- Nov 18, 2013
- 2,258
- 113
If the situation was one where they could learn watching the upperclassmen play that would be one thing, but they are not learning anything riding the bench. With only three of the starters playing for travel teams, and the rest play softball two months a year, the level of play is what they left a few years ago when they started moving up the travel team ladder.
I'm thinking about the idea of 'paying your dues'. If varsity is about allowing the older girls to play, simply because of seniority, then yes, sitting the bench is paying the dues. If varsity is about trying to field the best team a school can put together, then I think the metric of the dues would come from which girls practice three or four times a week, ten months a year.
Two years ago, when DD was playing sloppy, and was benched for a month and a half, I didn't complain to her TB coach. During that time she didn't deserve to be a starter. I waited for her to realize that she needed to get her act together and play better to become a starter again. That benching was probably the best thing that happened to her. It lit a fire in her that should couldn't rest on her laurels, and she has not stopped pushing herself since.
Time to be blunt. Your kids aren't starting varsity for one of two reasons and possibly both. They're not that good, or you're being a pain in the butt and coach is taking it out on your kids. It's time to back off. Pull them from the team or stick to the outfield and don't talk. You're ruining their future.