10u Rec Lineup Philosophy?

[PA SB Dad]

It's 10U rec. Alphabetical order, reverse alphabetical by middle name, hair length and/or color, street address number by descending order, etc. Does it really matter? Tournament play I can see, but for average run-of-the-mill rec league games, mix it up and let the girls have fun.

 

[Coachmom]

It's 10U rec. Alphabetical order, reverse alphabetical by middle name, hair length and/or color, street address number by descending order, etc. Does it really matter? Tournament play I can see, but for average run-of-the-mill rec league games, mix it up and let the girls have fun.

I hate that mentality. I am a coach not a babysitter and my job is to teach softball. I am not doing my job for the team if I treat the game as if it was a girl scout meeting. There is a purpose in softball, the purpose is to score more runs than my opponent. If I do not teach my team how to do that I have not been a good coach. It starts with teaching them that on a TEAM we are all working together toward that common goal. Everyone has a role to play and everyone is important, but if you strike out every time you get up to bat you are not going to bat first in the line-up. I think it's a simple enough philosophy for any 10 YO to understand.

 

[fastpitch]

I guess it really depends on the level of commitment of players who show up. In my experience and judging by some of the responses here the talent range at 10u rec will vary.

I guess bottom line is you have to evaluate what you have as a team and their levels of commitment. It's not fair to the good/dedicated rec player to just play anywhere or bat anywhere with no real thought behind it because I'm sure that's not what they are there to do. They are there to play and as a coach you should make sure they get something out of it.

 

[PA SB Dad]

I hate that mentality. I am a coach not a babysitter and my job is to teach softball. I am not doing my job for the team if I treat the game as if it was a girl scout meeting. There is a purpose in softball, the purpose is to score more runs than my opponent. If I do not teach my team how to do that I have not been a good coach. It starts with teaching them that on a TEAM we are all working together toward that common goal. Everyone has a role to play and everyone is important, but if you strike out every time you get up to bat you are not going to bat first in the line-up. I think it's a simple enough philosophy for any 10 YO to understand.

I'm assuming you must live in an area with an ultra-competitive and highly successful recreational softball program. This is my first year running the softball program in our LL, and it's a struggle to get enough girls to sign up to play. We combine our schedules at 8U, 10U, and 12U with a neighboring LL just to get enough variety of teams to play a full schedule. Our outfielders are chasing butterflies half the time, and every once in a while an infielder will join them, or keep themselves occupied by making dirt mounds. If these girls are there to be with their friends, and quite honestly many could care less if they were batting first, second, or 12th, so long as it was not 12th every game. For better or for worse, our best players have left to play travel (including my own DD). With luck, we might reverse that trend and keep some of our best players in the future and build a successful program, but for now that is not reality. Putting a not-so-motivated 10 year old last in the lineup every game serves no purpose in this situation. It is not going to get that kid to practice more, on the contrary it is more likely to get the kid to quit. The parents are just not that into it, and will simply look to sign little Suzie up for a different activity/sport/after school club. I have to reiterate that this is REC league I am referring to, not All-Stars, tournament, or travel, where we generally see the more committed kids and parents.