Can't Figure Out the Coach

Help me out here please, if you will.

Moved daughter up from 12U rec to 14U travel. Was not looking to put her on a travel team but her pitching coach thought it would be best for her to make the move. She had a year of 12U eligibility left. She was always the best pitcher in the league, played whole game, all-stars, etc.

Travel team was/is a start-up and her tryout was well after all other teams had theirs (in other words - we didn't decide on travel until late October and most teams had their rosters set end of August).

Daughter is tall/strong for her age. Left handed. Good bat. Has 5 pitches she throws well and can locate. Does not throw real hard. OK fielding skills and not a real fast runner.

Coach took a look at her at a private tryout and made all kinds of statements about how much potential she has, fast hands, great ball control pitching, etc. Said she would work out well with his other pitcher as that girl throws hard but not a lot of other pitches other than a fastball. Basically said a lot of nice things and filled our heads with how great he thought she could be and said he really wanted her on the team.

Went to a practice with the team and after the practice he offered her a spot on the team in front of all of the players/parents.

Starry-eyed and excited we committed to the team. How could we say no? She was the youngest kid on the team by a lot but who cares right? Just turned 13 and most of the other girls are 15 soon to be 16.

Went through winter workouts/early spring practices - right up until tournament season got started he was saying how she would share innings pitching and even start. We got to every practice. She hustled, did exactly what she was told and was not a drama queen in any way. I helped at practice wherever I could to do my part.

Tournament season begins. She sees minimal action. She might pitch 1-2 innings on Saturday (pool play 3 games) and doesn't leave the bench on Sundays. He uses other pitchers (that we didn't know he had - even one with known lingering injury). Doesn't use her much in the field. She at least gets to bat on Saturdays but Sundays are torture as she sits all day. Mercifully Sundays don't last long as they usually only play 1-2 games.

When she pitches she does OK. She has shown she can hit too. She has a great attitude. She is the loudest kid on the bench constantly cheering for her teammates. She tries to pick them up if they strike out or make an error. She appears to be having a good time but now, near the end, I can see some cracks in the dam as constantly sitting the bench is getting old. Probably because she can see I am getting frustrated with the situation as well.

What I can't figure out is - why did he take her if he was only going to sit her? He could have said no and we would have went on our merry way. He has said that he tried out a lot of kids for the team but only kept the ones he wanted. He knew she was young and was a work in progress - we knew that too. Maybe he is "protecting" her in some way but she is not learning anything on the bench - in my view. Any help in figuring the guy out would be helpful.

At her age she needs innings so probably should have stayed in 12U. Maybe look at a 12U travel team as it is a big jump from 12 REC to 14U travel. Then again if she truly has 5 pitches that she can locate and have movement maybe have her play 18U GOLD since few if any pitchers at that level have 5 pitches.

This team probably had their roster set in August too whether you knew it or not. Your DD was probably a) a way too get some $$ b) a good prospect that he could work with c) an insurance policy in case of injuries d) good kid with good parent that would not bring drama....so all in all it is a win/win/win for him. Once you realized she was not going to pitch I probably would have looked for guest opportunities, but as it sits now sounds like this team is moving up to 16U so you just chalk up a year of a little experience and now you know what you are looking for ...a team you can hook up with by August where she is the #1 or #2 pitcher and be up front with coaches if your DD is not going to get 1/2 the innings as #1 or 1/3 of the innings as #2 you really are not interested. As you can probably see now your DD was the #3/#4 pitcher. You realize now it was too early to move up but there is nothing you can do about it now

Now the other issue if you have never heard let me know but I'm am telling you now work during the off season on TWO things. 1) She does not HAVE all those pitches trust me please don't argue. She needs to work in this order on locating her fastball, a good change up and maybe a drop at 14U that is all she really needs to be effective (maybe all she will ever need especially if that drop has a little tail to it). 2) At 13yrs old she still needs to be a HITTER if she is one of the top 5 hitters on the team she will not ride the bench on Sundays.

Live and learn I guess. When your dd is offered a spot you need to know some things prior to saying yes. If its me, I want to know these things.

