Another year, another team <sigh>

[EP Dad]

Very true and i agree.
Just that some coaching squads will thrash around so much they actually never develop a "team". There is a line somewhere.

Naaah, there's no line. Every single one that I've met is only interested in the shortest distance between two points. Why develop a girl or bet on futures when you can just go out and find a plug and play player?

You always better be ready to compete cause someone is always trying to take your job away.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Naaah, there's no line. Every single one that I've met is only interested in the shortest distance between two points. Why develop a girl or bet on futures when you can just go out and find a plug and play player?

You always better be ready to compete cause someone is always trying to take your job away.

I don't think it's quite that cut throat. You've got to set minimum standards of commitment and talent or else the team will break apart. But I've certainly kept players that I could've replaced with better. I trust that most head coaches have.

 

[marriard]

Be afraid of a team coaching squad that "shops" around for newer/better players each year to step up the club name. There are a bunch of "grass has got to be greener" coaches. If your DD is the weakest player on a team that does well and has aggressive goals there will be many families moving in on your DD's spot.

I don't mind the coaches that shop around looking to upgrade their rosters each season. It is the ones that do it each week that bug me - especially in the 10U/12U age groups.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

I don't mind the coaches that shop around looking to upgrade their rosters each season. It is the ones that do it each week that bug me - especially in the 10U/12U age groups.

Ya this has got to be over that "line". I would also submit that IF a group of girls get along in that magical,and I believe quite rare instance, where personal and family egos don't taint the team, you can actually get a better performing team with potentially minor weaknesses in non critical positions.

That's my thinking these days. If I were gonna do it all over again I would have stayed in coaching my pitching DD and find a high-end BUT not high maintenance D1 college goal girls and worked to keep that squad together through thick n thin...... Ya I am a dreamer.....

 

[WaSpeed02]

Be afraid of a team coaching squad that "shops" around for newer/better players each year to step up the club name. There are a bunch of "grass has got to be greener" coaches. If your DD is the weakest player on a team that does well and has aggressive goals there will be many families moving in on your DD's spot.

So far, I don't see that as an issue for our coaches. They've had plenty of opportunities to "recruit" players from other teams but the HC stuck to the philosophy he laid out at the beginning of the year: develop a strong core group of girls and keep them together as long as possible. He told me that he was approached by several girls to join the team mid-season and he told them to come back once they finished out the year with teams they had already committed to. Ethics are a big deal in our club at every age level. That being said, once our "season" ended and tryouts began, every player had to try out again and we had a strong turnout of girls seeking to make our team. I like the balanced philosophy of sticking to the concept of developing a core group of girls, yet at the same time, every player must earn their spot on the team and commit to keeping it.

 

[EP Dad]

I don't think it's quite that cut throat. You've got to set minimum standards of commitment and talent or else the team will break apart. But I've certainly kept players that I could've replaced with better. I trust that most head coaches have.

Well, that's great and I have met a couple of coaches that will at least keep their players through the season. But, the vast majority that I've run across will do the opposite if given the chance.

 

[guero_gordo]

Well, that's great and I have met a couple of coaches that will at least keep their players through the season. But, the vast majority that I've run across will do the opposite if given the chance.

...and tell the girl not even to come to tryouts because they've already locked up the better player. I kid you not.

 

[02Crush]

I think it is really simple. Dance with the one your brought to the dance. If you brought them and did not enjoy their company....Maybe you should not have asked them to begin with.

 

[cuzmail]

I like the balanced philosophy of sticking to the concept of developing a core group of girls, yet at the same time, every player must earn their spot on the team and commit to keeping it.

What am I missing here? How can you do both? Are they being judged by effort only and not actual ability?

 

[guero_gordo]

IMLE the same coaches that would replace a girl whenever the wind blows(or at least talk about it), are the first to cry about loyalty when a girl leaves.