- Jul 21, 2011
- 3
- 0
My DD has been playing travel ball for 4 years now with the same team. Its kind of a long story so i will try and make it as short as I can. 3 years ago some parents took over coaching the team. The mom did not like my daughter because her kid didnt. My daughter was the 2nd baseman, but was gradually moved into center field. Her hitting was phenomenal. If she got up to bat, everyone sighed in relief because we knew she would hit a bomb. The next year new parents took over coaching because the coaches from the previous year were not allowed back. Once again my daughter was the second baseman, but gradually got moved over into center field as another girl was picked out as "better" even though she was not. I am not a biased parent, I can see my kids faults. Her batting became non existent. Her only saving grace was that she got walked A LOT. Through these two years, she started struggling with confidence because she could also see she was being treated unfairly. It started creeping into her head that maybe she wasnt a good player and she did in fact become mediocre. Then this past year yet another set of coaches took over the team. Last fall they had her playing short stop and she did well. This spring they have only played her in right field or had her sit the bench. Some tournaments she doesnt even see half the play time as the rest of her team even though they bat the full team. It is absolutely ridiculous. Her confidence is absolutely terrible and because of that her batting is still bad. She hasnt had a hit all year. She is starting to say she wants to quit but then an hour later says she loves softball and loves her friends and wants to stick it out. I admit that a lot of the other girls on the team have progressed in their abilities and my DD has not. I dont know if she is a late bloomer or what. How do I help her confidence, especially when she doesnt want to talk about it most of the time? She also doesnt want to get out and play catch at home because she feels like we are pushing her. We definitely do not want to do that. I have told her she can quit once the season is over, but she has to finish it out. Now that the spring/summer season is over she wants to play fall ball but she doesnt want to put in the extra time to work on it with me or her dad. She would if it were someone else, but not us. We cannot afford lessons. I am sure some will say to find a new team, but that is not an option.