1. How many other pitchers does the team have
2. Where in the pecking order of pitchers do you have my dd placed?
3. How many innings do you see my dd pitching over a weekend?
4. Do you let your pitchers play other positions when not pitching?
5. Do you let your pitchers bat?
6. Do(es) the HC or AC kids pitch?
7. How many tourneys are you planning on playing
8. Is this team going to national tourneys?
9. How many catchers to you have?
10. Fill in about 100 more that may be important to you...

chinamigarden said:

Live and learn I guess. When your dd is offered a spot you need to know some things prior to saying yes. If its me, I want to know these things.

1. How many other pitchers does the team have
2. Where in the pecking order of pitchers do you have my dd placed?
3. How many innings do you see my dd pitching over a weekend?
4. Do you let your pitchers play other positions when not pitching?
5. Do you let your pitchers bat?
6. Do(es) the HC or AC kids pitch?
7. How many tourneys are you planning on playing
8. Is this team going to national tourneys?
9. How many catchers to you have?
10. Fill in about 100 more that may be important to you...

Click to expand...

Awesome list of questions. Do coaches expect these types of questions? Just want to be sure they wouldn't be viewed as overly assertive/obnoxious coming from a parent. As you can see from the OP's experience, the answers to these questions can determine whether a family decides to commit to a team (and spend significant amounts of time/money doing so). I'm filing these away as we go through the tryout process for 14U this year.

When we switched teams in the spring we asked a lot of questions and the coach didn't seem fazed by them. If they're touchy about answering them that would be a red flag in itself IMO. They're very reasonable questions. I think 12U rec to 14U travel is a huge jump. I'd go back to her age group and go with a team that actually needs her as a pitcher.

For a pitcher new to travel. Not only is the jump from 12U rec to 14U huge in terms of player maturity, but moving from 40 to 43 feet is daunting for many experienced TB pitchers. Find a team that is playing just above her level and is equal to her birth year, or graduation year. I say playing a level above your DD to help elevate her game. I've tried to do that with mine, and she's stepped up to the challenge. I think a huge age gap is too big of a step however.

Fun fact: You can always tell if you're talking to a TB parent if they refer to their girls as 04's, 03's, 22's or even 2021's.
New acquantance: You're DD plays Softball? Me: Yup, she's an 03.

If you have a parent ask if your kid is a U11 or U12, run, they're a soccer parent. It might get on you.

sb03dad said:

For a pitcher new to travel. Not only is the jump from 12U rec to 14U huge in terms of player maturity, but moving from 40 to 43 feet is daunting for many experienced TB pitchers. Find a team that is playing just above her level and is equal to her birth year, or graduation year. I say playing a level above your DD to help elevate her game. I've tried to do that with mine, and she's stepped up to the challenge. I think a huge age gap is too big of a step however.

Fun fact: You can always tell if you're talking to a TB parent if they refer to their girls as 04's, 03's, 22's or even 2021's.
New acquantance: You're DD plays Softball? Me: Yup, she's an 03.

If you have a parent ask if your kid is a U11 or U12, run, they're a soccer parent. It might get on you.

Click to expand...

I would add that if they go with the birth year vs the grad year they are noobs to recruiting and most likely have many misconceptions. I am amazed how many coaches of alleged showcase teams that talk about their players being 02, 01, and 00's.

riseball said:

I would add that if they go with the birth year vs the grad year they are noobs to recruiting and most likely have many misconceptions. I am amazed how many coaches of alleged showcase teams that talk about their players being 02, 01, and 00's.

Click to expand...

Around here the younger ages are almost always by birth year. Mine is an 06 but actually 2025 graduation year because of her late birthday. But our team refers to itself as an 06 team. Though interestingly most of the announcements I see on the local board use 14U, 16U, 18U. I think more of graduation year after 12U/14U.

grcsftbll said:

Around here the younger ages are almost always by birth year. Mine is an 06 but actually 2025 graduation year because of her late birthday. But our team refers to itself as an 06 team. Though interestingly most of the announcements I see on the local board use 14U, 16U, 18U. I think more of graduation year after 12U/14U.

Click to expand...

That is the norm. My point is that once people start the recruiting process and interacting with college coaches they should understand understand the coaches care about when they graduate, not when they were born.