Coaches, would this be appropriate?

[MNDad]

The Coach should communicate better, but parents need to ask questions. Did he say she was getting cut, or she’d have to play another position? If you never talked to him about her injury it’s reasonable he didn’t want to play her if he could see she wasn’t at 100%. If there were no promises or conversations about playing time how was he lying? Shutting down practices during the school season is perfectly normal. Can’t really fault him for that. Good coaches will find opportunities for kids in pool play or friendlies, but things like pay-to-play and distributed playing time are for rec ball. He seems to be a poor communicator, which is huge, but the rest just looks like mudslinging.

It’s not just the coaches who want to win. Parents don’t like losing when a more talented kid is on the bench. Think back to the reasons we left rec ball. We wanted competitive teams and didn’t like our kids looking bad because teammates couldn’t make the plays. Travel ball is no different. It just sucks when our kid can’t keep up, even if its due to injury. He didn’t have a choice to not play the future D1 catcher. She makes the pitchers look better and her parents would have thrown a fit if they didn’t get to throw to her. If he wants to keep this team going past the summer he needs to be competitive enough to retain current players and attract new ones. Sometimes a team is no longer a good fit, which appears to be the case here. Take the high road and just move on. I hope your DD finds a team she’s happy with.

 

[CMMom1740]

The Coach should communicate better, but parents need to ask questions. Did he say she was getting cut, or she’d have to play another position? If you never talked to him about her injury it’s reasonable he didn’t want to play her if he could see she wasn’t at 100%. If there were no promises or conversations about playing time how was he lying? Shutting down practices during the school season is perfectly normal. Can’t really fault him for that. Good coaches will find opportunities for kids in pool play or friendlies, but things like pay-to-play and distributed playing time are for rec ball. He seems to be a poor communicator, which is huge, but the rest just looks like mudslinging.

It’s not just the coaches who want to win. Parents don’t like losing when a more talented kid is on the bench. Think back to the reasons we left rec ball. We wanted competitive teams and didn’t like our kids looking bad because teammates couldn’t make the plays. Travel ball is no different. It just sucks when our kid can’t keep up, even if its due to injury. He didn’t have a choice to not play the future D1 catcher. She makes the pitchers look better and her parents would have thrown a fit if they didn’t get to throw to her. If he wants to keep this team going past the summer he needs to be competitive enough to retain current players and attract new ones. Sometimes a team is no longer a good fit, which appears to be the case here. Take the high road and just move on. I hope your DD finds a team she’s happy with.

We play school ball in the fall in GA, so that's not it. He actually didn't even show up to 2 of the 5 or so practices we ever had. The assistants were expecting him, but he never showed. He knew about the injury from Day 1 all the way back in January and Team Mom (his communicator) got updates from us frequently. He never actually said outright she was getting cut, but we're not looking for a team where she never plays her primary position and may or may not sometimes play her secondary position, but generally hits and sits. If I had known from the get-go that that was going to be the deal, I never would have put her on this team. It was just all underhanded and sneaky and they would avoid questions and stall and hem and haw. They knew what they were doing the whole time. Trust me, I ask plenty of questions, but we didn't even have his phone number until about a week ago!

 

[Shelbylynn]

Wow, it definitely sounds like deception through omission by your Team Mom and HC. But at least he was honest with you after you were direct with him. I would be relieved to at least know what the truth is now, cut your losses and go elsewhere. I have to believe some of her teammates feel the same as you. Good luck to you and DD on finding a new team. I remember your posts over the winter about your DD's injury and your team's implosion, and I'm glad to hear she's on the mend. Be happy your not playing for this coach and hopefully your DD uses this experience as fire in her belly to beat his team!

 

[Mad4Ball]

The faster you move your girl away from that situation the better. Find the best environment for your girl to develop and enjoy herself. Time is so short and there are enough struggles in life as it is.

Wishing you guys all the best and hope you guys find a happy balance on a new team.

 

[CMMom1740]

The faster you move your girl away from that situation the better. Find the best environment for your girl to develop and enjoy herself. Time is so short and there are enough struggles in life as it is.

Wishing you guys all the best and hope you guys find a happy balance on a new team.

Thanks so much. I have a tryout scheduled for her. She was supposed to play in a scrimmage yesterday, but fields were too wet. This coach has asked her to play in a one-day tournament with his team next Saturday, so I think he is giving her serious consideration. Two of the assistant coaches from our fall team (the one that fell apart at Christmas) moved their daughters to this team and I think they have been talking DD up to the HC. Cross your fingers for us!

 

[CMMom1740]

I am so sick of saying "He really knows his softball, too bad he is a such an a(#*#(@"." And you may not even be able to say that about this guy.

I truly hope it all collapses on him, but too many of these idiots seem to end up with talented teams. This seems to perpetuates the myth that the coach can gets results because he can coach when all he can do is fool parents with talented kids to be on his team.

The good news is you were paying by the tournament so you don't have as much money sunk into the team as many others do at this stage. Sound like you joined this team with at least 5 others - feel free to make sure they are absolutely clear why you are leaving and that you expect their kid is next to be replaced - or that they will be sooner or later. You should also feel free to answer honestly when people ask you why you left.

I am sure there are teams looking for catchers out there. There always is. Good luck on finding a better situation.

Just saw they were eliminated in second round of brackets today. I'm not going to say I got a chuckle out of that, but... ;-)