Cutting Players

[mogsoftball]

is she causing iprolmes with team with a bad attitude or is it just she isn't as good as the other girls. You saw something at tryouts and offered her a spot, if you dump her just becuase you want a better player your gonna be the coaching version of the team jumper.

if she has a bad attitude and is causing problems that's a different story.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

is she causing iprolmes with team with a bad attitude or is it just she isn't as good as the other girls. You saw something at tryouts and offered her a spot, if you dump her just becuase you want a better player your gonna be the coaching version of the team jumper.

if she has a bad attitude and is causing problems that's a different story.

^^^^^^ This. ^^^^^^

Attitude problems (in girl or parents) can be cut immediately as far as I'm concerned, and with little to no explanation.

However, if you just want a better player, you need to go back to the tryout in your mind and try and remember why you wanted this girl. You then need to make it your mission to find that in her again and bring it out to its fullest. That's why they call us "coach."

 

[Bulldogs Coach]

Thank you for your input. I am not looking for another player. We can survive if we cut her, we have 12 players counting her. I look at its what is best for everyone. I don't want them to pay all this money and have her sit. We are 14u.

 

[smddad]

Sit her down and set some goals together. Let her know where you need her to be and find out where she thinks she is. Set a date for those goals and reassess her at that point. Also, help her meet the goals.

 

[CPSBDad]

...she had heart and was coachable.

If she's coachable, then coach her. It would be easy to cut her and carry on as usual.

 

[CoogansBluff]

We can survive if we cut her, we have 12 players counting her. I look at its what is best for everyone.

What’s ‘’best for everyone’’ is not as important as your keeping your word and shooting straight with ‘’each and every one,’’ IMO.

Not saying you aren’t doing that, but must ask: What was the understanding that you had with the player and parent when you took her on the team?

If it was that fall was a trial and that you might cull the herd at the end of it, then you can justify a roster move. If her attitude is unacceptable and unfixable, and she’s bringing the rest of the team down (not by her performance, but her attitude), then you can justify on that basis, too.

However, if you implied that once you’re on the team, you’re on it (assuming team rules are being followed), and that you are dedicated to developing ‘each and every one’ on the team, then you have to keep your word, IMO.

I don't want them to pay all this money and have her sit.

Be careful that this is not a rationalization for getting rid of a player who isn’t as good as you’d like her to be. Every team that has 12 players would be better as far as performance goes if #12 went away. There’s always going to be somebody who hits .180. Your original post wasn’t about the guilt of taking parents’ money. It was about wanting a kid gone.

Further, you can fix the ‘pay all this money and have sit’ problem in another way – You can let her play.

What if we as coaches were judged not on the percentage of games we won, but on the percentage of girls that we developed and got better and who were valuable members of your team by the end of the season? Would you coach differently?

All this is food for thought. Don’t mean to judge. You are the one at practices. But it’s unethical, IMO, for adults to cut kids or chase them off by sitting them on the bench just because that would help the team win more games.

 

[RetiredCoach]

I totally agree with you, CoogansBluff! I don't know the specifics of this particular situation, but I've seen
far too many coaches running a team to feed their egos rather than to help the girls succeed. In my
coaching career, just about every year I have a "project". A girl with some talent but, maybe, with some
problems. I've dedicated myself to working with these girls and have had some stunning success with
them. I'd say, if you're a coach, then coach!

 

[Bulldogs Coach]

Thank you all. Your input is greatly appreciated. I will keep you all updated on the outcome.

 

[Bulldogs Coach]

I really wanted to give this player a chance. I was going to sit down and talk with player and mom to try to come up with a plan. BUT we have seen it on here before. Beware of what you post on social media. This player violated a team policy and participated in drug use. Tonight we had to remove the player from our roster. Called mom to explain to her. Suprisingly she was more upset at me then the reason her daughter was removed from our team.

 

[James Smith]

Suprisingly she was more upset at me then the reason her daughter was removed from our team.

Of course.