Politics in high school softball suck!

[RubberBiscuit]

Wow - this thread has gone "viral".... No way I can catch up on all the thoughts here.

BUT I do have one more case-n-point to bring up here:

Parents of prospective HS pitchers : Watch out for HS coaches molding a pitcher into what is very useful for the high school W/L record BUT not as useful for the individual development, and then D1 marketability, of the pitcher.

Case here : In my DD's HS conference we arguably have the "best" set of pitchers in the state. This is from a STATE HS perspective. The problem with two to three of these "top" state pitchers in our conference is that these pitchers are just very good fastball-placement pitchers. They might have one other pitch but their main claim to fame is hyper-accurate fastballs. What this does is limit the other HS teams scoring BUT in the end does NOT create a very marketable pitcher to the college D1/D2 world. (assuming the pitcher wants that dream and in two of the cases I know here they do!)

It is so sad to see these pitchers get all this "state" recognition to only get into the national TB arena and get hammered because they can't show anything different from the circle. I have seen this and it is not pretty when the pitcher finally understands what the HS "molding" of their skills has done for them.

Now I am not saying I have all the answers out there to avoid this. But many of us have choices in HS districting of where our DD's go. Given what I talk about here the "best" SB HS MAY not be the best thing for a pitcher if the HS coach has a very controlling and limiting vision of what their ideal pitcher should be.

Again - I want to have you parents of middle-school pitchers get some insight in advance of the pit-falls that can impede your daughters future in the sport.

Here is my "hot-list":
1. Be on a HS team that lets DD throw different pitches. (requires a catcher that can catch them!)
2. Be on the best TB team that gets DD circle time that highlights her strengths. (If the TB coach must have a left-right pitcher and your DD is a Up-Down pitcher,....beware)

 

[Country Boy]

Being, that I'm an AC I find it hard to believe a coach wouldn't try to help a kid, get a shot at a dream. Even if that girl falls somewhere in between Div2,3 or Junior college, some of those HS coaches need to get out of the way. Last year some of the things being said and taught by HS coaches, was laughable, they couldn't tell talent if it hit them along side the head. Counrty Boy, you do sound a little angry, I have to question why you are even coaching at this point? I'm only judging you by what you have written and it sounds a little bitter. Sorry if it isn't attended that way, but it comes off that way.

You could indeed say I am angry and bitter. I am angry at parents. I love teaching softball. I love helping players improve. As frustrating as teenagers are, I love working with them and seeing their eyes light up when they do something special! That is a special gift to be a part of. I have had a few go D1 so I know what an elite level that is. More have gone D3 and JC. All are special players.

I go back to the OP. Her daughter's HS team played at state and either won or placed when her daughter was a Freshman or Sophomore, at least the way I read it. That is a tremendous achievement that I have certainly never made. Most will never come close. But instead of seeing that as an achievement, somehow the OP thinks her daughter should have been playing. So rather than be happy that her daughter is part of a quality program that may take her to state the next couple years, she is upset because of the politics that have held her DD back. I, personally, find it hard to believe that a coach that starts players based on their parents buying uniforms is going to win state. I don't doubt for a second that there are coaches that play politics. But I doubt very much they win state trophies very often.

There are bad HS Coaches out there. I know that. But why is it apparently acceptable to lump us all together? I can't start a Topic bashing all minorities or women or homosexuals. That would be wrong. But I am supposed to sit by and let Mommy bash everyone in my profession? When I do defend my profession, I am called jaded, clueless, etc.

Let's get into why there are poor HS coaches out there? It's essentially a volunteer gig that takes nearly every spare moment of my life for 4+ months out of the year. I say volunteer because the small amount I am paid typically gets spent on things my team needs that the school won't buy. Or it's a meal for a player whose parents can't afford to send her to a road game with money. Or the team fee for another player. School's never hire the people that know everything about softball. Those people sit 15 feet from the dugout and 'share' their knowledge. Many post on here when their DD is being held back.

