Being a Free Agent

Chris Delorit said:

Perhaps an individual sport, rather than team sport may be more valuable to her over the long run.

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Softball is an individual sport.

I can see why many are blasting the OP. But there are two sides to this. We have a kid in our area who is good, actually a very good pitcher but her parents can't afford to pay dues. I know that may be hard to believe as some teams in our area are less than $1000 for the season but every situation is different.
This kid will guest play each week. Real issue, and it's been stated here, but practice. Kids need a consistent set of coaches who can develop them and that requires feedback and tweaking of swing, etc. Can't get that with guest only play.
Someone mentioned kids not liking the guest pitcher. I can tell you for certain that when my kid guest played (a few times) teams and parents were very happy to have her. Depends on the kids and situation.

Sounds like more helicopter parenting...

Who decides which teams to play for? The parent.
Who decides where the kid plays? The parent.
Who consoles the kid after a loss? The parent.
Who celebrates with the kid after a win? The parent.

No teammates involved...makes for a very tidy world comprised of the parent and the child.

marriard said:

Everyone hates you and often your DD as well. No one likes the hired gun or the ringer. Often not even the team they are playing on. You avoided team politics by ensuring no one likes you, people speak behind your back all the time and at a long-term cost of your reputation. I really don't care about what other people think of me, but being hated everywhere you go doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun for a teenager.

You probably will have to travel further and further to find teams to play for and guess which teams need guest pitching a lot - the not very good ones or the nasty teams who are out to win at all costs and will replace a player for any reason.

It wont be well looked at by colleges either. Most of those coaches are all in to 'team' (or at least 'their' team').

It is OK being a free agent out there looking for the team with the right fit. Or guesting on off weekends to help out. It is not a great long term strategy though. If it is a primarily financial issue you are concerned about, there are plenty of teams that have adjusted costs for the best talent

Oh and the other thing - you wont be able to play in the competitive 'qualifiers' because of roster restrictions. That will probably close out a lot of the better tournaments to you.

I have met some of the baseball pitchers that do this and one of the people who heads up a travel team/org that bring in these stud pitchers lives across from me (he told me that he spends $250,000 on his team each year). The adults are all ego-driven A****** and everyone hates them. The kids are either little versions of their parents or are just the quietest, most subdued kid you will ever meet.

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While I agree with your overall premise, our experience has been quite a bit different in some of your points.

“Everyone hates you” – If your kid has even just a little above average talent someone on their team and plenty of opponents are going to hate them no matter what. It’s not worth worrying about.

“It won’t be looked at well be colleges” – DD’s future college strongly encouraged it when they found out she had an opportunity to play against strong competition.

“Won’t be able to play in competitive qualifiers and tournaments”. DD played in the Boulder IDT, TCS Nationals and JO Cup as a guest player. Her regular team played PGF Regionals and ASA A so there weren’t any rostering conflicts. You’re right that this could easily become an issue if a parents isn’t careful though.

“nasty teams who are out to win at all costs and will replace a player for any reason.” – On this one I’d say “it depends”. When the coach is clear they’re going to invite guest players for Nationals or other big tournaments I don’t think it’s a problem. I actually think they have an obligation to the players to be as competitive possible at Nationals, even if it means fewer innings for some players. I’d have a problem too with cutting players mid-season or benching someone completely to add a ringer. A good coach can find playing time for everyone.

The last is about even the team you’re playing on not liking you. If the team is worth anything the kids understand the guest will allow them to be more competitive and possibly go deeper in tournaments. In DD’s case they were all so good there was no reason to feel threatened or jealous. Although she only played in the three tourney’s she still keeps in touch with several of the girls and parents.

I agree 100% that going the free agent route as a plan for a season is a poor idea. I really don’t think anything you said was wrong. It just went differently for us.

If you are in a "softball desert" where quality teams are not nearby, does this change the calculation? DD tries hard to balance other interests against softball time requirements and travel to practices on a distant team can impede studies and extracurriculars. How far would you drive to get DD on a (a) team with skills similar to hers(not best, not worst) (b) in an organization that doesnt give her hives and you angina?
This strategy has crossed my mind if DDs team does not move up (we are about 60% younger players).

diamond14 said:

If you are in a "softball desert" where quality teams are not nearby, does this change the calculation? DD tries hard to balance other interests against softball time requirements and travel to practices on a distant team can impede studies and extracurriculars. How far would you drive to get DD on a (a) team with skills similar to hers(not best, not worst) (b) in an organization that doesnt give her hives and you angina?
This strategy has crossed my mind if DDs team does not move up (we are about 60% younger players).

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Team was 1,100 miles east of us, tourney’s were 1,000-1,500 west. Practice was 7 miles from home. About ten girls that I know of from here did something similar. It’s pretty common for the higher caliber teams. Seems to start around 14U for most. That may change now with new recruiting rules.