A Level Travel Teams- Parent Coaches/No parent coaches

[MadBandit22]

I’ll take both sides of the coin ...

Truth is, what is best for your kid may not be best for the team. Playing your best position may not be best for the team. If you cannot do what is best for the team by handling those two realities, find another team where you fit better and can be a team player.

Flip side ... in my experience travel/competitive ball has commonly become nothing more than expensive daddy ball. In this area, there are very few “programs” and virtually every team is coached by a parent who got mad at the previous team his/her kid was on.

The general consensus from what I hear is all things being equal choose the team with no parent coaches. That’s what we’re doing.
The thing is I am a very good judge of talent. I focus on the negative 1st. If a girl goes 9 things right I see the one thing she does wrong or needs improvement on. Character flaw I guess.

 

[mmeece]

The general consensus from what I hear is all things being equal choose the team with no parent coaches. That’s what we’re doing.
The thing is I am a very good judge of talent. I focus on the negative 1st. If a girl goes 9 things right I see the one thing she does wrong or needs improvement on. Character flaw I guess.

Keep in mind that there is always a "daddy" in charge, whether he is the coach or simply the parent closest to the non-parent coach. I have heard many complaints about non-parent coaches essentially playing daddy ball because they are heavily influenced by one or two parents. At least when you have a parent coach you know what to look for prior to joining (What position does their dd play vs what does your dd play, etc) and you know that the coach is invested. I've seen a few situations where a player joins a team to play with a particular non-parent coach only to see the coach leave for a better situation or simply tire of coaching that team. Pros and cons both ways

 

[MadBandit22]

Keep in mind that there is always a "daddy" in charge, whether he is the coach or simply the parent closest to the non-parent coach. I have heard many complaints about non-parent coaches essentially playing daddy ball because they are heavily influenced by one or two parents. At least when you have a parent coach you know what to look for prior to joining (What position does their dd play vs what does your dd play, etc) and you know that the coach is invested. I've seen a few situations where a player joins a team to play with a particular non-parent coach only to see the coach leave for a better situation or simply tire of coaching that team. Pros and cons both ways

The team we’re going with has two young female coaches. One still plays college ball the other not to far removed from playing days. No relatives on team. One coach actually has a younger sister that could play on this team but coach said no. Hoping for the best.

 

[grcsftbll]

There are good parent coaches and bad ones. There are good non-parent coaches and bad ones. You can't generalize from one team. I also don't think I'd judge a coach on one rained-out workout. Maybe he has a huge weak spot at 3B but has 3 or 4 passable middle infielders. Maybe that's just where he needed her more. There are a lot of things that could be going on. I've learned the hard way over the past 2 years that the HC has a million things going on that the parents have no idea about, and is making decision based on more information than anyone else has.

 

[Westwind]

Moving dd from mi to 3b was a game changer for dd. It caused her game to grow in a lot of ways I never expected. It made her better in mi when she was needed there on other teams.

It happened one year because the team had pitchers that were passable at ss but couldn’t cover a bunt or cut off a soft slap and get the out. Pretty sure she was a stronger mi but that wasn’t what the team needed.

That was a “daddy coached” team. HC dd was outfielder and AC dd was a lefty 1b. Both coaches and dd’s did a very nice job.

Have had two dd’s play for a variety of teams and situations. Probably 50/50 for parent/non-parent coaches. Looking back as my youngest closes in on the end of her travel career I am thankful for the time and effort each of these coaches put into it with very few exceptions. I’d like to think that’s because we chose teams based on the coaches not the organization. Maybe we did a decent job or maybe we just got lucky.

 

[_MIA_]

The thing is I am a very good judge of talent.

If you say so. Anyway it looks like you found a better place for your DD so I wish her the best of luck.

 

[marriard]

Ok to all the Dad’s out there with gifted players playing quality A level travel ball.
In your experiences have you had parent coaches or non parent coaches?

It doesn't matter. Good coaching is good coaching. DD has had great parents coaching (which is current) and terrible, Had great non-parent coaches and terrible. Had great ex-player coaching and terrible (being an ex-player does not make you a coach), Actual 'Daddy Ball' is just another symptom of bad coaching.

The absolute worse case is the 'non-parent coach' which is being managed in the background by a couple of the parents.

I may be crazy here but I would expect better coaching at the A level yes?

Yes you are crazy. It is a terrible assumption.

Sometimes the teams are just really talented and it just covers for bad coaching. In fact a lot of the time this is the case. A lot of big org teams are this way - they just try to gather up all the talent other orgs and coaches have developed (or not) and put it on the field as a team and go "Look what we did."

There are terrible college coaches out there in D1 who shouldn't be let near a t-ball team. One of the best coaches I know has a 12U-B team right now. It is up to you to find the right coaching for your DD.

Deleted irrelevant tryouts

Apart from ptching, I would be very hesitant to take a position on a team where I am told before the team even takes the field together what positions my kid is going to be playing. Good coaches offer roster spots - not 'playing positions'

 

[marriard]

The team we’re going with has two young female coaches. One still plays college ball the other not to far removed from playing days. No relatives on team. One coach actually has a younger sister that could play on this team but coach said no. Hoping for the best.

That is the classic 'non-parent/ex-player' disaster scenario waiting to happen by the way. Seriously - some of the parents will look at the coaches a 'kids' because they are of an age that they could be.

 

[ang2bmd]

I think too you have to consider your situation. You are trying to join an established nationally ranked team. They are happy with the kids they have in certain positions. It's the devil you know. You are an unknown entity. Your child would have to be not equal too but exceptionally better than what they have. Clearly they were looking fill a specific need. Teams are about more than just the best players. It's about chemistry and if they already have that and aren't looking to change you are out of luck.

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[GunnerShotgun]

I see talent through coaches eyes not parents eyes.

Ummm, yeah.

If the coach has a nationally ranked team and is coaching his daughter at the same time good for him. Sounds like he is doing it right.