Does commitment go both ways?

[GTRH8R]

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.

I have an acquaintence with a similar situation. Hauled his kid out to the Sparkler last week and his kid managed to pitch 2 innings. Not much of an exposure tournament for her. The irony is many of the local schools in her area come out to see her play all of the time, but they wanted to be on one of these teams and drive a couple hours one way to practice a couple of times a week for limited playing time.

 

[joeman39]

I have one question.... these girls that he picks up what about the team there leaving or were they on a team before joining this team. Just a question..... I think it's bad coaching and it's just as bad aas these parents that pull there daughters off teams to join other teams ..

 

[David Carter]

Some teams are just like this, we had a local team just win a tournament, as I was talking to one of the parents that was there I said " I did not think they were that strong of a team" they replied they are not"... the team consisted of 75% guest players... at that point why is the team even in the tournament. If your team can't commit to being there don't sign up.

I think what is missing up front is expectations, if this is the way the coach is going to run his team he needs to be up front about the tryout process and how he will be looking for better players...of course if he did that nobody would join the team if they knew they could be replaced tomorrow by a new kid off the street

 

[MsDinosaur]

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.

Yep, as DD said a few days ago, it all went wrong when she hurt her ankles. I saw her mouth start to tremble this weekend when she told me she wasn't in the lineup, but I reminded her she needed to cheer for her team and she managed to firm back up. It's awfully hard to take at 12 and hard for me to watch her take. In seven games, she got one inning in right field, but she did get to bat in most of the games and had some timely hits that helped her team win. She's still in there trying and I'm proud of her for that.

I was talking to another mom the other day, whose daughter is getting a lot more offensive and defensive playing time than mine, but she mentioned that her daughter is not very happy. She only rarely gets to play her preferred infield position and when she does, she's scared that she'll make a mistake and not get to see time there again. Our coach does not have a child on the team and has only brought in a couple of new players, but there's a group of girls who are favored and a group of girls who aren't. That's life, I guess.

 

[CoogansBluff]

The coach is using kids and softball as a vehicle to serve his own selfish, competitive desires. The kids are his pawns. I see this kind of behavior all the time in travel ball, although not typically to this extreme. The coach typically rationalizes it by saying that it prepares them for the competitive real world, where you get the job done or you get replaced. It's BS, and it's unethical, and the coach should be called on it. I've seen very few girls in 12U who want to play for the kind of team he's building. They'd sacrifice some of the winning for a team that allows them to play all the time with a group of teammates and coaches that they really like.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Coogans, I see it often, too, but this mainly happens in 12u out here, although there are some in 14u, too. If you asked me, I would say it's the parents who are more focused on winning than the kids are and they're the ones who give these types of coaches the fuel they need for their little game. In their minds, they equate winning their DD's skill set improving, after all, the team is winning, right? And being on a winning 12u team guarantees their kid a D1 scholarship, right?

I know there are exceptional cases where certain players cannot commit to a single team for various reasons, making them available all the time to guest. But fielding a bunch of mercenaries week after week from the free agent pool is not at all cool if you're benching the players who've committed to you and replacing them mid-season without legitimate cause apart from "I found someone better, bye-bye".

 

[CoogansBluff]

If you asked me, I would say it's the parents who are more focused on winning than the kids are and they're the ones who give these types of coaches the fuel they need for their little game.

Well said. Parents conspire with the coach in brain-washing kids into thinking that winning is more important than it is.

Another thing I meant to add about coaches and their propaganda - I saw a tryout post on another board last fall from a coach who said he wanted 'unselfish, team players.' I know the team and the coach. Translated: If you're unhappy sitting sitting the bench all weekend for a better player, or some player that I picked up the other day, then you're selfish, and you're not a team player.

 

[left turn]

Well, it was a bittersweet ending to the 12U season. The team was on the wrong side of several championship games against good competition to end the season. On the surface it was a reasonably successful season.

5 of the original 12 players from the fall were shown the door; one booted off recently. A total of 23 players played in games from March to July.

The last month could easily be characterized as tryouts for the jump to 14U as players flowed through the program.

The original post I asked whether commitment runs both ways. On this team it only ran one way. It really didn’t matter who the player was, how much they hustled, or how long the player had been on the team. If a better replacement player could be found, the player would sit the bench without explanation. If the parent talked to the HC about playing time it typically turned into a confrontation and they were vilified for getting in the way of building a winning program.

God help the 11 or 12 year old child that went into a slump no matter how temporary.

I understand the “fair” and “even” are two separate concepts. Club ball isn’t in the business to be “even”, that is left to rec and some town travel programs. But fairness should be a goal of the program.

It was disheartening to witness how this Darwinian approach to coaching played itself out in the lives of 11 and 12 year old children. I am sure there are other coaches like this. I hope to avoid them next time.

 

[RichK]

In what aspect or area of life could you get away with treating *people* like this?

Why would it be allowed/condoned with a bunch of 12 year-old girls playing a sport?

Easy answer to this question was stated before: run.

 

[howellhandmade]

This is sobering, and I've been getting some new perspective on these issues myself. Models for the "ends justify the means" team philosophy are all around us. What pro sports team shows any commitment to its athletes beyond what they can do to help it win right now? Are there really travel softball teams who care more about teaching and developing young players and about winning or losing as a team than they do about simply winning? Maybe they say the right things when they want you to sign up and write the check, but how many teams stick to it down the road? It would be nice to hear about the good ones.