Starting lineup locked at the beginning of the season??

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Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Been thinking about this for some reason.

I can not remember 1 Team I have managed or DD has been on that the best team on opening day was the same as best team at end of season.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
My daughter's HS coach told her that the starting lineup has been locked for the season.

Seems like a dumb thing to say and he is likely an idiot for saying it... but I do have some questions:

- Your DD is a senior. Is this a new coach or has this been going on for 4 years?
- How good is the team? Sure your DD is going to college to play, but there are teams in HS that are stacked. Is this one of them? My DD's team has a senior going to college on the bench playing only against all the weak matchups and she belongs there.
- In terms of positions - is your DD a clear #1 for any position? Or is she genuinely behind some others? Or is it close?
- Did he tell your DD why he chose someone else/several others over your DD? What else happened in the conversation?

In any season there will be injuries and other things. At some point your DD will get an opportunity and she has to be ready to grab it when it comes. If someone falters, coaches will turn to their bench no matter what they say.

Or he could just be an idiot. That happens as well I am afraid.

As for what you tell your kid - at this age and with college in a few months -probably nothing. Just be a shoulder for support when she needs it.
 
Jun 3, 2015
92
0
Ask your daughter if she wants to play spring ball with her travel team. No way I would have put all the time and effort in to play high school softball if I was riding pine all season, and have no chance at cracking the starting lineup.

That's not an option where we live. Club ball goes dark during school ball.
 
Jun 3, 2015
92
0
I have a couple thoughts/questions here.

Your daughter is a senior - has she been on the team in previous years? If so, is this something new/different this year? Your daughter has a scholarship to play in college next year, so presumably she is skilled.

The coach says the starting lineup is locked for the year. I agree that's pretty short-sighted and likely going to bite him on the a$$ at some point. That said, is it possible that he is trying to motivate the girls to work that much harder? Yes, that's a bit counter-intuitive given the "there's nothing she can do to earn a spot" comment, but you never know with some coaches.

I assume that he does sub girls in during games...or maybe that's a bad assumption. Either way, all your daughter can do is continue to work hard and control the things that she can control - namely, her attitude, effort, and energy. Try to be a positive senior leader for the underclassmen despite the circumstances, and if/when she gets the opportunity to play, be ready to light it up. That will only help her next year when the bench will be much longer and playing time not a certainty at all.

I have no idea what this guy is doing.. My daughter pitches and plays third base, so she's capable to playing either position very well. There are a couple of other things that are concerning to us.. He's made disparaging comments to my daughter about other players and we believe he's talking to other parents about our daughter.. My daughter heard a conversation that confirms this.
 
Jun 3, 2015
92
0
Seems like a dumb thing to say and he is likely an idiot for saying it... but I do have some questions:

- Your DD is a senior. Is this a new coach or has this been going on for 4 years?
- How good is the team? Sure your DD is going to college to play, but there are teams in HS that are stacked. Is this one of them? My DD's team has a senior going to college on the bench playing only against all the weak matchups and she belongs there.
- In terms of positions - is your DD a clear #1 for any position? Or is she genuinely behind some others? Or is it close?
- Did he tell your DD why he chose someone else/several others over your DD? What else happened in the conversation?

In any season there will be injuries and other things. At some point your DD will get an opportunity and she has to be ready to grab it when it comes. If someone falters, coaches will turn to their bench no matter what they say.

Or he could just be an idiot. That happens as well I am afraid.

As for what you tell your kid - at this age and with college in a few months -probably nothing. Just be a shoulder for support when she needs it.

- Your DD is a senior. Is this a new coach or has this been going on for 4 years? She transferred in last year. We moved and her last high school team was stacked, so she wanted to transfer schools to have an opportunity to pitch. She sat out the first half of the season because she transferred in and that was the rule.. Second half of the season she played 3 innings. The entire time she was asking him what can she do to earn playing time..And all he said was work harder. Eventually he told her she was to wait her turn, which we thought would be this year.
- How good is the team? Sure your DD is going to college to play, but there are teams in HS that are stacked. Is this one of them? My DD's team has a senior going to college on the bench playing only against all the weak matchups and she belongs there.They are a good team, but my daughter's skills are right there with the rest of them.
- In terms of positions - is your DD a clear #1 for any position? Or is she genuinely behind some others? Or is it close? She pitches and can play third base. She's capable of playing both well. Her skill level is the same as the other pitchers and third basemen.
- Did he tell your DD why he chose someone else/several others over your DD? What else happened in the conversation? All her ever tells her is to work harder..He will not give her specifics, which is very frustrating. I believe it's a cop out. Are high school coaches held accountable? If someone complains about playing time all the coach has to say is they need to work harder??Something else that's interesting is their #1 pitcher's mom works at the school, which is something we just found out about.

We have had some long talks with our daughter and she has spoken to her college coach. My daughter was super concerned about them not seeing her stats. We encouraged her to talk to her college coach and ask for her advice, which she did and her coach told her that they really don't care what happens in high school ball.
 
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