Is H.S. ball worth the time?

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Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
Sounds like a crappy HS coach. Jokes about kids are bad enough, to add race is completely unacceptable.

I was talking about HS ball with a friend earlier today. Just like you, lots of things sucked about it. Poor play, drama, politics etc. The biggest things it gave her were a chance to be a better leader and an opportunity to play with friends she grew up with. Even the drama wasn’t all bad because it taught her how to deal with adversity. If she survived some of the HS families everything else is a breeze.

I wouldn’t take HS ball from her. It doesn’t last long enough to wreck anything and the time away from TB is good for her. When she gets to 16U most teams shut down for the HS season anyway. Even though her HS coach is a moron, opposing coaches will see your DD and some of them have strong connections to college programs. If your area is anything like here most of the top travel programs have coaches at high schools. The coach who did the most for DD recruiting wise is someone she never even played for. He invited her to play with his team in Kansas City and even though we said no, he kept in touch and arranged several interviews for DD. In hindsight I wish we would have let her play for him, but it seemed crazy at the time.

Good luck and enjoy her journey. It goes by way too fast.
 
Feb 6, 2017
38
6
DD is a freshman pitcher/starter on a *B* conference H.S. team that just finished its first winning season in six years (brag: in large part to her pitching and hitting 3rd, since she was the only freshman starter). The problem is that in our area, high school softball is a joke, her coach is clueless, and the level of play is one step up from rec ball (seriously).

On the other hand, DD is on a club that has developed more div I players in the area than any other, including getting a free ride to a freshman this year at my DD's #1 school.

DD just turned 14 in Jan, since she started school a year early, so she's the only H.S. player on her 14U team, although she did play up with the 16U team some in the fall.

H.S. practices take up a lot of time (practices 5 days/week, 2 hours/day plus games plus playoffs), and there were many conflicts with her club team workouts (3-4 days/week) and tournaments (3-4/month), although she tried to do both to the extent possible, but her grades were negatively impacted a bit (only so many hours in a week!).

To what extent to div I coaches look at H.S. accomplishments in areas where H.S. ball is a joke?

At this point we are contemplating DD just putting all her time into her club team who knows how to develop div I players and whose coach is connected to the div I coaches, since the H.S. coach has developed ZERO div I players.

Thoughts?

The recruiting calendar changes for D1 that went into effect last year don’t allow D1 coaches to attend club ball events until after the WCWS. But they can attend HS events. Will they? Who knows. But if they have an eye on a kid, they can at least watch her for HS games.

I’m a proponent of playing for your HS team.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Feb 6, 2017
38
6
DD is a freshman pitcher/starter on a *B* conference H.S. team that just finished its first winning season in six years (brag: in large part to her pitching and hitting 3rd, since she was the only freshman starter). The problem is that in our area, high school softball is a joke, her coach is clueless, and the level of play is one step up from rec ball (seriously).

On the other hand, DD is on a club that has developed more div I players in the area than any other, including getting a free ride to a freshman this year at my DD's #1 school.

DD just turned 14 in Jan, since she started school a year early, so she's the only H.S. player on her 14U team, although she did play up with the 16U team some in the fall.

H.S. practices take up a lot of time (practices 5 days/week, 2 hours/day plus games plus playoffs), and there were many conflicts with her club team workouts (3-4 days/week) and tournaments (3-4/month), although she tried to do both to the extent possible, but her grades were negatively impacted a bit (only so many hours in a week!).

To what extent to div I coaches look at H.S. accomplishments in areas where H.S. ball is a joke?

At this point we are contemplating DD just putting all her time into her club team who knows how to develop div I players and whose coach is connected to the div I coaches, since the H.S. coach has developed ZERO div I players.

Thoughts?

The recruiting calendar changes for D1 that went into effect last year don’t allow D1 coaches to attend club ball events until after the WCWS. But they can attend HS events. Will they? Who knows. But if they have an eye on a kid, they can at least watch her for HS games.

I’m a proponent of playing for your HS team.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Apr 26, 2015
704
43
Once your DD has to move up to 16U are there even any TB teams that don’t go dark during HS season? Around here softball is a fall sport. If you want to play TB in the fall you need to find an out of state team to play for because all 16/18U teams cease practice/games until after State is over. The only way to play softball here in the fall is to play for your HS. For what it’s worth DD plays for a TB coach who has been very successful. He coaches 2 teams who are known to be among the best in the state and are highly competitive out of state as well. He completely shuts down his TB teams during HS season.

