Drama

[stephanie]

when my dd started playing, she was in 8U. The coach never let her in the infield. There were a few of them that never got in the infield. The reason? If a ball was hit hard to them, they would've been creamed! None of them could catch very well, and none of them figured out how to duck fast. The coach was right in NOT playing them in the infield. In fact, DD didn't get to play infield until 3 games into her 2nd season. But she worked her butt off to get to be good enough to avoid a line-drive to the chin.
Three seasons later and all of the outfield bound players are getting a chance to paly infield.
As a mom, I hated to see my DD sitting in the outfield, because, FACE IT, it just isn't the most exciting spot to be in, especially in 8U. BUt did I argue with the coach about it? Oh heck no!! They would've locked me up for sure for walking around yelling at myself...

 

[chapelhillbilly]

So, just so I am clear..... coaches family members get to play P & SS regardless of skill? Do any other girls get a chance.? You refer to RF as a place of banishment. What about the poor little girl out there that won't see the infield all year on this team? Anything pre-high school should be totally delopment orientated for ALL the players.

Well #1- You really need to calm down.

#2- We have switched them around, just not these two particular positions. And it has nothing to do with it being family. The outfielders play infield at practice and several have been hit by balls because they are playing in the dirt. The few that show potential have played infield. I never said RF was a bad position. My oldest daughter plays right field on her 10U travel team and is a very good player. My point was that the parent acted as if it was a total and complete change from pitcher to SS.

 

[Mamma Coach]

8U girls should be playing a variety of positions...... regardless of their familian relations.

As a coach ~ when my girls were 8U, no player played the same position for more than 2 innings in any game. They need to develop ..... everywhere.

When we moved up to 10U-rec, every player got at least 2 innings in the dirt and 2 innings in the grass. The "worst" player on the team still got her dirt time.... albeit at 2nd base or short, though (for safety reasons as mentioned above). My daughter? She did her share of grazing ~ just like everyone else.

This year we have moved up to 10U-competitive and tournaments. Only now am I starting to allow girls to develop into position players. However ~ every one of them has an infield position AND an outfield position!

Being a coach doesn't mean coaching YOUR child (or your family).... it means coaching 11 or 12 children.
And doing it fairly.

 

[mad hornet]

8U girls should be playing a variety of positions...... regardless of their familian relations.

As a coach ~ when my girls were 8U, no player played the same position for more than 2 innings in any game. They need to develop ..... everywhere.

When we moved up to 10U-rec, every player got at least 2 innings in the dirt and 2 innings in the grass. The "worst" player on the team still got her dirt time.... albeit at 2nd base or short, though (for safety reasons as mentioned above). My daughter? She did her share of grazing ~ just like everyone else.

This year we have moved up to 10U-competitive and tournaments. Only now am I starting to allow girls to develop into position players. However ~ every one of them has an infield position AND an outfield position!

Being a coach doesn't mean coaching YOUR child (or your family).... it means coaching 11 or 12 children.
And doing it fairly.

I don't think 8U is too young for kids to learn to earn a position. Not saying you should go totally static. I coached 8u and I usually rotated players in during late innings after building a comfortable lead. As a coach you have to keep an eye on the players and periodically ask them, "Jodie are you ready?" before a pitch when you see thier attention drifting.

Regardless, to me fairness doesn't mean each kid gets equal time at every position just because they signed up to play. You still show up for practice, get better, and earn that playing time at the position. I don't think kids are ever too young to learn that things worth having should be earned.

Back when I grew up I played tee ball as a five year old. Never saw the infield. We kept score too. Three outs and you went back on the field. There was no "batting around". We had winners and losers every game. Yes, we knew when we won and when we lost and we understood what it meant. That year we went 2-14. I couldn't wait to come back the next year. Believe it or not I turned out okay (after my self-esteem was destroyed! LMAO).

 

[stephanie]

I, too, don't think girls should play "everywhere" at 8U. There are going to be kids who are naturals, and kids who really don't want a ball to come their way.
I've had players who go to throw a ball, and it ends up 5 feet behind them. I just won't put them at 3rd.
I've had kids who don't want to bat because people will be looking at them. I won't put them at pitcher.
I have girls who close their eyes when a ball gets thrown to them. Nope..no catcher for them!
BECAUSE, and don't any of you forget it, there are other little girls playing this game with those poor little girls, and they can be evil incarnate.

 

[andyh64000]

We are talking about 8u rec right? You have players who never see the infield the entire season? Do they bat last every game too? Do any of them ever come back to play another season?

You don't even need outfielders 8u and you think it makes sense to put a whole bunch of players there the whole season? I coached 8u for two years and not once did I have a girl who didn't prefer to be in the infield. Even my 10u team now where my daughter is easily the best player she still gets an inning on the bench and an inning the outfield (she does 1B the whole game on her Travel team but that is the whole point of select...and I am not the coach) and every girls gets at least two in the infield. I suppose if I had a girl who refused to play infield I wouldn't put her there but every one of them gets excited when get an infield spot. I can't imagine not letting them have some fun. I thought that was the whole point of rec.

 

[yelloball20]

i coached 8u for 5 years, generally unless they were extremely talented or at least had an attention span longer than a knat first year kids went to of. never really had set positions, would constantly re eval and move if need be. there were usually kids that never saw dirt their first year, my job was to DEVELOP them. i can't really develop a kid that is playing in the dirt and could possibly take a liner to the back or top of head. this includes my own kids, my older dd played 1b both years of 8u but had the best glove on the team. younger dd played of her first year, played dirt 2nd year.

btw i don't know what kind of leagues you guys are speaking of but the league we play in, we would have bombs hit to outfield every single game. all of my outfielders could and did catch fly balls. to develop players takes time, some more than others its our job as coaches to give them the tools to have the light bulb moments.

 

[Rambler34]

Even at this age you should try and put the girls in a position to win though not at all cost. I rotate girls on my 6U team but the pitcher and first base pretty much stay the same. Two girls have yet to see time in the IF and we are playing our last game this Saturday. It just is not safe to put them that close to a batter.

I don't think the original poster had anything to do with the fact the kids were related to him, he was just telling a story. On my team I can not help that the IF is pretty much covered by coaches kids. They are the best I have. It is probably because we are the one's who enjoy the game and actually spend time with our DD's playing catch and hitting.

 

[mad hornet]

For clarification too, our 8U was machine pitch, not coach pitch. The ball was coming in at 37 mph and when a kid connected, that ball launched off the bat. Saw many a shortstop, including ours get undressed by line drives. I had two girls who put it to the fence on HS diamonds. Our team was 18-3, won the league outright and took 2nd in the end of season tournament out of 17 teams. Never had a parent complain about the way I ran things.

 

[chapelhillbilly]

Okay. You know what, nevermind. I certainly have enough drama in my life. I don't need any added. I wont be posting on this forum anymore. The fact that the kid was related to us is completely irrelevant. We live in an extreamly small town and my husband's family has somewhere around 75 members so it is almost impossible to get around having some family member on a team at some point.
I thought this was a place to be able to vent and discuss softball but apparently it isn't. Thanks for the time and HONEST opinions.