- Sep 3, 2009
- 261
- 18
Same here. Our girls first move up for the fall season, not the spring season.
10U Fall Ball – Rec league Rant
- Thread starter quincy
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Same here. Our girls first move up for the fall season, not the spring season.
- May 25, 2010
- 1,070
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What's the worst injury you've seen at 8u with the 10" RIF ball thrown from one player to another? How much game time was missed? Was there any school missed?
What about 10u? (where many leagues also use the sponge ball)
well, lets see...
At the first practice, after a girl got hit in the arm, we had to state the 1st rule of softball: no throwing unless the other person is looking at you. No blood, but it hurt.
At the second practice, we re-iterated the 1st rule of softball when the girl at 2nd beemed the girl at 1st in the ear...no blood, but that girl refused to play 1st again...she's a real good SS.
Later that practice, when I heard "Coach!", I reiterated the 1st rule after barely ducking fast enough...
I have had to re-iterate the rule EVERY season, because in REC BALL, you always get girls who have never put a glove on before, much less caught a ball. These girls ended up being put on a team that would eventually win 1st or 2nd every season. I had a few girls who can ZING a ball, but it would be ridiculous of me to tell them to throw it as hard as they could to a girl who sticks her hands in front of her and prays that the ball hits the glove hand...I even had one of my star fielders get a black eye one practice because she missed a throw from one of those girls who can zing it...Luckily, she isn't gun shy now, but that's because she's been around and knew it was freak accident for her. A new player won't know this.
I can list more examples if you want....
I would be TICKED OFF if a parent told their kid 'not to worry about hurting another player.' If that kid is soooooooo much better than REC LEAGUE, which in my area is there for girls to START playing softball, then they should go to a SELECT team.
REALLY?
"Throw it at her as hard as you can!! It's HER fault if she can't catch it and gets hurt!!"
Is that what we want from our RECREATION LEAGUE?
At the first practice, after a girl got hit in the arm, we had to state the 1st rule of softball: no throwing unless the other person is looking at you. No blood, but it hurt.
At the second practice, we re-iterated the 1st rule of softball when the girl at 2nd beemed the girl at 1st in the ear...no blood, but that girl refused to play 1st again...she's a real good SS.
Later that practice, when I heard "Coach!", I reiterated the 1st rule after barely ducking fast enough...
I have had to re-iterate the rule EVERY season, because in REC BALL, you always get girls who have never put a glove on before, much less caught a ball. These girls ended up being put on a team that would eventually win 1st or 2nd every season. I had a few girls who can ZING a ball, but it would be ridiculous of me to tell them to throw it as hard as they could to a girl who sticks her hands in front of her and prays that the ball hits the glove hand...I even had one of my star fielders get a black eye one practice because she missed a throw from one of those girls who can zing it...Luckily, she isn't gun shy now, but that's because she's been around and knew it was freak accident for her. A new player won't know this.
I can list more examples if you want....
I would be TICKED OFF if a parent told their kid 'not to worry about hurting another player.' If that kid is soooooooo much better than REC LEAGUE, which in my area is there for girls to START playing softball, then they should go to a SELECT team.
REALLY?
"Throw it at her as hard as you can!! It's HER fault if she can't catch it and gets hurt!!"
Is that what we want from our RECREATION LEAGUE?
- Mar 23, 2010
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Telling your good throwers to sacrifice there speed and ability to meet those girls that are not at the same level is not fair to either. I feel it is just like school. You don't tell the smart kids in the class to not do well because of the slower kids. You address all of their needs so everyone can experience growth. You never want to do anything to hamper the development of any player.
True - but you aren't going to get a broken nose in math class...
I agree kids should not be held back, therefore it falls to the coach to put the less experienced players in a position where they won't get hurt. In 8U and 10U REC ball, this is usually in the outfield. When the parents complain about why little Suzy is not playing IF, they can be told truthfully it is a SAFETY issue and that they should throw balls to their DD every day so she can improve enough to play IF without getting hurt. I also agree with the statement that if a girl is so good she is in danger of hurting the other, less experienced, players, she needs to either play up or move to Select/travel.
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- May 25, 2010
- 1,070
- 0
^^While no parent should ever say such a thing to a young athlete, we constantly tell kids to do 'their best'.
How is a kid supposed to learn that she can't lollygag when preparing to set up to receive a throw?
Being part of a team means bringing out the best in every player to make the most of every play. When a girl throws a ball at a certain speed to a player that they know won't be able to catch it, where is the play when the ball doesn't get caught?
However, when it's thrown to the player so that it can be caught, and it in turn IS caught, then the play is complete.
Again, we are talking REC BALL.
However, when it's thrown to the player so that it can be caught, and it in turn IS caught, then the play is complete.
Again, we are talking REC BALL.
- May 25, 2010
- 1,070
- 0
Recreational youth sports leagues are charged with doing the greatest good for the greatest number of kids possible. When you try to make everyone a 'winner' by lowering the bar so far, everyone loses.
We've all seen/played with/coached kids who are in some way challenged. These kids will probably never be involved in competitive athletics, but we absolutely want them to enjoy success in sports. It seems the other children, girls AND boys, want to see them succeed, too. But these fairly unique circumstances are not what I'm talking about and young people do know the difference between capable and incapable.
For example, we had a girl who would deliberately let the ball hit her more than once per inning when she was behind the plate, because she didn't want to be the catcher. In fact, she didn't even want to play softball, but that's another issue altogether.
As to the efficacy of teaching kids to 'take something off' of a throw, have you ever seen major leaguers throw a wild pitch during an intentional walk attempt? And how many other errant throws do these guys make when attempting a toss or lob as opposed to just throwing to the target?
If guys who've been playing 25 years make a higher percentage of throwing errors on soft throws than hard, then how can we expect girls who are still new to the game to be good at throwing softly?
We've all seen/played with/coached kids who are in some way challenged. These kids will probably never be involved in competitive athletics, but we absolutely want them to enjoy success in sports. It seems the other children, girls AND boys, want to see them succeed, too. But these fairly unique circumstances are not what I'm talking about and young people do know the difference between capable and incapable.
For example, we had a girl who would deliberately let the ball hit her more than once per inning when she was behind the plate, because she didn't want to be the catcher. In fact, she didn't even want to play softball, but that's another issue altogether.
As to the efficacy of teaching kids to 'take something off' of a throw, have you ever seen major leaguers throw a wild pitch during an intentional walk attempt? And how many other errant throws do these guys make when attempting a toss or lob as opposed to just throwing to the target?
If guys who've been playing 25 years make a higher percentage of throwing errors on soft throws than hard, then how can we expect girls who are still new to the game to be good at throwing softly?
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
SSD - For rec I think the answer is pretty simple. In games, you don't put anyone at C or 1B who can't catch the ball (and noone plays IF until they can pay attention when the ball is live). During throwing warm ups you adjust your pairings to manage any significant catching/throwing ability gaps so that the exercise is productive and not imminently dangerous for both partners. And, you work individually or in small groups w/ the weaker ones to improve their competency and hope that the parents take your suggestion to heart that they work w/ their kid at home.
