rates. Their motivations change. The road is unpredictable.

DD's second-year 14U team was an interesting case study. Successful team, no drama, well-coached. Was getting ready to make a push toward showcasing. Then, the head coach had some health scares and decided to step back. Team fell apart, and about half the players were done playing within 2 years. You just never know.

You're right, it's so unpredictable. The kid could turn 12 and decide she hates softball, and none it might even matter. I suppose you build the best team culture you can, coach fairly, and hope for the best.

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I think 10u teams take team jumpers because they need the bodies. In our area 10s are impossible to find, but their is a surplus of 12's that want to play.

10s is a brutal age IMO. I coached 10u the past 2 years. Took me 2 years to turn the team into a very competitive team. Last year we won 60 plus games. We're 1st or 2nd in most tournaments. Went to a nationals that people said we would be lucky to win 1 game. We over came a big injury and a short roster to win 3 games. After the season the assistant coach convinced 7 girls to leave the team and join her. This pretty much crushed me and I folded the team. The girls that were staying and my daughter all joined our local rival. They are good kids and were welcomed right in. It has worked out ok for them. This has been rough for me. I loved coaching and I felt I did a good job. The hardest part though has been seeing what happened to my old team. They have lost every game. I just feel awful for the kids. They loved playing for me, but some of the parents wanted their kids to play in spots I didn't play them in. Now these kids are playing the same spots I had them in and losing every game. They tried them in new spots and really lost. Once they returned to where I played them they did start to hang a little better. It also didn't help the 3 best players didn't go with them.

My point above is 10u softball is crazy. A lot of local clubs don't even offer 10's. The parents are raw and don't understand the process. One thing that killed my team was jealousy. Most parents were use to their kid being the best player on their rec team. When their kid was now hitting 8th it was to much for their egos to handle. I was also their first travel ball coach. They had nothing to judge me against. I'm guessing they learned a valuable lesson now. Maybe not though.

When this happened I was embarrassed to even show my face at a tournament. I was the coach that had a super team that ditched him. The first tournament this fall I was keeping score for my daughters new team. The look on the other coaches and umpires faces were priceless. A few months later word has spread what happened. Thankfully the softball community is small and people figure out who is a con artist and who isn't. I'm no longer that embarrassed. Still some shame, but I have been approached by the top org in the area asking if I would be interested in running a team again. That did feel good to hear them say they know I did nothing wrong. They know 10u is insane too.

I've noticed the insanity for sure. Some of these girls, I feel really sorry for them. There is no way THEY want to be on 5 different teams in a year. There is no way they want to make a group of friends, get to know them, become a team, then jump ship. There's this constantly chasing the next best thing mentality. I wonder if the kids of these parents make up a big chunk of the 70% who quit by age 13.