Alabama high school softball "outside participation rule"

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Jun 24, 2013
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For the most part that is ture but DD's school coaches have her better player/ person.

(I wish DD’s school coaches would read this board so I could be honest and still suck up to them, they are on their own with DD :))
 
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Jul 2, 2013
681
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Ok, this has become a high school trashing thread, so I must jump in.

Just as there are some great travel programs, there are also great high school programs. For those with very young softball players, my suggestion is to move to a high school with a good program. just like you move for a job, neighborhood, high school academics etc. throw high school softball program in the mix.

I also admit the vast majority of college recruiting comes from travel softball. There is a minority of very good players getting recruited out of high school. My DD is being recruited almost exclusive by the quality of high school program she plays for, and her performance on the field against the best travel players in their respective high school programs.

As or the topic at hand. In my opinion it is better to separate high school, and travel ball for the varsity players. For the younger players, it is fine to cross over (if that makes sense). One reason the travel softball establishment is against this separation is that it disrupts the cash flow from the travel system they have come to rely on.

Our state allows cross over. Most varsity players just stay with high school for 3 months though.
 
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Cannonball

Ex "Expert"
Feb 25, 2009
4,855
113
A lot of the top TB teams I know of don't practice at all. They fly players in from all over the country and play. I can, but won't name several top TB teams from the Midwest here that never practice. They do play a lot of games. Still, in HS we play 34 regular season games and then playoffs. We practice a lot. Not bad considering the weather and the length of the school year.
 
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Jan 18, 2010
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In your face
A lot of the top TB teams I know of don't practice at all. They fly players in from all over the country and play. I can, but won't name several top TB teams from the Midwest here that never practice. They do play a lot of games. Still, in HS we play 34 regular season games and then playoffs. We practice a lot. Not bad considering the weather and the length of the school year.

My youngest nephew , who is pitching D1 now, his TB team flew in players all the time. I didn't agree with that coming from a time when you played TB with who you could "coach up" locally. With enough money I could put a team together who would rarely lose, but what's the glory in that? At that point I'm only a manager.
 
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Cannonball

Ex "Expert"
Feb 25, 2009
4,855
113
What professional coaches are in travel ball?
I would put my HS team up against the travel teams. The girls want to play for their HS. We don't have a rule prohibiting it, but no TB coaches except perhaps a coach of a few 9th graders can get the kids out for their TB stuff.

Really, (bold above) you don't know. Many of these teams are coached by people who own hitting/pitching/practice facilities and so, they charge for lessons, they charge for being on the TB team, they are paid to coach the TB team, they charge for other things like weight training if their facility offers it or speed training or ... If you can develop a program from 10U to 18U and have most of these players buy in to the aforementioned then you can make a living at this.

Per an average or good HS Team, they would still have a ways to go to compete with some of the TB programs but admittedly not all. My dd's team was an All Star team of many area HS. I don't see one area HS team being able to compete against them.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
What professional coaches are in travel ball?
I would put my HS team up against the travel teams. The girls want to play for their HS. We don't have a rule prohibiting it, but no TB coaches except perhaps a coach of a few 9th graders can get the kids out for their TB stuff.

Is your high school varsity coached by a "professional coach"?
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Around here, there are some pretty decent HS teams and some pretty lousy ones and everything in-between. The best of the travelball teams could beat the best high schools teams easily. It's just the nature of softball around here.
 
Oct 22, 2010
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DD is a 6th grader at an AISA school here in AL. Starting pitcher for JV, mostly 7-9th graders, and her 12U travel team. She'll be eligible to play school and travel again next year. But we won't do it. May pick up an occaisonal tournament but definitely will not play the schedule we did this year.

Games M, T &F plus a weekend tournament then M, T & F the next week with a weekend off. Too much time on the road.

Currently rehabbing a broken finger suffered in a school game. Hopefully she can get back on the field before too much of the summer season is gone.
 
Jun 18, 2012
3,183
48
Utah
Yes, but only part time. Does not pay enough. Better than TB, which is daddy ball. There are zero requirements to be a TB coach.

And let's get off the HS vs. TB thing, that was never the point. The rules aren't there to prevent that, but to prevent the two for competing for players at the same time or to prevent HS coach taking over the kids life in the sport.

High school is often "daddy ball" too. In fact, I know of 5 high schools around here that are coached by daddies. I guess because they are daddies, they couldn't possibly know anything about softball. Funny thing, they are all pretty darned good high school teams.

I hate to break it to you, OILF, but I'll bet most coaches in this sport have or had daughters who played the game. Your nonstop blather about how rotten daddy coaches are is really getting old.
 
High school is often "daddy ball" too. In fact, I know of 5 high schools around here that are coached by daddies. I guess because they are daddies, they couldn't possibly know anything about softball. Funny thing, they are all pretty darned good high school teams.

I hate to break it to you, OILF, but I'll bet most coaches in this sport have or had daughters who played the game. Your nonstop blather about how rotten daddy coaches are is really getting old.

I agree Doug if our state had rules like this we would not be playing school ball......
 
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