Is H.S. ball worth the time?

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May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
HS ball can sometimes teach travel players and families that:
1. You don't get to choose your position on the field or in the lineup
2. what it's like to contribute to a team where/when you are asked to
3. what its like to earn your spot
4. softball coaching isn't always "fair"
5. how to excel despite poor coaching
6. what it's like to not be in control of your situation
7. how to balance academics with sports activities
8. what its like not to be coached by a parent or friend
9. how to manage a less than ideal experience when you cant just simply switch to a new team
10. what its like to play for school pride vs. individual recruitment

(I'm sure there are lots of other reasons to play HS ball, but these were the first 10 that came to mind...)
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
HS ball can sometimes teach travel players and families that:
1. You don't get to choose your position on the field or in the lineup
2. what it's like to contribute to a team where/when you are asked to
3. what its like to earn your spot
4. softball coaching isn't always "fair"
5. how to excel despite poor coaching
6. what it's like to not be in control of your situation
7. how to balance academics with sports activities
8. what its like not to be coached by a parent or friend
9. how to manage a less than ideal experience when you cant just simply switch to a new team
10. what its like to play for school pride vs. individual recruitment

(I'm sure there are lots of other reasons to play HS ball, but these were the first 10 that came to mind...)

Sounds like how college softball may/might go sometimes........
 
Oct 5, 2017
214
43
Western Indiana
Is HS Ball worth it? If you have to ask this question, then no it is not. Besides, why put of with the misery of all of those HS Coaches who don't know a thing about the game. Have her go play TB where all of those coaches are well versed and can get your child a college scholarship.

Must be the definition of HS coach and TB coach
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
In my opinion it depends on the reasons she is interested in high school ball in the first place.

* Recruiting -- While there are some larger high schools with very solid teams that may be able to help in this regard, most softball players are not recruited from their high school softball teams. I think it is unlikely that high school ball will hurt her chances, but it may also not help her chances.
* Accolades -- As someone else mentioned, you have all the Team MVP, Team Captain, District All Star Team, Area All Star Team, etc., etc. Most of these things are posted in the newspaper for all to see. You will rarely see travel ball stuff in a local newspaper. We won the State Championship with our travel team and had a team picture posted in the paper. But if we didn't send them the picture, they would have never known about it. Personally, I don't read the local paper and have never cared about the various accolades. But DD seems to enjoy that stuff...

DD is in an interesting position. There are 17 girls on her high school team, but she is the only one that plays travel ball. Honestly, she is the only one that even touches a glove or bat between June and December. The rest of the team is too involved in cheer, soccer, or field hockey. Prior to the season we had a long talk about high school ball. She is a senior and is planning to play in college next year. This season means nothing as far as that goes. It's a lot of work and a lot of frustration with very little or no benefit. But it is something she wanted to do. She likes the other girls on the team and has accepted a leadership role, helping them to become better players. She sees it as a way of giving back to the sport. So while the games are very frustrating to watch (actually painful to watch sometimes), I am proud of her for doing something she wants to do, regardless of the outcome.

Coaching --- I hear what you are saying in regards to coaching. DD's coaches are nice people and they mean well, but they have their hands full with this group. There is only so much they can do. I coach a travel team and my assistant played D1 baseball. Him and I handle most of the training with our entire group including both of our DD's. Sometimes they will pick up some valuable information from one of the high school coaches, but we pretty much take care of the rest. I know some people get concerned because the high school coach may change DD's swing or pitching, etc. We have never had any of those issues.
 
Jun 11, 2012
741
63
HS ball can sometimes teach travel players and families that:
1. You don't get to choose your position on the field or in the lineup
2. what it's like to contribute to a team where/when you are asked to
3. what its like to earn your spot
4. softball coaching isn't always "fair"
5. how to excel despite poor coaching
6. what it's like to not be in control of your situation
7. how to balance academics with sports activities
8. what its like not to be coached by a parent or friend
9. how to manage a less than ideal experience when you cant just simply switch to a new team
10. what its like to play for school pride vs. individual recruitment

(I'm sure there are lots of other reasons to play HS ball, but these were the first 10 that came to mind...)

