Simply frustrated - opportunities for playing time

[Rick M]

It’s like it’s the original team and everyone else is just there for numbers. They will never break into the scene.

DD was in the exact same situation a few years ago. Nothing you can do besides move on and chalk it up to a bad year. Good luck finding the right fit.

 

[Traps71]

My DD and I have lived something like your story...at least early on, 10U & 11U. In our case, my DD started growing into a pitcher they could no longer ignore or relegate to garbage time. I agree that you are on the wrong team. You have to be on the field to develop. If our circumstances hadn't changed, we probably would have left our team sooner than we did. You obviously don't want to be in a position where you are paying for the privilege of your kid sitting on the bench.

How well does your DD hit? There is that old cliche for a reason: If you hit, you will play. Sounds like your DD is a good fielder, but is she a better hitter than the others? (Still not an excuse for the coach to consistently sit your DD or others at a key developmental age). If your DD doesn't pitch or catch, I'd say the most important thing for her to be able to do is hit.

 

[Strike2]

Tryouts...lots of tryouts. Regardless of age, unless you're on a top-tier team in the middle of the PGF nationals, players should be rotating. If they're all about the same in ability and attitude, playing time should be pretty equitable. If your DD isn't seeing the field early and often on the new team, don't wait another year to find another.

Find a team where she isn't the best player, but is clearly in the top nine. If you don't find the right team in the next month, guest play this Fall. DD bounced around a bit at that age before picking up and helping a team win their first tournament. She was offered a spot then and there, and has been with them several years now.

 

[canyonjoe]

Unless you just have a few players who can't play they should all get equal time in the field during pool. Honestly I would never not hit my top 3-4 hitters even in pools but I would give them a break in the field when possible. If you can't get decent playing time for 12 players you aren't coaching very well. Even in bracket it's hard to believe that you can't get all the players in assuming you win some games.

You aren't going to see the 3 coaches kids sit but what about the other 6. How does DD stack up.

 

[Razor011]

My DD and I have lived something like your story...at least early on, 10U & 11U. In our case, my DD started growing into a pitcher they could no longer ignore or relegate to garbage time. I agree that you are on the wrong team. You have to be on the field to develop. If our circumstances hadn't changed, we probably would have left our team sooner than we did. You obviously don't want to be in a position where you are paying for the privilege of your kid sitting on the bench.

How well does your DD hit? There is that old cliche for a reason: If you hit, you will play. Sounds like your DD is a good fielder, but is she a better hitter than the others? (Still not an excuse for the coach to consistently sit your DD or others at a key developmental age). If your DD doesn't pitch or catch, I'd say the most important thing for her to be able to do is hit.

She is in the top half. She’s also a catcher and great at that as well. But we have 5.


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[Capone]

After 1.5 years, time to move on in my opinion. What i typically see good programs do is during friendlies and pool play, they rotate players. Bracket play can be more focused on the hot players. If your DD isn't a pitcher, spend a lot of time on the hitting. If you can hit, they will find a way to play you!

 

[Razor011]

Unless you just have a few players who can't play they should all get equal time in the field during pool. Honestly I would never not hit my top 3-4 hitters even in pools but I would give them a break in the field when possible. If you can't get decent playing time for 12 players you aren't coaching very well. Even in bracket it's hard to believe that you can't get all the players in assuming you win some games.

You aren't going to see the 3 coaches kids sit but what about the other 6. How does DD stack up.

The other 6 definitely earn their spot for the most part. And i don’t have issue with the coaches’ girls playing. It’s just that they rotate 3-4 positions and while they’re great at some, they’re bad at others where these girls could really shine, given the opportunity. Of the starting 9, only 3 have one position in the field. The other six have 3 or more.


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[mmeece]

She is in the top half. She’s also a catcher and great at that as well. But we have 5.


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You clearly know you have to move on. You've learned some important questions to ask in the future though. Roster construction is almost as important as roster quality. If your dd wants to catch she can't be on a team with 4 other catchers. It's important to know where you stand with a new team as well, and where they see your dd fitting in terms of position, and how many other girls she will compete with for playing time at those spots.

 

[NBECoach]

I’ll try to keep this short, and will probably fail. Topic at hand: playing time, surprise, I know. We’ve been on this team for 1.5 years. It’s a second year 12u team. Originally, we made the 10th player. Team lost one and picked up 3 more so we sit at 12 on the roster. It’s the same 9 playing all the time, same 3 sitting all the time. If a “starter” sits, then it’s the same 3 who rotate filling that spot. We have consistently preached commitment as well as effort and attitude with our DD. She has approached the coach at least 4 times asking for feedback on what she can do to get in the field. Most times the response is “just keep working, you’ve improved greatly”. Additionally, she has put in the work off the field to make those improvements. However, she doesn’t get the opportunity to show the improvements. She attends every practice & performs at the same level of the regular 9. When asked what determines playing time, she was told “game performance & [the coaches] comfort level”. Ok, here’s my question...if you don’t get the opportunity to perform in the game, then how do you show game performance? We’re coming up on the last tournament of the season and DD has had the opportunity for 5 plays in the outfield. 2 grounders for singles, 2 line drives for singles and 1 fly out. While the others have made 2/7 catches in the outfield, some plays resulting in doubles and even ground ball errors resulting in 2 runs scored and a triple. What am i missing? Obviously, hits will be good and they are simply that, a good hard hit that yields a double. But these are plays that i have watched where they’re not tracking the ball and they get burnt, chasing the ball to the fence, etc to get it in. And it happens consistently.

We are going to change teams, that’s a given. But dang, what’s the secret here to be seen as a potentially great addition to your defense instead of assumed you can’t do any better than what’s out there?

FWIW-some on their starting 9 have upwards of 4 positions that they rotate thru. While they are great at some of them, some of them, they simply aren’t. And my DD is used as the DH, so hitting isn’t the issue.

Like i said, simply frustrated.


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Unless you have made some connections on other teams your next choice is tryouts. Do some home work. What team did you play against that could use a player like DD? What team did you play that had a head coach DD would want to play for? Are fees an issue? Some organizations are pretty costly.

So beware, I have seen players leave only to end up playing for awful teams and switching again and again.

 

[canyonjoe]

The other 6 definitely earn their spot for the most part. And i don’t have issue with the coaches’ girls playing. It’s just that they rotate 3-4 positions and while they’re great at some, they’re bad at others where these girls could really shine, given the opportunity. Of the starting 9, only 3 have one position in the field. The other six have 3 or more.


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I really hope she finds a spot somewhere else to play. The hard work will pay off somewhere.