Loyalty...it is a two way street

[Lickety Split]

The coach should not keep players that do not fill a role. It is only 12 players...Daddy ball is getting worse. My cousin's kid came over from baseball to a C-level TB team in U-trip, really still young. They manipulate situations to make her fail because they are afraid of her athleticism (first, she refused to wear a mask and the entire rest of the team does....). They don't provide her coaching. All the coaches are parents and they basically coach their own kids in practice and games. The rest have to fend for themselves. But you really don't know until the tourneys start and after all the fundraisers and money has been put in...I tried to get them to come into softball at a higher level team but they did not have the confidence to do so.

What's your definition of loyalty when it comes to coaching/playing?

 

[ASAVipers]

I've Coached TB for over 10years, the only way a Coach should bring in guest players is if your truly short. That much should be expected, players and Coaching staff should have working "commitment" to each other.

 

[Lickety Split]

"Daddy Ball" is not limited to just daddies.....if a coach gives paid lessons (batting, pitching, fielding, speed & agility, ect) there is a good chance the players who pay for lessons will be given similar "benefits".

Interesting comment with some accuracies. But be careful not to get caught up in misperceptions. You may see the player who gets lessons receive preferred playing time, but the question I ask is has that player earned it by production? In other words, is the player who gets lessons better than the other players? Does this player produce? Maybe statistically this player should be getting the playing time.

Staying on this path, I also have seen an allegiance to players from the same town he and his daughter are from. Their "friends" also get some extra bennys here and there. It can be so obvious too.

As an example a few years ago in rec ball my daughter was playing centerfield. The coaches daughter's friend was playing shortstop. The shortstop attempts to catch a fairly routine nothing special pop up right behind second base and drops the ball. The coach yelled at my daughter in centerfield that she should have taken control and called off the shortstop in that situation. I just shook my head. But that is an example of how nepotism can extend beyond the coaches daughter. Sometimes you just can't win.

 

[xygent1]

IMO if you are a coach and playing comp ball you should play to win period. that's your job. if it doesn't happen so be it but you need to play the players that are going to give you the best chance of winning. now if you had a player not trying in practice or not showing up etc. that's a different beast but it should be handled b4 a tourney just saying. performance is everything when it comes to tournaments. and 9times out of 10 if a player doesn't perform in practice they wont perform in games.

 

[Strike2]

I'm not going to advocate guest players unless it's for a position the is lacking depth for that particular weekend. So I am sympathetic to your gripe with guest players if it's appropriate.

Aside from that I feel you are confusing loyalty with commitment. Attendance is expected and required and does not earn special benefits. Attending every date does not mean you are loyal, it means you are committed and dedicated, which is good. The coach is starting the best nine on Sunday's to give the team the best chance of winning. That's a sign that he is loyal to the system and agenda that was put in place on day one.

Loyalty is a weird animal. A coach must be loyal to the teams agenda and each players personal needs and goals. The players must be loyal to the teams agenda and the coaching staffs system to achieve all those goals. If everyone "buys into" all that the systems set in place will produce the efforts needed to achieve the results everyone's trying to reach. Being loyal means you are allowing the system to work and you put your best efforts forward as part of that system. If you do that, good things will happen for the team and personally for your daughter.

"Commitment" and "loyalty" may not be exact synonyms, but they are close. Full commitment to the team is a display of loyalty, and should be reciprocated by the coach. If the team deserves full commitment from it's players, then the players deserve honesty and a clear sense of their role within the team. Expecting someone who is fully committed to be a good "team player" when their role is nothing more than sitting on the bench is, in most cases with youth sports, dishonest and disloyal on the part of the coach. The only exceptions are when an otherwise talented player is playing up in age or class and everyone understands that they aren't quite ready, or they are having trouble in specific area, and the coach has discussed the problem with all concerned.

Sitting your current players in favor of guest players is typically a sign of disloyalty to the team, and a coaching failure. It's one of the fastest ways to wreck your ball team; I've seen it happen. There can be exceptions with specialized positions like pitcher and catcher, but even if winning is the goal, there are certain lines that honorable people don't cross. If the "system" routinely excludes a given player, it's time to find a new one. If you're a coach who will toss a committed player in the trash bin, most of the rest will realize it, and whatever loyalty they have will start to falter.

