I believe you meant to say "Simian-American on the spectrum" ;-)
Parent coaches
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I believe you meant to say "Simian-American on the spectrum" ;-)
- Nov 29, 2009
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There is a reason we don't see many former female players returning to coaching. It's called "Life." For the most part when a woman finishes with college ball they are done playing competitive ball for the vast majority of them. I know my DD had zero desire to play any more competitive fastpitch after she finished her last game in college.
After they finish college they enter the workforce trying to start their career. Some get married right out of college and start families. For those who want to coach the bulk of the household duties falls on their shoulders. They don't have the time. Think about it. How many times do you see a dad coaching a daughter and mom is not there? Often mom is home with the siblings. Other times moms do not get the spousal support at home needed for them to dedicate any time to coaching a team.
Those young women who do coach can run into problems with handling parents. Many are not equipped to handle problem parents. They can be frustrated by the lack of respect given them. It also takes a few years to learn how run a team, which is MUCH different than coaching a team. Many of them can be overwhelmed by the all of the off-the-field things that need to be handled. The list is never ending and pretty much year round for any competitive level of travel ball.
After watching my own daughter and her former teammates throughout the years these are my observations why we see far too few former players returning to coach at the younger levels. There are some who do coach and stick with it for a while, but life usually gets in the way sooner or later.
After they finish college they enter the workforce trying to start their career. Some get married right out of college and start families. For those who want to coach the bulk of the household duties falls on their shoulders. They don't have the time. Think about it. How many times do you see a dad coaching a daughter and mom is not there? Often mom is home with the siblings. Other times moms do not get the spousal support at home needed for them to dedicate any time to coaching a team.
Those young women who do coach can run into problems with handling parents. Many are not equipped to handle problem parents. They can be frustrated by the lack of respect given them. It also takes a few years to learn how run a team, which is MUCH different than coaching a team. Many of them can be overwhelmed by the all of the off-the-field things that need to be handled. The list is never ending and pretty much year round for any competitive level of travel ball.
After watching my own daughter and her former teammates throughout the years these are my observations why we see far too few former players returning to coach at the younger levels. There are some who do coach and stick with it for a while, but life usually gets in the way sooner or later.
Greenmonsters
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2015 will be a great year if you are true to your word.
OILF: I have to say that this is one of your most asinine statements/post I have seen from you in quite a while. Nobody here has said that women can't coach let alone former players. However, how many former collegiate players, right or wrong, have you personally seen teach incorrect or outdated mechanics whether pitching, catching, fielding etc.etc. because that was what they were taught. I'm not saying parent coaches are better or anything of the kind. But I think those coaches that are willing to be students of the game and continue to learn continuously will always be the better coach whether they are a former player or a parent coach. Those that think they know it all, such as many former female players and refuse to learn new things will only harm players in the long run. Please do not mistake this post to mean that this is only a fault of former or female players. Many male coaches fall into the same trap. What it comes down to is that the game of softball is continuously evolving and those that are unwilling to keep up with those same evolutions will only harm the game in the long run. It doesn't matter what gender they are.
- Oct 10, 2013
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My youngest daughter's team, I bring 14u and 16u girls to winter practices to help coach. I have 3 regular young ladies that give up their time to learn, teach, communicate and be role models to these younger girls. They will tell me or my other coaches, this is what they see in games and should practice. We will change practices mid stream to work on what they tell us. I hope these 3 young ladies become coaches, but I will bet or hope this experience will help them in life.
Yes I played baseball at a d1 college but I'm smart enough to listen to these ladies.
Yes I played baseball at a d1 college but I'm smart enough to listen to these ladies.
Well said.
Yes, the experience of playing fastpitch at a very high level is an asset in coaching. But it's just one asset, and it's well down the list of things that matter most, IMO.
If the game of softball waited around for there to be enough non parent coaches at the lower levels there would be no game for our dds to play.
My point made in the other thread was to point out that simply participating in college-level softball does not necessarily grant to the credentials to coach a travel team.
Young women SHOULD coach, but learn the position as an assistant for a number of seasons before taking the reigns as head coach/manager.
I see a distinct learning-curve for first-time college athlete/coaches working with younger players. Many just have to re-learn what the expected skill-set is for a 12u/14u. It takes a few seasons to really understand "the game" at this level - which is a lot different from their recent playing experiences at an 18u Gold or Collegiate level.
I for one, would actually PREFER a former player as a coach over a "Bucket Dad" (which brings its own set of controversey and team drama, especially if DD is also a pitcher; more offen than not). But that person should have actual coaching expereince at that age-level before taking a team as head coach.
