Does commitment go both ways?

[left turn]

DD’s 12U team recruited a full team of 12 players last fall and worked all winter (twice a week). However, since March the team has had 21 different players in games.

If the coach felt the player wasn’t good enough, he recruited another player. The players that had been with the team from the start either sat on the bench or were booted off the team for not being good enough. Several times a player was crying in the dugout because they wanted to play and were disappointed a new player was taking her time in the field and plate. There have been occasions where the coach recruited a player for a single tourney and longstanding regular players sat.

4 of the original 12 players have been removed. 2 to 3 others are seeing diminishing playing time.

It is true, we are a little better team. But at what cost? (Most of) the kids on the team clearly understand if they do not produce now, they may be out of a position. There is a sense of unease for them. I wonder if the coach is preparing for the 14U team next year by bringing players and trying them out.

There has been a lot of good with the team. The players enjoy each other and parents are terrific. On balance the coach knows the softball x’s and o’s.

I understand there could be some healthy replacements for problem players (or nutty parents). But the coach’s confrontational style and easy willingness to discard 11 and 12 year old children that are committed to the program is troublesome.

 

[sluggers]

But the coach’s confrontational style and easy willingness to discard 11 and 12 year old children that are committed to the program is troublesome.

Troublesome? The guy is total jerk. He gets kid to sign up for his team, and then, after the season starts and it is too late for the kids to find other teams, he starts replacing them.

He is running the team like a college team. I've never heard of a TB ran that way.

Generally, a TB coach picks a team at the beginning of the year. It isn't unusual to pick up a couple of kids during the year, but usually because of injuries or need for one more catcher or pitcher.

My guess is the guy is a good recruiter and so he gets a bunch of newbie parents on board. Parents who have been around the block once or twice should avoid this guy like the plague.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Run Forest, run!!!!!!!!!!!! It sounds like this guy doesn't know his softball x's and o's. Running through 21 players is beyond ridiculous. This guy is not teaching the kids how to play. He is using a superior skill of his for improving the team. BS'n parents into bringing their daughters to the team who've been trained by other people. This guy is about nothing but winning. At the 12U level that's dangerous. There has to be a balance of teaching the game and being about winning.

As for commitment. It is a two way street. This guy doesn't see it that way. There are other ways to put pressure on the kids to perform.

 

[Cannonball]

Run Forest, run!!!!!!!!!!!! It sounds like this guy doesn't know his softball x's and o's. Running through 21 players is beyond ridiculous. This guy is not teaching the kids how to play. He is using a superior skill of his for improving the team. BS'n parents into bringing their daughters to the team who've been trained by other people. This guy is about nothing but winning. At the 12U level that's dangerous. There has to be a balance of teaching the game and being about winning.

As for commitment. It is a two way street. This guy doesn't see it that way. There are other ways to put pressure on the kids to perform.

Quoted for TRUTH!

 

[lstorie1971]

I have a 12 yo and a 14 yo, and I can tell you that they are afraid of not being accepted more than just about anything. IMO, to treat girls that age like they're disposable pieces in a machine does harm to their psyche regardless of what it does to their softball prowess. It's wrong, and I wouldn't let my kids play for such a person.

 

[GTRH8R]

Committment should be both ways, but I have found that is rarely the case with many TB coaches. I have seen many a girl make a commitment to a team that has been whacked mid-season for a better player with some lame excuse to why. It is the sign of a coach who does not have the ability to develop players, but wants to win immediately with as little coaching as possible. If a kid is not good enough, don't take them. If they are going to sit more, tell them why and what they need to do to make it on the field. Most of all coach. This guy ain't a coach.

 

[PA SB Dad]

What you are essentially saying is that rather than helping the original players on your team improve their skills (ie good coaching), your current coach has taken the approach of replacing current players with better players (ie good recruiting). At 12U, you have to see this for what it is. Your coach is not committed to improving his players, he is committed to improving the team by whatever means possible in order to win. There is a certain degree of laziness and a lack of integrity with that approach, and I would not want to be involved with a coach like that. I believe you should stick with the players you chose at tryouts, coach them to the best of your ability, and if the player has not made improvement by the next tryout, move on at that point. To do so in the middle of the year on a consistent basis is stealing money and robbing the kids of opportunities to play and learn the game.

 

[left turn]

...he is committed to improving the team by whatever means possible in order to win.

To do so in the middle of the year on a consistent basis is stealing money and robbing the kids of opportunities to play and learn the game.

That really hits home. It is not good for the girls' psyche to know that one or a few errors or outings and you could be the next one that falls out of fashion and are subject to being replaced. The message is that you get to keep playing until the coach can find someone better. To have longstanding and dedicated players crying in the dugout because they have been pushed aside is difficultt to witness.

I believe GTRH8R said it well "if a kid is not good enough dont take them."

The other problem is if a player is good enough but goes through a slump. And there are all sorts of reasons for going into a slump at 12 years old even for the dedicated player.

 

[left turn]

Most of the new girls that have been added are really nice and my DD likes them.

The new players are really happy, since they came on late in the season and are getting full playing time. They never knew the players that were tossed off the team and don't have the perspective to understand that if someone was tossed for your DD, then if your DD struggles, even temporarily, they may be next.

 

[Cannonball]

We all know of teams where the coach builds a team but in order to win tournaments and build their reputation, invite guest players to star for the weekend. As they win these tournaments, they then hold tryouts based up team/coach success. You have to ask yourself what is the point where your child will be phased out. These teams typically by 14U are very good and draw college coaches at exposure tournaments based upon success. These coaches typically carry spare uniforms in the car and so, you never know what team is going to be there and what your child's role will be in any given exposure tournament. If you are good with that and confident that this coach can't replace your dd then stay. If not, run. As a side not, one of dd's friends played on one of these teams. She was good, they paid their $1.400 to play weekend tournaments and exposures and they wore their "colors" everywhere showing everyone what team their dd had made. Great except when the exposures started, she might have seen one or two innings at her normal position. Still, they put on their recuritment brochure the team name and did the YouTube promo in the team uniform. Still, no interest since she was never playing her normal position except in local tournaments where superstars were not recruited.