Track & Softball

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Mar 9, 2015
321
18
The other day the track coach asked my DD if she would be interested in running track in addition to softball. I guess there are a few girls hurt (basketball related) and some girls did not return due to getting jobs and other stuff. My DD is committed to D1 softball program.

Softball would be her #1 sport but was wondering how that works. The track coach said she can attend events when not playing games and would have to work out on her own to be conditioned for the speed/relay events. Just looking for pros/cons so we can get back with track coach early this week. TIA
 
Apr 12, 2016
316
28
Minnesota
I think it varies by school. My DD ran track in addition to playing softball her senior year. Our school had fairly specific rules that sound similar to what the track coach mentioned. Softball was #1 and she had to attend all softball games. She could miss softball practice for track meets only. All track practice was on her own time. The track coach was very good about it and didn't put my DD in a position where she had to make a decision. He told her to go to softball practice rather than run in a couple of the smaller track meets.

Have other girls done this recently? How does the softball coach feel about it? Softball coaches at our school have had varying degrees of support for girls running track ranging from complete opposition to complete support. I would get a feel for how the softball coach will react. DD's softball coach was not happy even though the athletic department's policy specifically states that kids can participate in multiple sports. The HC was not happy with my DD and treated her a lot differently after she decided to run track.

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Mar 9, 2015
321
18
Other players have done this in the past but we never paid much attention to it. There is a new head coach this season as well. Sounds like your policy is similar to ours. I forgot to add this in my original post but I was concerned with training two sports in same season, along with how coaches would handle it. Would it be too much for a player to play softball and train/condition for track as well. She would be running the sprint (short distance) events.
 
Apr 12, 2016
316
28
Minnesota
Track coach wanted her for sprints and relays and was not overly concerned with her doing track workouts. Could she have shaved a a bit off her 400 time if she concentrated on it? Yes. He had her work more on starts and hand-offs for the relays. In the 100 and 200 his theory was that working on her starts would take thw most off ger time.

With a new HS softball coach I would be most concerned that the new coach understands that this is done regularly and your DD isn't trying to take advantage of the new coach. Coaches can be possessive.

There were no issues with overuse. I would be more concerned with a distance runner than a sprinter.

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Mar 9, 2015
321
18
Thanks for the information. Will discuss with the head coach but I think he already knows about the school policy that permits players to participate in two sports.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
As long as it is sprints or middle distance only and the two coaches are on board I do not see a downside. Sounds like a great opportunity, I would jump on it.
 
Mar 9, 2015
321
18
Just want to give a quick update. We met with the track and softball coaches and they offered to work around the schedules to accommodate us because track is still low on runners. Softball would have been the primary sport. After meeting with the coaches and discussing with our DD, she decided to just stick with softball because we felt there would be too much shuffling around and would not be fair to the track coach if we only showed up when softball had an off day.
 
Jan 28, 2017
1,661
83
As a former AD at the HS level, team sports were always first. The coaches had to agree and team sports first. The problem we had is Florida was that the District playoff dates were at the same time.
 
Mar 9, 2015
321
18
The AD, track coach, and softball coach agreed to work around each others schedule, softball being primary sport. We opted to stick with softball only because there was too much juggling and didn't want to deal with it. Plus, in the event both went to districts, there would be a conflict for the finals. Again, the track team was short sprinters and asked my DD if she would consider doing both softball and track.
 

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