High School "PC"

[Cannonball]

Out in Left Field, I am simply giving my perspective as a high school coach who has done it for a few decades. I have tried my best to defend HS coaches here and give their perspective or at least mine on most topics. There are other HS coaches as well on this site.

 

[459'smom]

My $0.02....my DD does not start HS until the fall, but I can promise you that if any of the high school coaches try to change her pitching motion there is going to be a problem! My DD plays TB 8 months out of the year, takes pitching lessons 12 months a year, and will play HS ball 2.5 month of the year.....which of these has priority?

Exactly.....and so far every informed person we've talked to about HS ball has said in no uncertain terms that TB will get you noticed and to college (if u measure up) whereas HS ball is more of an elite rec ball (how elite will depend on the talent pool in your area). My DD also starts HS in the fall and after going to our first HS game last week I found that to be true (at least in our area).

I for one will have a discussion on this with DD before she begins playing for HS coach, but I will also intervene immediately if HS coach tries to be her PC. We already pay someone to do that, and we trust him! We are also using Hillhouse method! Love him.

 

[459'smom]

Apparently, all the people here quit whenever their boss is "stupid"...

Come on. Everyone has to deal with this problem. It not unique to softball.

SO:

(1) The girl should not use bad mechanics.
(2) The girl needs to learn the "why" of the mechanics.
(3) The girl needs to learn the "smile and nod".
(4) The girl needs to perform during games.

As to "quit playing softball"--that is pretty ridiculous. The kid wants to play, not read about it in the paper. The parents need to help the child deal with the situation. (It is time for the parents to start fading into the background.)

My DD is AC at a HS. She is seeing this from the other side. There are PCs out there who teach awful mechanics. When they come to her, the parents and PC's say, "Don't touch her. She is perfect!" (If you want to look at the style of pitchers coming to her, go to allinonesoftball.com. Yikes!)

My DD's position is that she will try to help the kid, but ultimately, if the kid doesn't want her help, it is OK with her. But, if the pitcher does not perform during the game, then she won't play.

Nothing was said about "quit playing softball," only don't play HS softball if there is no understanding/acceptance from HS coach in the context of above posts. Of course I would try to reason with coach, but I won't let her mess up what my DD has worked years for, we have paid thousands of dollars for, and what we hope to get her to college on (with or without full ride). TB goes year round, and will do just fine at a higher competition level if the HS coach wants to mess around with her pitching.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

The kid needs to speak up, not the parent.

I can tell none of you reads the HS forms or handbook or has taken HS coaching training, or even read the paper. It's not your grandfather's sports anymore. If the coach retaliates, the coach can be fired. ADs support parents today.

Congrats if this is the case in your HS. BUT it is the complete opposite in ours. Ya the by-laws will say this and that BUT in the end the HS staff is like an island. They will support their members regardless of right/wrong and regardless of what the parent & student want. Similar to a mafia.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Oh it gets worse, at my DD's school, the assistant football coaches were all given the softball coaches jobs, it was part of their job package for the extra $. The assistants came and went as they were fired from their football coaching jobs, one of the new ones told the team on his first day to, "Bear with me, I've never even seen a softball game before".
A lot of schools just provide the program, but they don't care how it's ran. Everything, especially here in TX takes a backseat to football.

Exactly - this is more of what I have seen. From my experience public schools are a petri dish for cronyism & sexism regardless of what the staff says they have been "trained" not to do....

 

[Madsdad]

RB, Tojo
In our area it is part of the collective bargaining. Teachers union around here is much stronger than it should be. Anyone who belongs to the union has the right to the possition where they are a "coach" or not. It is just another sources of income. What you are seeing is union mentality and they do stick together, for now anyway Go Scott Walker , maybe this will change soon. It gets even worse when family starts to hire inlaws and they get the postions that once went to more qualified people. Not far from mafia I guess

 

[Cannonball]

Man am I glad that I don't teach in an area where some of you live. For the majority of schools around here, if you don't win, you get fired.

A different perspective from the one I posted earlier about leaving the HS team if you don't like the coach. We had a pitcher who was very good and was recruited by several D-I schools. Her junior year her dad announced that she was not playing HS ball for some of the same reasons mentioned here. She played on a very good TB program and Missouri plays in the fall so this young lady could play TB all year round and skip TB. Our HS coach at that time started getting calls as to why this young lady was not playing HS ball. The coach was honest from his perspective. After all, he was well known and had won approximately 300 games at that time as a head coach. Interest dropped instantly in that young lady. In the end, she ended up not playing collegiately at all. Dad showed his colors and no one wanted her.

 

[halskinner]

There is a high school in my area that pulled this one off. The new assistant coach on the varsity softball team was also the head coach of one of the areas winningest travel ball teams, 16u. All but two players went to that high school.

The girls on his TB team were all sophomores the year he signed on at the HS. Tryouts were held and the players that made varsity, the TB team, with the exception of the HC oldest daughter, a senior and she rarely saw any game time. That was the varsity team for three years. 4 or 5 got scholarships.

The young ladies that played varsity the year or two before that, never got seen by anyone.

this was maybe 7 or 8 years ago.

The varsity HC is STILL the softball GOD at their school, dont think they arent.

 

[coach james]

Dd spoke with the hs pc yesterday, she explained to him that she has worked hard to get an i/r whipping open style and he says okay, but then sarcastically says with an attitude as she pitches "make sure you whip it" and looks around for others to laugh along with him.
He takes my dd aside and has her stand with closed hips/shoulders and perform locked elbow wrist flips to a catcher. Dd explains why we dont do this and his response is "while with me, this is how you'll pitch"... moving on to an hour later he tells her to pull the ball over her head in a wrapping fashion when throwing a change up because this is how you take speed off!!! WTF!!! I'm thinking about just not letting her pitch this year for the school.... advise???

 

[crystlemc]

What a douche... My big fear would be, if she doesn't pitch, she rides the pine. I really have no words of wisdom on this. Just wishing you guys good luck.

I so am not looking forward to DD hitting HS ball next year...