 

[29dad]

CB there are probably dozens of high softball school coaches on this board. Nobody has stated that ALL high school coaches are incompetent. But you came here and pretty much said that ALL travel ball players are spoiled, egotistical, and think that their poop doesn't stink. THAT is why some of us have suggested that you seem angry and jaded. But, whatever... personally I think the horse died on this thread about 7 pages ago, and yet we keep beating the poor thing.

 

[shannz]

Sorry if I started something bad. Our coach did win state and he has to know something about the game to accomplish that. My frustration is the politics. My daughter has been offered three D1 partial scholarships this week since we went to a more competitive travel team. I am thankful for her great attitude and God given talent. And she says she will play this year in high school. But next year on signing day it will be worth being with her friends and memories of high school. I appreciate that I am not alone in this. Its just we all like our daughters getting some kind of chance to shine locally. She will probably come back and take a coaching job herself and remember this when she coaches. I really like other high school coaches and have been one myself.[/B] And I am probably more emotional because it is my daughter getting the shaft. And my daughter made the girls on JV feel good about winning all their games together and they had great times. And I understand its for school team and spirit etc...

 

[David Carter]

Don't be sorry that's what the board is for to vent a little, share stories and everyone learn some in the process. In the big scheme of things sounds like your DD is on the right track, working hard on her skills, having a fun time at school (even if everything is not perfect) and when showtime comes for travel ball she shines and will hopefully get a great discount or free college education out of all her hard work.

Keep up the good work!!

 

[splinterpicker]

I love both TB and HS softball and think both have their good and bad politics. If I totaled all the money spent on softball I could probably of payed for college out of pocket.

 

[quincy]

I know parents and players have different expectations. The only Team DD has ever tried out for was MS, why the coach liked some players more than others IDK. Why they made some of the decisions they made again IDK.

DD was happy to make the Team and she remembered this thru out the season. She would have cleaned the stadium if the coach asked, she just wanted to be on the TEAM.

 

[1fingeredknuckler]

"Let's get into why there are poor HS coaches out there? It's essentially a volunteer gig that takes nearly every spare moment of my life " quoted from a few posts above;

I really don't know the pay scale for the HS here, but i did point out to the one in charge as to what was necessary to improve the youth program here, of which he had been a part of with his 2 DD's, and he kindly replied to me that" the youth program would never get better until they started paying someone" how ever he never knew 4 years ago, and still does not know today, anything about starting pitchers in a youth program so they are ready for HS, there is no TB here, as far as tournaments. It is great for the ones who excel at taking the next step and they should be commended for it, it is just a shame that some areas are subject to programs that lack the proper training and development skills for the kids that have a desire or the ability to succeed. I had to show my GD again how to throw overhand, she had been taught wrong for 3 years, Sometimes it is just mind boggling how much correction can be done after it was taught right then twisted. That's the way it is here sorry to say

 

[GOINGDEEP]

"Let's get into why there are poor HS coaches out there? It's essentially a volunteer gig that takes nearly every spare moment of my life " quoted from a few posts above;

I really don't know the pay scale for the HS here, but i did point out to the one in charge as to what was necessary to improve the youth program here, of which he had been a part of with his 2 DD's, and he kindly replied to me that" the youth program would never get better until they started paying someone" how ever he never knew 4 years ago, and still does not know today, anything about starting pitchers in a youth program so they are ready for HS, there is no TB here, as far as tournaments. It is great for the ones who excel at taking the next step and they should be commended for it, it is just a shame that some areas are subject to programs that lack the proper training and development skills for the kids that have a desire or the ability to succeed. I had to show my GD again how to throw overhand, she had been taught wrong for 3 years, Sometimes it is just mind boggling how much correction can be done after it was taught right then twisted. That's the way it is here sorry to say

You bring up a good point. We pay the head coach $2500 and the #1 AC $1500 and #2 AC $1000. Curious what other's pay.

 

[Cannonball]

For my dd's senior year, I was the head coach of the HS softball team. I brought 24 years of coaching experience (HS Baseball but also several years of travel ball softball) to the table, private hitting lesson (both baseball and softball) experience and experience being a clinician and speaker at various coaching clinics for coaches. I was told none of that mattered and I would receive a whopping $2,500. Had this been baseball, they would have counted all of my experience and I would have received more than double that.