The other scenario that works really well is the ex-Bucket Dad who has stayed-on as coach for an organization long after his DD has aged-out. This shows me a genuine love of the game, and dedication to player development not influenced by his own daughter anymore. "Bucket Dad" may be what got him into coaching, but something else happened to keep him in coaching. Yes, new bucket dad coaches have a lot to learn, but many coach well beyond their own self-interests and do develop into excellent coaches, taking pride providing opportunity for young athletes generations after...
Young women SHOULD coach, but learn the position as an assistant for a number of seasons before taking the reigns as head coach/manager.
I see a distinct learning-curve for first-time college athlete/coaches working with younger players. Many just have to re-learn what the expected skill-set is for a 12u/14u. It takes a few seasons to really understand "the game" at this level - which is a lot different from their recent playing experiences at an 18u Gold or Collegiate level.
I for one, would actually PREFER a former player as a coach over a "Bucket Dad" (which brings its own set of controversey and team drama, especially if DD is also a pitcher; more offen than not). But that person should have actual coaching expereince at that age-level before taking a team as head coach.
The other scenario that works really well is the ex-Bucket Dad who has stayed-on as coach for an organization long after his DD has aged-out. This shows me a genuine love of the game, and dedication to player development not influenced by his own daughter anymore. "Bucket Dad" may be what got him into coaching, but something else happened to keep him in coaching. Yes, new bucket dad coaches have a lot to learn, but many coach well beyond their own self-interests and do develop into excellent coaches, taking pride providing opportunity for young athletes generations after...
I noticed something about the Madison area. There are a fair number of female SB coaches, but the men clearly outnumber the women.
I also noticed that most of the male SB coaches played baseball when they were younger (although a few also played adult softball, either fast or slow pitch). The female SB played SB when they were younger. The local LL has about 3 times as many boys as girls signing up every year.
I also noticed that most of the male SB coaches played baseball when they were younger (although a few also played adult softball, either fast or slow pitch). The female SB played SB when they were younger. The local LL has about 3 times as many boys as girls signing up every year.
- Dec 11, 2010
- 4,724
- 113
I moved my comments here from another thread in order to un hijack that thread.
This post is a response to a previous post and will not relate in any way to rise ball location. Here goes:
I totally get what Corlay meant. My two DD's have had some great coaches. (One happened to be in his 70's, was male, and was easily the best coach either of my dd's ever had. Oh yeah, she loved playing for him and adores him, we had dinner with him a few weeks ago and he is a delightful old dude. Sorry OLIF.)
The WORST coach either had was a twenty something female who *must know everything because she played college softball*. Completely closed minded, knew nothing about how to run a practice, did nothing to teach the girls to hit and her offensive plan was to crowd the plate to draw walks or stick your butt in front of a pitch. She coaches a low level team, most of the kids are from our hometown. Those girls will be hs juniors this year and none were moved up early for varsity and her girls will struggle for playing time this spring. She taught them nothing except how to fundraise our small town to death 24/7/365, act up when a call doesn't go their way and whine when they get beat. Oh yeah, last summer her and her gf were boozing it up in the dugout during games. Nice example for an 18u team. But at least she played sb. And is female.
OLIF, the kind of thinking you displayed in your post is disappointing. I thank my lucky stars for most of the coaches my kids played for, yes they were male and never played softball but they were willing to spend time (and money) to coach my kids and my kids are better for it. I am starting to see more former players coaching and a couple are FANTASTIC with the kids but some just don't have the COACHING skills despite being good former players.
This post is a response to a previous post and will not relate in any way to rise ball location. Here goes:
I totally get what Corlay meant. My two DD's have had some great coaches. (One happened to be in his 70's, was male, and was easily the best coach either of my dd's ever had. Oh yeah, she loved playing for him and adores him, we had dinner with him a few weeks ago and he is a delightful old dude. Sorry OLIF.)
The WORST coach either had was a twenty something female who *must know everything because she played college softball*. Completely closed minded, knew nothing about how to run a practice, did nothing to teach the girls to hit and her offensive plan was to crowd the plate to draw walks or stick your butt in front of a pitch. She coaches a low level team, most of the kids are from our hometown. Those girls will be hs juniors this year and none were moved up early for varsity and her girls will struggle for playing time this spring. She taught them nothing except how to fundraise our small town to death 24/7/365, act up when a call doesn't go their way and whine when they get beat. Oh yeah, last summer her and her gf were boozing it up in the dugout during games. Nice example for an 18u team. But at least she played sb. And is female.
OLIF, the kind of thinking you displayed in your post is disappointing. I thank my lucky stars for most of the coaches my kids played for, yes they were male and never played softball but they were willing to spend time (and money) to coach my kids and my kids are better for it. I am starting to see more former players coaching and a couple are FANTASTIC with the kids but some just don't have the COACHING skills despite being good former players.
