Second year 14U team, headed to 16U in the fall. Local/Regional A team. Have mostly played up to 16U/18U all season. Carried 12 girls. As tryout season began, fully expected to lose two girls. One who clearly was no longer having any fun…and it showed in her play. Another who was traveling 90+ minutes to practice and was not satisfied with her role on the team, though she was well liked by her teammates. That all happened as expected. An opportunity to potentially upgrade. So far, so good…
What few saw coming was the departure, announced a few days ago, of our best defensive player, who is also one of our strongest hitters. Moving to a national level team. Damn, what a bummer. That’s a tough one. But we’ll manage somehow. Then, at our last tournament of the season (just today), our best hitter (starting 1B and lefty power hitter) announced she was leaving the team. Not clear where she is going. Head Coach had no warning. Girl has played with the team for four seasons. Brutal. Felt bad for him, he was clearly shell shocked.
Lots of tears this afternoon as some of these girls who have been playing together for 2-4 years will no longer be playing together anymore. Head Coach has already added a few pieces, but will be tough to replace two girls who consistently hit between 3-5 in your batting order. Team definitely got worse today, just as we were getting ready to step up to a more fully regional schedule in the fall.
I know the only constant is change in travel ball. But not going to lie, this kinda sucks.
What few saw coming was the departure, announced a few days ago, of our best defensive player, who is also one of our strongest hitters. Moving to a national level team. Damn, what a bummer. That’s a tough one. But we’ll manage somehow. Then, at our last tournament of the season (just today), our best hitter (starting 1B and lefty power hitter) announced she was leaving the team. Not clear where she is going. Head Coach had no warning. Girl has played with the team for four seasons. Brutal. Felt bad for him, he was clearly shell shocked.
Lots of tears this afternoon as some of these girls who have been playing together for 2-4 years will no longer be playing together anymore. Head Coach has already added a few pieces, but will be tough to replace two girls who consistently hit between 3-5 in your batting order. Team definitely got worse today, just as we were getting ready to step up to a more fully regional schedule in the fall.
I know the only constant is change in travel ball. But not going to lie, this kinda sucks.