Coach adding players...???

[greg99]

OK, this is also a vent but please give feedback.

Coach had 14 players before first tournament. One quiet and went back to her old team, sad to say she was one of our best players. Now we are at 13 and IMO thats a better number of players then 14. Then the first practice after the first tournament she announcess a new player will be joining us when she isn't playing on her other team. Back to 14. Then her friend shows up, 15. Now about 3 weeks later another girl was at practice and shes on the team now when shes not playing with her team. 16 girls. Coach was just says they will be there when they can. So we really have no idea when they are going to be there.

The first girl is good, will really help the team. the other one is near the bottom. haven't seen the newest one yet, i'll let you know after this weekend.

They all our Pitchers as well. the first one is good. the other one didn't pitch the first tournament. so I don't know how the other two pitch.

MY DD is pitching the most innings so far with a 2.8 ERA, so shes not doing a bad job. I'm very concerned her innings will get cut alot for no reason. with all 16 girls there we have 7 pitchers, LOL. My DD has worked her butt off to make sure she gets all the innings she can. I can't figure out what is going on.

Any of you out there been through this? I understand trying to get the team better, thats is the coaches goal. Seems we are committed to them but they aren't committed to the team they picked at try outs. I really don't get it.

Its a 12U team if that makes a difference.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Well, 12 is kinda young to send her to talk to the coach, so I guess you will need to express your concerns to him. Mainly, are these part-timers going to play before my DD? Or, are some of our girls going to be absent?

 

[PA SB Dad]

How did you do in your first tournament? Were there a lot of mistakes? Was the coach "outcoached"?

Generally, when a coach is "adding" players out of the blue, it usually means they are looking to get better by upgrading rather than improving the players they picked. When that happens, usually they start losing players from the bottom of the lineup.
For my DD's 12U team, 12 is a good number, and we all as coaches decided not to go beyond that number, and we've been successful the past 3 years doing that.

 

[Wookie]

Another possibility is that the coach is preparing for next year. Is the team a mix of 11's and 12's? Is the coach staying at 12U or moving to 14U next year? What ages are the girls that are being added? What about team finances - are the extra players paying a full fee or a reduced rate? Has the coach over extended his funds?

Again, just possibilities. Go and ask the coach why so many. You will be able to tell if you're getting the truth or not.

And I personally don't think 12's are too young to ask the coach questions. I had a girl ask me after our 4th Saturday pool game at 8 pm, that if she practice that night if she'd get to pitch Sunday during eliminations. I said no, but if she practiced during the week, she'd pitch the following weekend. She did, and I put her in - no parent involved.

 

[sluggers]

Well, 12 is kinda young to send her to talk to the coach, so I guess you will need to express your concerns to him. Mainly, are these part-timers going to play before my DD? Or, are some of our girls going to be absent?

100% agree. You need to figure this out *RIGHT NOW*.

 

[greg99]

The new part time players are old 12's and have to move up. This weekend will be the first time all 3 new players are there. The two others were at a tournament a few weeks ago. Yes they did play before before my DD and quite a few other DD's. The one girl will absolute help the team, good pitcher good hitter. The other one won't. Not surew about the other.

I'm sure the additions are for next year. I don't know if they have paid anything or not. If they did I am curious as to where the extra money is going.

We aren't winning alot of games but we are playing the best teams in the area. This weekend should be a good indication of whats happening, we don't have a game where it looks like we have more then a 50/50 chance to win. I can see the coach pitching one of the new girls but i don't know what i'll do if another new PT player pitches before my DD. I don't like that she will loss field time, but circle time is another issue. She has put too much into improving her pitching and proving herself just two let some PT players take time away from her on HER own team. DD has pitched 30 innings in the last 2 tournaments, and of course , i believe she has earned all those innings.

Then of course you have the coach not telling us exactly what tournaments these extra players will be at. The are just additional, i don't know of any tournament where any of the regular girls won't be there. We have one tournamnet thats 7 hrs away, from what i'm hearing all the new girls will be there. Why would ANYONE want to travel that far for a 4gg with 16 girls. Then you have the WS that I belive they are all gonna be there, come on.

why doesn't the coach just tell the girls that are effected then most " The replacement players I picked up are taking your innings at these tournaments ____ ____ ____ ____because there is no way I can get you playing at the level I thought I could in the fall.I need to get some wins at 12U more then i need to get you innings to improve." That way the other players can decide if there is even a need for them to show up. 16 players, coach should look for 4 more and get 2 teams.

Sorry, started rambling there

 

[sluggers]

why doesn't the coach just tell the girls that....

Because the coach is worried he doesn't have enough players. (I'm not defending the coach...)

Parents always want a small team so their DDs get lots of playing time. Coaches, though, want a bigger team so they don't have to worry about having enough players to field a team. (Your coach seems to be worrying about 2012 already...)

If this were an 18U team, 16 players is probably about right. For a 12U team, 16 players is crazy.

 

[PA SB Dad]

Every parent who wants their DD's team to win is ALWAYS in favor of bringing in new, "better" players, so long as those players don't take playing time/positions away from their own DD's. That is an ugly fact of parenting and youth sports that no one wants to acknowledge, but always holds true unless you are completely objective about your DD's ability and place on the team (I don't think most parents are).

Every player has a responsibility to complete the commitment they made to the team to finish the year. On the other hand, the head coach has a responsibility to honor those commitments, and develop ALL of the players they chose at the beginning of the season. To bring in part time new players (who have not made the same commitment as your DD, and quite frankly are already committed to another team) at this point smells like the coach is looking for wins rather than in player development. At 12U, those coaches will have a never-ending revolving door of players, and will affect the playing time of all of the other players except their own DDs. JMHO.

 

[joemcq51]

There is info that is missing that might help. Is this an "A" team that is trying to make a run at your WS tournament? It doesn't sound like one based on your winning numbers. You say these girls are only PT fill ins. It doesn't sound like that is the case. If they are traveling to all of your overnight tournaments, I would say they are on the team and you are getting the runaround. It sounds like your team was overmatched in a couple early tournaments and the coach has decided to recruit in some talent to upgrade for the season. I think you are going to have to decide if you want to be on that type of team at 12U. If you are going to stay with the program, you may have to get used to seeing new players quite often. Some coaches will bring in whatever player will help upgrade their team, no matter who gets left out. You are going to see marginal players benched all of the time for these replacements. Hopefully its not your DD. If she is a top notch pitcher, sounds like your coach will be putting a quality team behind her. I do not agree with this type of coaching, but it is absolutely a way of life for some. Good luck and hope it works out.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

You asked where the money would be going. If you don't know what the expenses are and what the total finances are surrounding the team, you need to ask for a treasurer's report. Hopefully, the team has that - and the coach just doesn't have free reign of the money.