Last fall, my DD was with a high-level team of one of the big orgs. When I told the HC that my DD needed to have a conversation with him, his response was "If she's looking at moving to another team, don't bother. Just go." Basically, either you're 100% committed, or you're not. If you're not, you're wasting time and effort that could be given to committed players.
Cutting players who tryout for other teams
- Thread starter NJSwampdragons
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Yep, right or wrong I've seen it happen several times! 9 out of 10 times there's already some bad blood brewing!
- Nov 22, 2019
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I’m curious though, are the teams committed to the players? There are several good teams advertising for players, boasting of their records. One organization says private tryouts at all ages. Do the teams look to churn the bottoms of their rosters, and if so starting at what age?
In our neck of the woods there's just one season -- the year.
Because Fall is largely High School and Feeder programs, the travel teams get perhaps 3-4 tourneys in Oct/Nov before we shut down for winter. If you're trying out in Nov something ain't cool. Plus you just committed with the last month and shelled out for unis and dues and such. I know commitments perhaps don't mean much to some, but if you tell the coach you're in for the year and really aren't? Not all that cool.*
* Certain exceptions apply (abuse, you were lied to, team crumbled, etc.)
In my experience, if a team is focused on success, it can only be committed to the team, not an individual player. If a team is committed to keeping a group of girls together and success, then that's fine too. There's a whole spectrum of teams out there, that's why the overwhelming bit of advice is always, "find the team that fits what you want"
It only becomes a problem when one party (the family) thinks one thing and the other (the team) thinks another.
Was she looking at moving to another team? Or did she just want to discuss her batting gloves or something?
Honestly the number 1 lesson parents need to know is the softball world is very small. I've seen plenty of 10U and 12U parents be jerks and are now blackballed on a dozen or more teams.
In our experience with this particular team, the coaches are very committed to helping their players get to college programs, and they put in a LOT of effort. However, it's a very regimented and demanding program that isn't a fit for everyone, and not all players/parents agree with the direction the coaches see for the player. As such, there is a pretty high turnover rate. Some of it is moving players up to their 18U program when they've aged up or committed. Some of it is players deciding it isn't the team for them (we were one of them). There's AWLAYS a long line of players at their tryouts.
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Was she looking at moving to another team? Or did she just want to discuss her batting gloves or something?
No. She was quitting the game (turned out to be a temporary break, thankfully). It was the right thing for her to tell HC in person, and thank him for the opportunity with the team. HC was kind and understanding, and welcomed her back, if that was something she wanted in the future.
