Dilemma - "injured" player actually picking up with another team

[grcsftbll]

Lots of funny stuff stuff here. I find the whole guest playing stuff shady for the most part. It is absolutely different when you are short players and picking up players to be able to play with their coach's permission. Totally different when you have plenty of players to play and do it because....you are trying out a player to see if you want them on your team. Let's be real...that is what it is.

Who's responsibility is it to make sure the regual Head Coach is on board with his players guest playing on a team? I would think it a professional courtesy in the very absolute least that if you want to borrow a player...you contact Head Coach of that team and ask if it is ok. If the player comes to you...same deal...you contact the other coach. Just because "everyone" does it doesn't make it right.

The better question is why is this allowed? Doesn't happen in Baseball at club level does it. Happens in Soccer, but there is a whole lot of hoops to jump through...at it is not possible to do without your coach's permission.

Why is softballl this way?

I actually have no problem with coaches picking up players to see if they're a good fit, like a tryout. Or, if a player is needed for a weekend. We were scheduled to play a 7GG earlier in the spring. We only have 2 pitchers. First year 12U, playing pretty tough competition. We're not going deep right now in our 3 and 4GG tourneys, our 2 can handle it assuming nobody gets injured (we just send positive vibes into the universe about this, not much else we can do - pitchers don't grow on trees). For the 7GG we planned to pick up a pitcher because a minimum of 7 games is too much for 2 pitchers over a day and a half. It ended up getting rained down to a 4GG so we didn't end up with a pick up. We once picked up because we only had 7 girls who could make a friendly. We picked up 2 to get us to 9. Things like that don't bother me at all, and make sense. Sometimes if you can't pick up, you can't play, and that stinks for the kids who want to be on the field.

What I don't like is, "Hey, our older A level sister team is off this weekend. Let's grab their ace pitcher and go beat up everybody." If you win against teams you almost never beat, with ace pick ups at pitcher, catcher, or SS, your team didn't really win. Your pick-ups won. Sitting your own girls for a win is yucky. Pick up if you need players but otherwise give your girls the reps. The only exception I could see would be something like PGF Nationals. I figure if a team is flying from GA across the country to try to represent in a big national tournament like that and they want an insurance pitcher or whatever, I can't really blame them. That is one expensive trip to only get your minimum number of games. For regular local tourneys though, no. Let your team win or lose on their own merit. JMO.

 

[CMMom1740]

To me, there are a couple of clear "no-nos." Don't pick up with another team when your team is playing (obviously); that would involve clear deception because you would have to lie. I really don't think you should pick up when your team is practicing either, but YMMV. As long as your first loyalty is to your current team, I don't really see the big deal with picking up on off weekends. When a coach gives the "I don't want my players picking up because they might get hurt" speech, I would nod my head, but also secretly be thinking, "Well, then why are girls allowed to play a second sport, do PE, or practice in their back yards for that matter?" You can get hurt anywhere. But getting reps (especially for pitchers and catchers) is never a bad thing IMHO. It ultimately benefits the girl's current team because she's practicing in live game situations. I kind of tend to think that coaches who have this rule are insecure about their players being lured away. But I'm a Mom, not a Coach, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[jjr]

What I don't like is, "Hey, our older A level sister team is off this weekend. Let's grab their ace pitcher and go beat up everybody."

They allow that where you're from? They don't allow playing down here if you are on an A level team. They allow A-A and other levels playing up, but not A-B or C (or B-C). At least, not Utrip. I haven't seen it yet with the other alphabets in our area.

 

[grcsftbll]

They allow that where you're from? They don't allow playing down here if you are on an A level team. They allow A-A and other levels playing up, but not A-B or C (or B-C). At least, not Utrip. I haven't seen it yet with the other alphabets in our area.

It doesn't seem like there's a lot of regulation on pick ups, at least not in the regular season. though they do have a new rule this year about it, I think.

 

[Chris Delorit]

What's the set team rule regarding pick-up play? If there isn't one clearly defined in team expectations, then it's a judgement call for a player. Each player would have to make their own decision on what it means that "the regular coach doesn't like it."

If it's a set rule, then there's two players who violated that rule. If there isn't a rule, then each player evaluated the circumstances and made their own decision regardless of their club coach's feelings about it. These are life experiences for a young athlete where character may, or may not be a consideration in grey area situations. Whether right vs. wrong or preactive vs. reactive probably involves a little post-event self-consciousness.

Either way, whether the other player is a newbie, valued pitcher or injured is irrelevant, even if your daughter is the starting catcher, more tenured on the team, healthy or doesn't make excuses to miss practice.

As mentioned in an another reply, the softball circle can be pretty small at times. Either word will travel, or it won't. Perhaps a learning opportunity in life that your young athlete has to face, which could help continue to mold character development.

Chris