Team Placement

Well, its silly season again with all the tryouts happening and again we run into a question I am sure has been asked here before. Do you put your DD on a team that is less competitive where she will play a lot or on a more competitive team where she will still play but not as much? Items for thought...12u and pitcher. I dont want to put her on a team that cant put a defense behind her but I would like her to have a good amount of time in the circle. I know there is no substitution for game time but a walloping every tourney could be just as detrimental as sitting a bit. Thanks for the advice

Someone on here one time told me (I don't recall who) that if your DD is not playing at least 60% of the time, you're on the wrong team. In your case, you'll want to ask coaches whether pitchers play secondary positions when they're not pitching or whether they mostly sit the bench. I thought that was a pretty good rule of thumb.

Depends on how much playing time, how bad or good the teams are, and what you're really trying to get out of the season. If she is the 13th or 14th player on a very good team that is going places nationally, but sees the field half the time on Saturday and barely at all on Sunday will she and you be happy? Conversely, if she is always playing (not necessarily pitching, but somewhere in the field during every inning) but her teammates are struggling and the team's aspirations are to stay local, will you both be happy? Based on how you phrased the question I'm guessing you're looking for something between these extremes. If you're primary goal is to ensure she gets innings in the circle, be wary of who she is competing with. Best advice I can give you is don't run from competition, but don't put your DD in a situation where it is impossible (for whatever reason) to crack the pitching rotation.

We have a 12U pitcher as well and our ideal would be for her to be the #2 pitcher. Plenty of circle time, still something to aspire to. Of course it's hard to know going into fall where she's going to fall. But you can pay attention to the coaches and see what they've done in the past.

grcsftbll said:

We have a 12U pitcher as well and our ideal would be for her to be the #2 pitcher. Plenty of circle time, still something to aspire to. Of course it's hard to know going into fall where she's going to fall. But you can pay attention to the coaches and see what they've done in the past.

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This time of year I spend particular time scouting coaches and talking to parents on teams that we may have an interest in trying out for. By this time in the season its usually pretty obvious from parent conversations which coaches you don’t want to play for. I reach out to coaches and have conversations about things that are important to me and DD for the upcoming season. Seems like most good coaches appreciate the approach and are attracted to those that ask the right questions and explain what is important to them. Better for coach and player to not make a mistake that way.

Pick the team with the best coaches and the rest will work itself out. There’s no substitute for practice. All the innings in the world won’t help a pitcher with a bad coach.

MNDad said:

Pick the team with the best coaches and the rest will work itself out. There’s no substitute for practice. All the innings in the world won’t help a pitcher with a bad coach.

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Not being snarky - serious question: define “best coaches”. What are the top couple of qualities that you consider that puts a coach in this category?

Need your DD to be the #2 pitcher, pushing hard to be #1.
All else will take care of itself. Get her on a team where she is being pushed by a legitimate #1 pitcher who is a level above her. Not by a coaches kid who is the #1 pitcher because her father or mother pencils her in that spot. Your DD needs to understand that she's #2 and that if she busts her butt she could be #1. That's the most ideal situation.

coachbubbles said:

Not being snarky - serious question: define “best coaches”. What are the top couple of qualities that you consider that puts a coach in this category?

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Knowledge, passion, ability to connect with players, fair, good communication, clear expectations, great reputation, limited red flags. It may not be fair to judge on their willingness to work for free, but the best I’ve seen always either volunteer or go above and beyond their guaranteed pay. Non parents are preferred, but I wouldn’t disqualify a coach for having a kid on the team. It’s easily apparent who’s in it because they love teaching from those whose main goal is developing their kid.

No coach will be strong at all of these, but the key is finding what’s important to you and what faults you can live with.

All good traits and I would suspect the importance of which ones in which order depend on the age and the level of club. Seems in my experience that in the youngest ages positivity comes before almost all of these.