Coaches - Allow Players to pickup?

[tim_s]

i see both sides.....

in the past, we've structured our season with built in breaks, with a goal on building momentum over the course of our season - and i liked those breaks, time off for us was purposeful

at the same time, i understand wanting to play.....this year we have two weeks off, one because half my girls (all HS age) have a "mandatory" basketball camp scheduled with their HS teams......and the week before is an off week because of the 4th......if one of my non-basketball girls has an opportunity to play in one of those off weeks, especially the 2nd one (basketball camp), i wouldn't lose sleep over it

 

[FP26]

Need some feedback with this:
DD is in her 3rd year playing 10U. We joined a good team with a second year head coach. Things so far have been good, even though its USSSA, we are top 15 in the nation. Shes 1 or 2 pitcher and top 3 batter. Coach gets an opportunity to for his kid to play 12u with a different organization, brings the other coach's kid with and cancels practice, without telling the parents anything about the 2 kids picking up for a 12u team. A few of the parents have found out and waited for the coach to say something but hasn't. One parent mentioned they were going to go to the tournament to support our organizations 12u team, and he pulled her aside after practice and explained why practice was canceled. Makes us want to leave. They have been some other questionable stuff but this, I think, is shady. We do have an opportunity to jump on a local PGF team and continue the season. Just wondering what others would do in this situation?

I agree with @bmakj . Right now you are dealing with second hand information. It may be accurate, but it may not be. I don't like making decisions on information that I am not confident is 100% accurate. I would suggest speaking with the coach. Be professional. Don't make accusations. You are a parent with a vested interest in the future of the team, so you have a right to know the plan. If handled properly, the coach should be willing to share some information with you. Then you can make your decision based on facts instead of (possibly) rumors.

 

[cbass]

I should have mentioned I had already talked to him. His first words were I didn't know you knew about that. Another parent had asked around for his daughter to play pickup (10u) while we had a break in schedule. The parent mentioned they may be looking for pickup 12u players. HC asked the AC and they both volunteered their kids. Then called another parent and asked about picking up 12u also, after said parent confronted AC. Both coach's kids are pitchers, his kid is 9, she can throw fast in practice (50 mph) but slows down in real games, other kid is moving up to 12U this summer. So 1 kid is playing pickup 10u, 2 12u, and a possible 3rd will join as 12u. Other parents are upset mainly for trying to keep it a secret without telling everyone. They wished he would have been upfront from the beginning. Just don't want this to be the start of other things happening as we are having a good season. We've only been on 2 teams so I'm not sure how common or not this is in travelball. Other team did not allow players to pickup.

 

[FP26]

@cbass, it really is a tough call because I can see both sides of it. My DD switched teams a few times growing up. For various reasons.

*She started travel ball at the age of 12. During that season, half the roster was 12 and had to move up to 14u, while the other half could stay at 12u. The head coach met with all the parents and asked if they would be interested in keeping the team together by moving everyone to 14u. With the exception of one honest parent, everyone agreed. Then after all tryouts were complete and most rosters were full, 4 other families decided to keep their daughters down at 12u. I do not blame them for the decision, but the way they handled it was extremely poor. The rest of the team including my daughter scattered to other teams.

*After two months with the new team, we all knew it was a bad fit. Actually, one of the coaches we are talking about here. He would bring in 2 or 3 pickup players every tournament and regulars would sit. DD played a lot, so I cannot complain about that, but several other players were treated unfairly, in my opinion.. She completed the season as that was her commitment. Then she decided to return to her 12u team as that group decided they wanted to get back together again at 2nd year 14u.

*She played with that team until after 1st year 16u was over. She committed to playing 2nd year with the group, but several other players were unsure and wanted more time to think about it. Rather than waiting, DD played as a pickup player in a fall tournament, and their head coach asked her to join the team. She was focused on showcasing at the time, and this team had a stronger showcase presence, so she moved. A few weeks later, some of the other parents eluded that they were upset with us for leaving even though we left primarily because they didn't want to commit. She played with that team from 16u to her current level of 23u.

The bottom line is that it is a two way street. Yes, the coach has a responsibility to the parents and players, but that responsibility should be returned as well. A coach that lies is not good. But a parent that lies is no better. The group/team is only as strong as the character of the entire group. If the coach has specific plans set in motion, he owes it to the team/parents to make them aware of it. If he is considering options, but has not made a decision, he may not have anything to really tell anyone, yet. But this is a very crappy time of year to be doing something like this...

Sorry for rambling, but hopefully you find something helpful in there.

 

[Indiana Gators South]

Did i read this correct?
Your team wont let your players guest for other teams,
Yet your team does pick up guest players?

Injury aspect causes concern?
Your players wont get hurt guesting on another team....
But guest players may get hurt playing on your team.

Hmmmm
Might be reasonable to re-think that.

We picked up once early in the season and never did again. And we dont let our girls sub during our season we play enough games no reason to sub

 

[justanotherguy]

I don't get this "allow" portion. Do you own the girls? If my DD wants to sub with a team and we're not busy that weekend, she does so. I have always let her coach know when she does, but at no point do I "ask". If the coach wants to throw a fit over it, then "buh bye".

 

[Indiana Gators South]

I don't get this "allow" portion. Do you own the girls? If my DD wants to sub with a team and we're not busy that weekend, she does so. I have always let her coach know when she does, but at no point do I "ask". If the coach wants to throw a fit over it, then "buh bye".

It's not that we are trying to be dictators. We are a small town single team 14u organization this spring. They all have played together since rec day's then moved on to travel ball at 11. Seven of our girls are all from the same school and picked the other 3 up from neighboring towns. Batesville indiana isn't that big so we dont have the luxury of a big pool of girls to choose from like the indy's of the world. Our first year 12u we struggled to be expected record was 10-29-2. Second yr 12u huge improvement. record was 30-17. The girls have a blast with each other playing together and the continuity of our team was spoken highly of this past summer by other teams. We explain to parents from the get go that during our season even when we are off we would not like for the girls to be out subbing for other teams. Not because we are worried about them getting offers to join other teams. It's because of the getting injured playing for someone else and missing games for us because of it and then we are down a player. All parents were totally fine with it and expressed the feelings we did about it. Now with that being said once our summer ball ends in July go sub all you want till fall ball starts if you want just not during the season.

 

[justanotherguy]

Ahh, the old "We don't want you to get injured playing for someone else". Hey, whatever works for you and yours. As for me and mine, no one "owns" her. We pay the coaches/teams, not the other way around.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

As for me and mine, no one "owns" her.

Well if you play at the higher levels you just can't go and play for whomever because you are sanctioned with your primary team. Coaches don't own the players but they do own their rights (they have to be released from a sanctioned team) . If it's a showcase tournament then it's no issue obviously.

 

[bmakj]

Well if you play at the higher levels you just can't go and play for whomever because you are sanctioned with your primary team. Coaches don't own the players but they do own their rights (they have to be released from a sanctioned team) . If it's a showcase tournament then it's no issue obviously.

I have never seen anyone check rosters, etc. prior to a game, or question if the player really is part of a given team. does this happen?