 

[JAD]

Interesting comment with some accuracies. But be careful not to get caught up in misperceptions. You may see the player who gets lessons receive preferred playing time, but the question I ask is has that player earned it by production? In other words, is the player who gets lessons better than the other players? Does this player produce? Maybe statistically this player should be getting the playing time.

Staying on this path, I also have seen an allegiance to players from the same town he and his daughter are from. Their "friends" also get some extra bennys here and there. It can be so obvious too.

As an example a few years ago in rec ball my daughter was playing centerfield. The coaches daughter's friend was playing shortstop. The shortstop attempts to catch a fairly routine nothing special pop up right behind second base and drops the ball. The coach yelled at my daughter in centerfield that she should have taken control and called off the shortstop in that situation. I just shook my head. But that is an example of how nepotism can extend beyond the coaches daughter. Sometimes you just can't win.

As you point out there can be all kinds of "daddy ball", so NEVER assume that just because a team has a coach without a DD on it that everything will be "fair".

As for the play you mention, hard to make a judgement without being there, but if the CF can make a play on a fly ball while running in vs. a SS running backwards, 98.2% of coaches want the CF to make that play.....

 

[dbronstein]

I am always baffled by this comment when I see it. I guess it must be a regional thing. From my experience, I have never seen a rec team (in any sport) that was not coached by the parent of a player. At least 80% of the travel ball teams in my area (baseball, softball, and soccer) have coaches that are the parent of a player. Actually, making a quick list of 10 local high schools that I am familiar with, 6 of them have either head coaches or assistant coaches of players on the team. Where exactly are all these teams that are not coached by parents?

My kids have probably been on about 15 different teams between them in various sports (rec level) and they've each had one team coached by a non-parent. My DD was on a U8 soccer team and my DS was on a 12U basketball team that were each coached by a single/childless 20-something who enjoyed coaching.

 

[JAD]

A good coach will set the parent/team expectations before the season starts at a team meeting. The "goals" of the team should be discussed and understood by everyone. The level of "loyalty" changes with different levels of TB. The "loyalty" of a C-level or B-level TB coach will be different than an A-level coach who's team mission is to win ASA or PGF Nationals. At the higher levels there is ALWAYS a competition for playing time and if a STUD shows up there is a 98.2% chance the coach is going to add them to the roster.

 

[Strike2]

Daddy ball seems to be the rule...at least from my observation. I would love to be proven wrong.

A certain amount of "daddy ball" comes with the territory in youth sports. Get used to that.

Running any ball team is a huge commitment of time, effort, and sometimes money on the part of the coaches. They aren't getting paid, and it's sometimes a huge source of stress, so don't have any delusion that they are doing it for all the kids and will treat everyone the same. One of the routine questions I ask is "who are the coach's kids, and what positions do they play". If they don't conflict with what my kid does, then fine. If they play the same position as mine, then we'll have that conversation right then and there. I've declined spots on teams when I found out that a coach's DD, or someone close to them, would compete with mine for playing time. It's just not worth the aggravation.

A really good coach will put occasionally put their kid on the bench. That said, there are only a couple of instances where I have a problem with "daddy ball":

1. The coach puts their kid at positions they can't play effectively while preaching about putting the "best nine" on the field and winning. It's one or the other.

2. The coach brings in friend's DDs that immediately displace existing players without any sort of legitimate competition for spots.

 

[Strike2]

IMO if you are a coach and playing comp ball you should play to win period. that's your job. if it doesn't happen so be it but you need to play the players that are going to give you the best chance of winning. now if you had a player not trying in practice or not showing up etc. that's a different beast but it should be handled b4 a tourney just saying. performance is everything when it comes to tournaments. and 9times out of 10 if a player doesn't perform in practice they wont perform in games.

If you are only playing to win, and only play those who give the best chance of winning, you'd better be prepared to go to tournaments with nine players.