It was all my fault. I've accepted it. And I really believe I've learned my lesson. sigh.
But the question is.. What now?
We talked my 13u daughter into leaving a "tournament team" made up of her friends (all girls from her grade/school). They had zero practices all year & they only played 3 Little League/rec tournaments last year. Even with zero practices -they were still good (all players played a full rec season leading up to the tournaments). My daughter was the backup pitcher. And the main pitcher on this old team is pretty darn good. And a close friend of my daughters. My daughter always hit well and played a really good third base most of the time- since the other girl mostly pitched.
We started playing with the new team mid-way through last year (since the old team was only playing 3 tournaments). It was wonderful! Except the third base spot wasn't open. My daughter was the main pitcher though. And spent the other amount of time at first base. This new team was only a B team. But she played 7 tournaments with them last year! We never got lower than 5th (once). We won twice. The rest were all 2nd & 3rd places. It seemed too good to be true. The team hit & fielded so well that my daughter could concentrate on pitching. She liked the girls. Everyone seemed to get along. The coaching was quality. It was well organized. They practiced all winter- usually once a week. Everyone seemed to still be getting along great. There was no hint of trouble.
We even got a 4th place at our first tournament this May. It was an "open" tournament and 1st-3rd places were all A teams that beat us. We are all only 13u too- playing against older 14uA teams.
But then the wheels fell off!! immediately- the day after the tournament. Not that much changed from last year. One or two outfielders left- replaced by 2 other outfielders & it's not the new girls causing waves. But 9 girls stayed the same. The coaches literally started playing one girl at first base a little less than she had last year (for a coach’s daughter) and instantly the whole team fell apart and started fighting about positions (every position) & playing time & on & on...everyone stopped hitting. Almost right away. Huge #'s of error.
And just as quickly... now the coaches have stopped having practices. They have now had one single practice since the beginning of May. One practice !!!.
My daughter even decided to skip rec ball this year to concentrate on this new tournament team (plus the old team’s coaches were all the rec ball coaches and they were pretty mad she left the old team). So she has literally had one opportunity for ONE team practice since the beginning of May. My mind is about to explode.
But worst of all is that it's starting to change the way she's thinking. About herself. And her pitching. And Softball. Not only did she not get to play with her friends which may be may have affected her. But it's rough being a pitcher of a team that is not practicing and not batting & not fielding anymore. She's pretty down on herself right now.
But….
It comes back to what we do about next year. She'll be a freshman. It will be the first year that she can play school ball here. JV.. or maybe even some varsity possibly. Her old tournament team in our town really doesn't practice off season. So it'd be nice to find a new tournament team that practiced some in the offseason leading up to our spring high school season. But do we go back to her friends?. Whether out of spite or not (or who knows)- they started trying to do more this year- without her on the team. They had a practice or two in the spring for once. They'll end up playing 2 Little League tournaments plus one USSSA tournament this year. And next year they'll have to move up to 16u even though my daughter will only be 14. But it will have all the girls in her grade/school.
I'm worried about hard feelings from coaches and the girls and maybe they'd take it out on her and all though. I'm worried they won't practice enough in the offseason. And I'm worried they already filled her defensive position since she left. But they are promising more tournaments & practices for next year and they did do a little better with it this year than last year. Do we go back with our tail between our legs & begging for forgiveness? I feel so bad about leaving her friends (and a good team).
There is another area team asking her to tryout for them in August though. And they practice year round. And it's a really good coach. The teams go to showcases. But do we go back to the team made up of her friends?
I know a lot of people will say, “leave it up to her.” She says, “I don’t care” a lot. That’s how we got into this mess and dad & I talked her into leaving the old team. She said she didn’t care. And that really didn’t seem to go too well. The grass is definitely not greener, folks. It just is not.
But the question is.. What now?
We talked my 13u daughter into leaving a "tournament team" made up of her friends (all girls from her grade/school). They had zero practices all year & they only played 3 Little League/rec tournaments last year. Even with zero practices -they were still good (all players played a full rec season leading up to the tournaments). My daughter was the backup pitcher. And the main pitcher on this old team is pretty darn good. And a close friend of my daughters. My daughter always hit well and played a really good third base most of the time- since the other girl mostly pitched.
We started playing with the new team mid-way through last year (since the old team was only playing 3 tournaments). It was wonderful! Except the third base spot wasn't open. My daughter was the main pitcher though. And spent the other amount of time at first base. This new team was only a B team. But she played 7 tournaments with them last year! We never got lower than 5th (once). We won twice. The rest were all 2nd & 3rd places. It seemed too good to be true. The team hit & fielded so well that my daughter could concentrate on pitching. She liked the girls. Everyone seemed to get along. The coaching was quality. It was well organized. They practiced all winter- usually once a week. Everyone seemed to still be getting along great. There was no hint of trouble.
We even got a 4th place at our first tournament this May. It was an "open" tournament and 1st-3rd places were all A teams that beat us. We are all only 13u too- playing against older 14uA teams.
But then the wheels fell off!! immediately- the day after the tournament. Not that much changed from last year. One or two outfielders left- replaced by 2 other outfielders & it's not the new girls causing waves. But 9 girls stayed the same. The coaches literally started playing one girl at first base a little less than she had last year (for a coach’s daughter) and instantly the whole team fell apart and started fighting about positions (every position) & playing time & on & on...everyone stopped hitting. Almost right away. Huge #'s of error.
And just as quickly... now the coaches have stopped having practices. They have now had one single practice since the beginning of May. One practice !!!.
My daughter even decided to skip rec ball this year to concentrate on this new tournament team (plus the old team’s coaches were all the rec ball coaches and they were pretty mad she left the old team). So she has literally had one opportunity for ONE team practice since the beginning of May. My mind is about to explode.
But worst of all is that it's starting to change the way she's thinking. About herself. And her pitching. And Softball. Not only did she not get to play with her friends which may be may have affected her. But it's rough being a pitcher of a team that is not practicing and not batting & not fielding anymore. She's pretty down on herself right now.
But….
It comes back to what we do about next year. She'll be a freshman. It will be the first year that she can play school ball here. JV.. or maybe even some varsity possibly. Her old tournament team in our town really doesn't practice off season. So it'd be nice to find a new tournament team that practiced some in the offseason leading up to our spring high school season. But do we go back to her friends?. Whether out of spite or not (or who knows)- they started trying to do more this year- without her on the team. They had a practice or two in the spring for once. They'll end up playing 2 Little League tournaments plus one USSSA tournament this year. And next year they'll have to move up to 16u even though my daughter will only be 14. But it will have all the girls in her grade/school.
I'm worried about hard feelings from coaches and the girls and maybe they'd take it out on her and all though. I'm worried they won't practice enough in the offseason. And I'm worried they already filled her defensive position since she left. But they are promising more tournaments & practices for next year and they did do a little better with it this year than last year. Do we go back with our tail between our legs & begging for forgiveness? I feel so bad about leaving her friends (and a good team).
There is another area team asking her to tryout for them in August though. And they practice year round. And it's a really good coach. The teams go to showcases. But do we go back to the team made up of her friends?
I know a lot of people will say, “leave it up to her.” She says, “I don’t care” a lot. That’s how we got into this mess and dad & I talked her into leaving the old team. She said she didn’t care. And that really didn’t seem to go too well. The grass is definitely not greener, folks. It just is not.
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