DD will go to HS in the fall. The HS varsity coach and asst varsity coach at the school she will attend are both TB coaches (for different teams) during the spring season. They are known to be very challenging to play for - both in HS and TB. The Varsity coach has a daughter who played at a very good D1 school and is a pretty well known player. There have also been a lot of girls to go thru the HS program who have gone on to play for some well known softball programs around the country. DD’s HS usually does pretty well during the season. BUT - we live in an area where softball cannot be a year round sport. Sure the girls can work on pitching/hitting indoors but there are no games played here from the beginning of November until March.

DD has several HS friends who have quit playing HS softball due in part to the HS coaches (or so they say). DD is a very hard worker, she is very coachable (or so we’ve been told) and she has a strong work ethic. I have no idea what her HS experience will be like, but she is excited to take on the challenge and represent her school. I am excited for her as well - I know she will learn a lot regardless - whether it is softball related or just a life lesson.

So....not really any advice - just getting started on our HS softball journey.
 

Cannonball

Ex "Expert"
Feb 25, 2009
4,854
113
We have been rained out the final games of our HS season and so, the JV is done. I had to call them in to tell them. We have been beset with injuries. We had such a great year going. Then, we were short gamed our last two games due to the injuries and had to play with 8 a couple of times. (Started a 9th player and then, took the injured player out.) Most of these girls started crying that it was all done. At least half of the team asked if they could keep practicing. The catcher showed up at the varsity practice to catch the pitchers knowing she is not going to get to play an inning and asked if she could do that the rest of the year as the varsity is headed into the state playoffs. There are good things happening in HS ball. My school isn't alone at this.

Side note and I won't hide the fact that I am very proud of these girls. We have had so many injuries and when we were to face our conference rival, we lost another starter to the varsity since they lost a starter. I had my pitcher, catcher and center fielder play their normal position. We were short gamed. We were losing 10-0 and down to 2 outs in the bottom of the 5th when my catcher hit a home run. So, we entered the 6th. The other team scored 5 more runs. We simply could not make a play. However, in the bottom of the 6th, we scored 4 more runs. I stood there in amazement as they pulled for each other. One of my subs who had not had a hit all year hit a double. After the game, they were all so excited about their comeback. As I mentioned, the varsity had a huge come from behind victory to win our conference outright. That is what HS ball can be.
 
Jul 14, 2017
181
28
Thoughts?

If D1 is your DD’s goal and your school is not in a competitive conference, then to me, the obvious choice is to dedicate the time to the travel team and any personal lessons she has.

My DD is on a 2nd yr 14u team that plays a competitive schedule. 1/2 of our girls are HS freshman, the other 1/2 are in 8th grade. Because of this, we have not gone “dark” during the school season and quite frankly, it has been a bitch to juggle the 2.

On more than one occasion there has been a conflict and TB coach still wants attendance at all practices/games regardless of what is going on with school. She is a nonstarting Varsity freshman whose playing time is unpredictable. On travel, she is a starting player- so it feels like I’m walking in a very fine tight rope.

At the end of the day, go with your gut and what is best for DD. What does she want?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jan 31, 2015
249
43
Yeah, DD had a great first season of HS ball, which is why we're not pulling the trigger just yet. We were just very displeased with the HS coach at the same time DD was ramping up her development with her new club coach.

DD's HS only has a varsity team, and I'm NOT one of THOSE parents, but the consensus among the other HS parents was that DD's HS's first winning season in 6 years was due in large part to DD, considering she was the only starting freshman, and when finally given the opportunity, took over the #1 pitching spot over a senior and a sophomore by the last game of the season, and pitched every inning of both playoffs games, and took the undefeated team who won the championship to the bottom of the 7th w/ 2 outs in the semi-finals before giving up the unearned losing run to their clean up hitter.

So, sure, there was good memories to be had. We shall see what next year brings, since there's a lot of club softball to be played between now and then.

Best wishes to you and your team!

We have been rained out the final games of our HS season and so, the JV is done. I had to call them in to tell them. We have been beset with injuries. We had such a great year going. Then, we were short gamed our last two games due to the injuries and had to play with 8 a couple of times. (Started a 9th player and then, took the injured player out.) Most of these girls started crying that it was all done. At least half of the team asked if they could keep practicing. The catcher showed up at the varsity practice to catch the pitchers knowing she is not going to get to play an inning and asked if she could do that the rest of the year as the varsity is headed into the state playoffs. There are good things happening in HS ball. My school isn't alone at this.

