Just have to vent! I am done with softball!

18 teams? Seriously? I've coached TWO teams at a time and was was stretched to provide adequate attention to both. And I coached basketball - every kid plays the position she wants to play? How does that even work?

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[MENTION=5070]marriard[/MENTION] -- My DD#3 played in an AAU organization structured like that. The organization had a practice facility with 4 courts. There were two practices during the week focused on team play. Kids had individual instruction on other days. On Sundays starting at noon, a bunch of other organizations would show up for "game day". There would be 30 or 40 teams involved. On game days, the younger kids would have a random coach, while the older kids would run the teams on their own. For national or regional tournaments, the organization would put together a team and assign a coach.

"Positions" in TB hoops are irrelevant. The teams play man-to-man, so the kids match up after every substitution. The teams run a motion offense with the post players regularly swinging to the 3 point line and perimeter players going to the blocks. About the only designated job is "ball handler" where a kid's assignment is to take the ball down the court.

grcsftbll said:

In competitive ball, kids don't pick where they play. That sounds like rec ball, which can be a lot of fun especially for less skilled players. But once you move to travel or club ball, it's all different. I'd be immediately suspicious of any coach who told me the kids get to play where they want. Most 12U kids don't sign up for RF. In this scenario we'd probably have 3 girls at every infield position, perhaps a CF but maybe not.

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Totally agree. At some point kids (and parents) have to realize that the coach is putting girls where they are best for the TEAM. It's hard. I myself have vented and complained in the past about lack of playing time at DD's preferred position. But you know what...DD now LOVES her secondary position. And she is finding that she may even be better there and she may even like it better!

It reminds me of when girls think they are too good to bunt. WHY would you ever think that??? Wouldn't you want another option in the arsenal? Every girl on DD's team can bunt...and do it well. And every girl is asked to do it from time to time. Some of our best hitters are also our best bunters. The girls bunt because it is good for the team...not necessarily because they want to. It took a while (for me more than DD) to understand that for a team to be successful there needs to be a TEAM first mentality.

If you are truly unhappy there is always another team looking for a pitcher.

KPower said:

Totally agree. At some point kids (and parents) have to realize that the coach is putting girls where they are best for the TEAM. It's hard. I myself have vented and complained in the past about lack of playing time at DD's preferred position. But you know what...DD now LOVES her secondary position. And she is finding that she may even be better there and she may even like it better!

It reminds me of when girls think they are too good to bunt. WHY would you ever think that??? Wouldn't you want another option in the arsenal? Every girl on DD's team can bunt...and do it well. And every girl is asked to do it from time to time. Some of our best hitters are also our best bunters. The girls bunt because it is good for the team...not necessarily because they want to. It took a while (for me more than DD) to understand that for a team to be successful there needs to be a TEAM first mentality.

If you are truly unhappy there is always another team looking for a pitcher.

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It's likely my DD will be in different positions than she's used to this year. We have a lot of defensive depth, which hasn't been the case at her primary positions (SS and 3B) in recent years. Our new coach likes pitchers to play 1B and OF. She played a lot of 1B in 8U and a little in 10U but almost none since. She's played maybe 15 innings in the outfield in 6 years of softball. She's excited about the possibility of some outfield time. It gets pretty fun in 12U. I don't think she's as excited about the 1B possibility, but she'll play where she's needed. I told her if she decides she wants to make a go for 3B or SS, she'll just have to stand out so much he'll feel compelled to play her there.

I don't get the bunting thing! I love small ball. It's so fun to watch. We're going to have a lot of speed this year and I imagine all our girls will be working on bunting. We've got a player we've had for the past 2 years and she'll lay down a bunt 9 times out of 10 it's called. I'm sure she'd love to hit more and bunt less - but she's so darn good at it, and it's what they need her to do. I've never heard her complain.

On DD's new TB team, the parent contract states that we must agree that everyone on the team other than pitchers and catchers are players, not position players. They practice equally at IF and OF and he will move them around as needed. No one is the "#1 SS" or whatever. I think that's pretty common practice in high level ball.

And all I can tell you is that, given my experience scouring ads for 16U teams over the summer, if your DD REALLY has 6 pitches with command and velocity when she reaches that age group, she will play wherever she damn well pleases. Everybody and their dog is looking for pitching in this age group. She can write her own ticket. She may not play in the field when she doesn't pitch because they carry rosters of 14-16, but she will be the #1 pitcher on a great team.

grcsftbll said:

In competitive ball, kids don't pick where they play. That sounds like rec ball, which can be a lot of fun especially for less skilled players. But once you move to travel or club ball, it's all different. I'd be immediately suspicious of any coach who told me the kids get to play where they want. Most 12U kids don't sign up for RF. In this scenario we'd probably have 3 girls at every infield position, perhaps a CF but maybe not.

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Agreed.

I'm an assistant coach with a 10U travel team. Parents are griping a bit about their kid not playing the infield. HC tells them she's playing the girls who show they can handle the position in the position. We have talked about letting players play other positions in pool games for an inning here and there, somewhat to placate the parents but mostly to develop the girls at their back-up spots.

Problem is, I don't see much evidence that the girls practice other than our scheduled practices. My DD and two or three others do work out with their parents 3-4 days per week in addition to our team practices. But pretty clear the rest don't. So it's hard to gauge improvement.

Any tips on getting the parents practicing with their kids more? These are all 9 year old girls and I get that they have other interests and hobbies. But they were invited to a travel team with the understanding that they should be getting private hitting lessons and working hard to improve.

I have sent out emails when my DD and I are headed to the field to practice and two girls did show up to that. So there's hope.

I commend you for having the guts to pull your dd out of softball . Maybe your dd needs to figure things out too. Try other sports for sure. However if you make a new journey, will the old journey come back to haunt you? Best of luck to you, and mostly best of luck to your daughter.

Enjoy you new journey .

chinamigarden said:

sometimes crazy parents are there and you don't realize it. Sometimes they are where you least expect it.

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You know the saying. If you haven't spotted the crazy parents in the first couple weeks, you're probably them!