This.
We had 3 years of less than stellar HS coaching, finally have a good coach this year. We chose our club coach based on his reputation, the HS coach is what it is and you can't change that.
HS ball has had it's ups and downs but DD is actually really upset that it's almost over because while it hasn't always been good she's been playing with these girls since 2nd grade for the most part.
 
Jan 30, 2018
252
0
SE Michigan
What struck me about this was that his DD's grades were suffering by trying to do both. That is not acceptable if she is trying to get into a good school.

Think of getting her ready for college ball as a three-legged stool: grades, test scores (ACT and/or SAT) and her club play. She has to be up to par in all three.

HS softball is nice to have, if it doesn't interfere with the other three.

I agree with this. I do not coach a high school team but I do help out because I work at the school and my MS daughter gets to work out with them. I talk to most of the players on a daily basis. The School ball in our area is good but not great. I find that the girls that play on higher level TB teams enjoy it most of the season but towards the end they grow bored of it. Our schools best player is a pitcher that is going D-1 next year, she is actually a better hitter than pitcher but is the only good pitcher on the school team. She pitches just about every inning of every game. She is a great kid and very humble, she does not talk about herself so she likes that people at the school take notice of her skills. So there is good and bad and I think it also depends on the grade and ability.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Is H.S. ball worth the time?

Sometimes it is.
Sometimes it isn't.
It depends on many factors (parents, coaches, players, politics, etc.). Of course, that's the case with competitive ball, except you do have a choice.
 
Jan 31, 2015
249
43
Yeah, the only positive for DD playing HS ball, is that she has gotten in more innings pitched per week (7-14) than she would have otherwise, but it's against mostly rec-level batters, since most HS *B conf* batters don't play club ball in our area.

Even when she pitched 3 years of MS ball, she would have double-digit Ks every game, so it really wasn't very challenging other that the 1 or 2 MS teams she faced which also had club pitchers.

Also, she gets more at bats, but again, against much weaker pitchers which I believe is a negative.

Thanks for the feedback though.

An Org my DD used to play for would have a "college night" where we brought in 3 or 4 college coaches to talk about the college experience as a player and answer question of parents and players. Usually there was a coach from every level D-1, II, NAIA, etc. One parent asked if college coaches go to high school games. They all said no unless it was to see someone they already signed and it would be just because they were in the area and it would be just to say hi. The D-1 coach said absolutely not, no member of her staff goes to HS games.

That being said, it is totally up to the girls themselves. My daughter is in MS and cant play both so at this point she is not playing school ball. The only reason she wants to is to "show all the other girls that think they are good that they aren't". So letting them show off may not be a bad thing. I always told her team could go win the PGF championship on the weekend and no one at school will care on Monday. Playing school ball in our area definitely would not be for competition.
 
Jan 31, 2015
249
43
So, the accolades on the bio was the only negative I was thinking, since she just experienced her first interview by a reporter when she won her HS first quarterfinal playoff game in 6 years, and the reporter was impressed she was a freshman batting 3rd who beat a senior pitcher on the other HS team; however, there's always the club team accolades. Just to clarify though, she also plays in the spring for her club team

It will be hard to win Team MVP, First Team All District, Academic All District, District Pitcher of the Year if she doesn't play. If she plays in college what accolades will she put on her Bio? What will she do with her time if she is not playing ball in the Spring?
 
Jan 31, 2015
249
43
Personally, I couldn't care less about school spirit and pride. Softball is a 2nd-tier sport for her HS behind lacrosse and field hockey, and they don't give a damn about it. There's ZERO chance a college coach will be watching them play, esp. since they are in the B conference.

Like I mentioned, her club coach is plugged into the college coaches, and it will be the showcase tournaments they play where we'll see college coaches.

Thanks for your feedback though.

Playing High school ball is worth it. School spirit and pride come to mind. If you are a good player on a good team you may have a College coach or 2 watching some of your games. :cool:

With that being said....High school ball is either heaven or heck and everything in between.
 
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