Side note and I won't hide the fact that I am very proud of these girls. We have had so many injuries and when we were to face our conference rival, we lost another starter to the varsity since they lost a starter. I had my pitcher, catcher and center fielder play their normal position. We were short gamed. We were losing 10-0 and down to 2 outs in the bottom of the 5th when my catcher hit a home run. So, we entered the 6th. The other team scored 5 more runs. We simply could not make a play. However, in the bottom of the 6th, we scored 4 more runs. I stood there in amazement as they pulled for each other. One of my subs who had not had a hit all year hit a double. After the game, they were all so excited about their comeback. As I mentioned, the varsity had a huge come from behind victory to win our conference outright. That is what HS ball can be.
 
Jan 31, 2015
249
43
Well, DD's club is down to 2 teams now. She is the oldest on the 1st year 14U team and the only HS freshman, and the rest of the team is split between 7th and 8th grades; however, there are 2-3 other HS freshman on the 16U Gold team that have played down on the 14U team during this spring while playing HS ball, and DD has played up on the 16U Gold team for a couple of showcase tournaments in the fall, and was just invited to a couple more this summer, so now she's got a tournament every weekend between now and the first week of August.

Basically, both club team coaches work together for player development which is a major plus. DD's 14U club coach just moved down from their 18U Gold team this fall (after they all committed) to pick up the rising 12U team which became DD's 14U team. So, their modus operandi is to stick with the same set of girls from 12U through 18U Gold as they develop them, although they will let them play up when they prove themselves, which is the ideal situation, afaic.

In the fall, DD's club team played 8 tournaments most of which were out of state, one out of state in the winter (indoors in Pittsburgh area), and this spring we would have played 10, but so far 3.5 of them have been rained out. So, DD's club team is a year-round club who plays most tournaments out of state and many of which are showcase tournaments.

Thanks for the feedback, and best wishes to your DD!

Once your DD has to move up to 16U are there even any TB teams that don’t go dark during HS season? Around here softball is a fall sport. If you want to play TB in the fall you need to find an out of state team to play for because all 16/18U teams cease practice/games until after State is over. The only way to play softball here in the fall is to play for your HS. For what it’s worth DD plays for a TB coach who has been very successful. He coaches 2 teams who are known to be among the best in the state and are highly competitive out of state as well. He completely shuts down his TB teams during HS season.

DD will go to HS in the fall. The HS varsity coach and asst varsity coach at the school she will attend are both TB coaches (for different teams) during the spring season. They are known to be very challenging to play for - both in HS and TB. The Varsity coach has a daughter who played at a very good D1 school and is a pretty well known player. There have also been a lot of girls to go thru the HS program who have gone on to play for some well known softball programs around the country. DD’s HS usually does pretty well during the season. BUT - we live in an area where softball cannot be a year round sport. Sure the girls can work on pitching/hitting indoors but there are no games played here from the beginning of November until March.

DD has several HS friends who have quit playing HS softball due in part to the HS coaches (or so they say). DD is a very hard worker, she is very coachable (or so we’ve been told) and she has a strong work ethic. I have no idea what her HS experience will be like, but she is excited to take on the challenge and represent her school. I am excited for her as well - I know she will learn a lot regardless - whether it is softball related or just a life lesson.

So....not really any advice - just getting started on our HS softball journey.
 
Jan 31, 2015
249
43
Thanks for your feedback. You're thoughts are exactly mine, but considering she had a great freshman HS varsity season, we're not pulling the trigger just yet, since she's got a lot of club ball and academics between now and next HS season, and we're hoping the HS coach doesn't come back.

So, we shall see.

Best wishes to your DD!

If D1 is your DD’s goal and your school is not in a competitive conference, then to me, the obvious choice is to dedicate the time to the travel team and any personal lessons she has.

My DD is on a 2nd yr 14u team that plays a competitive schedule. 1/2 of our girls are HS freshman, the other 1/2 are in 8th grade. Because of this, we have not gone “dark” during the school season and quite frankly, it has been a bitch to juggle the 2.

On more than one occasion there has been a conflict and TB coach still wants attendance at all practices/games regardless of what is going on with school. She is a nonstarting Varsity freshman whose playing time is unpredictable. On travel, she is a starting player- so it feels like I’m walking in a very fine tight rope.

At the end of the day, go with your gut and what is best for DD. What does she want?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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