Does your HS talk to local TB coaches

[YOCOACH]

My DD chooses her path in life, period. I brought her up to be in charge of it, for it is her life.

My DD is one of the best hitters in the state. She chooses to align herself with the high school folks who have given the energy to align themselves with her. The local folks know her. She faces, and hits against the best pitchers this area has to offer, and this area has great pitchers ... they know her.

I have no choice. She tells me what she wants for softball ... I give it to her. My DD has so many softball people, coaches, administrators, everyone who knows who she is and dedicate some of their time to making my DD a better person and a better player.

It is all about giving back. I am so grateful to the many, many people, who have given to my DD, that my only goal is to give back to them.

Something travel folks have great difficulty with.

For what it is worth ... the college coaches love this message. Our program is watched. What I post here is watched. There simply are more ways than one to get people to help your DD in life.

You are absolutely correct in saying that some TBers have difficulty in giving back to the softball community and the community in general. Of course, this is not exclusive to TB. Our family is not like that but I know many that are. Thank you for that. I also appreciate the fact that you listen to your DD. Too many parents (sometimes myself included) fail to do so no matter the level of play.

 

[CoachCalvin]

SCdad... I assume you live in the same state as me. I've only been involved with softball a year and a half. I stand behind my comments about TB and HS softball. Your dd must be a can't miss prospect on a very good HS team. My dd is not. A mediocre at best program that struggles to win and develop talent. The Gatorade HS softball player of the year came out SC last year from Daniel HS. I saw her pitch in person. She signed to play at Stanford. She could really pitch and bring the heat. The talent in this state is unreal and every brain that I've picked over the last year say it is because of TB.

Good luck to you and your daughter.

 

[sluggers]

You are absolutely correct in saying that some TBers have difficulty in giving back to the softball community and the community in general.

Very true...Once a parent has "been through the mill" of TB and college sports, he/she gets pretty jaded about the whole thing.

 

[jdavenp3]

I am a high school coach and respect the hell out of what tb coaches do for the girls. At the serious levels they are essentially grooming these girls for a college scholarship. As far as communication goes, I do try and communicate. I talk about what our better players are doing well, what they are doing poorly, how they are progressing with their attitudes/athleticism. I DO NOT hint that this player should play here or this player is better suited there. It is not my team and not my decision to make. If I am consulted with then I will reply.

The hard part of my job is convincing girls that high school is just as important than travel ball. In our area where division I type talent is not rampant in the region we play it is a little easier. I try to instill that even though you may get looked at by colleges and go to different places through travel ball nothing will replace high school ball. You are playing with girls that you have known the majority (in most cases) of your lives, playing for a school and a community that you should have a huge amount of pride in, and trying to leave a lasting impact on the program.

 

[Slappers]

In my opinion and certainly in my area, I don't see a correlation between HS and TB as they are played for two separate reasons. The girls play for various travel teams at various levels but they all commit to one goal for this team which is winning a state championship and representing their school. One or two bad games during school season kills you where as in TB, there is always next weekend.

School ball is one of the few things left that doesn't scream me, me, me all the time like travel ball. The girls play for something other than themselves and self promotion in school. We as parents push the softball agenda. From the time the girls start to show some ability and want, we start saying "if you want to go somewhere with this then you need to play travel" etc. I am sure there are some very dedicated players in which that all they want to do is play softball, but I am also willing to bet that if given the opportunity, quite a few girls may find a new passion or go a different route given the chance to do so. Between not wanting to feel like they let their parents down and knowing that if they jump off the travel bus it is that much harder to get back on, these girls don't have a chance and as parents we say we are "just doing what is in your best interest".

Kids do what we tell them to do or what they believe we want or expect them to do. Hell, we can't even let the girls enjoy playing softball anymore without it all being about the mysterious "big picture".

 

[fastpitch]

similar to what jdavenp3 is saying... what would HS coaches need to say to TB coaches or visa versa besides maybe being friendly and updating them about how a player of theirs was doing?

 

[YOCOACH]

similar to what jdavenp3 is saying... what would HS coaches need to say to TB coaches or visa versa besides maybe being friendly and updating them about how a player of theirs was doing?

1 Player development
a)which players need to work on what
b)Pitching mechanics and what they like to see/advocate
c)Swing mechanics and what they teach
d)Fielding mechanics and what they teach
2 Upcoming Clinics that either coach may like to attend
3 Differences in coaching strategies
4 Differences in Coaching philosophies
5 The problems that each coach faces over the season

Too many times I have seen where the coaches of either program are locked in their ways. Since softball is an ever evolving game, you never know what they may learn from each other. IMO, a close relationship between the two programs could only improve both.

Edit to Add: If they don't agree on something, then they'll just have to agree to disagree but still, there's always the possibility that one or the other coach has come across something unique in which they will share. For example, maybe the HS coach has taught his players how to righty slap or maybe the TB coach taught his players how to knob bunt. Either coach would be appreciative for that knowledge when it comes game time. Or a simple watch out for the Freshman player X from such and such HS. We played her during the summer and she can hit anything within 6" of the plate. There's an entire sport which can be discussed without animosity.

 

[fastpitch]

yeah. i guess they could talk about lots. they both do coach softball and probably could talk for days. in our case for HS each kid is on a different travel ball team and our tb team has kids from all different high schools and states so it doesn't seem practical in our case, but I suppose I could see it more common in other communities where the HS or TB team have a few of the same players.

 

[Phathead]

YOCOACH hit the nail. That is what I would thanink would be going on.

 

[FP26]

When DD was in sixth grade, I had a conversation with the varsity coach. Our rec league does not go beyond 12u and our school does not offer a junior high softball program. Therefore DD had a choice to either move to travel ball, or not play softball at all during seventh and eighth grade. A few parents were interested in building a travel ball program and trying to get some advice from the varsity coach in regards to what fundamentals he expected when the players arrived in his program; hitting, pitching, base running, fielding, throwing, etc. Unfortunately, the varsity coach did not find this to be a good idea. Yet he complains constantly that the girls that come to him have not been trained properly.... Meanwhile, the coach at a rival high school is building a junior high program, does clinics for the rec league players in the off season, and is highly involved with a couple local travel ball organizations (including the one we are involved in). Take a wild guess which high school team spends every spring in the district playoffs?