Hello all! I am somewhat new to your board, lurking often however posting little. Please accept my appreciation to all for the great stuff I have taken in, will continue to take in and will hopefully, also make positive contributions to.
I have a question that I am hoping parents and coaches alike will address. My DD has been playing rec ball for about four years. She is a contributor to the success of her team(s), strongly in the mix and holds her own however, she is not an intense, nearly obsessed or almost over indulgent stand out player. She enjoys the game and has fun playing it ... Until now.
She is in her freshman year of high school playing for the academic stand out school in our district. A school that is often referred to as the districts only public private school. Standards are very high both academically and athletically - which I find to be a good thing. However, great attention is given to 'legacy' and what simply appears to be 'who you are,' (i.e., small southern town perpetual family name.) There also appears to be considerable effort placed on getting these few players attention at the expense of all the other players and definitely at the expense of the inclusion of the freshman class, their parents and even enjoying the game. Being softball parents and coaches, I trust you can assemble the picture I'm painting here. This scenario, and my pondering the situation, has resulted in a couple of questions. They are:
1. Does today's HS SB attempt to mimic travel ball by making an effort to expose a few girls to prospective D1 coaches while basically throwing the remaining TEAMMATES to the curb? Or is it vice versa - TB mimics HS SB? Totally incorrect? For support of my point, JV plays twelve games; Varsity about twenty five including about three tournaments, of which, JV does not attend with the team nor do they stay behind with a JV coach and practice.
2. Is it fair to all other players, namely the incoming freshman "group," to be somewhat side stepped (that is, receiving little coaching time) while a VERY select player and/or couple of players (also freshman) are given unequaled amounts of coaching and attention do to that "legacy" or possibility of D1 success? Furthermore and specific to this particular matter I speak of, never mind the addition of shall we say, a 'continued legacy name' DD's parent brought out as a non-faculty member AC ... bearing in mind there are three, well experienced, faculty member coaches, coaching this team. And yes, the additional AC efforts are directly primarily at a very specific player (playER - emphasis on the singular).
Am I missing something or just getting introduced to a world I was not nearly as familiar with as I thought I was? Softball, like football, volleyball, baseball, etc is a TEAM sport. As a former wrestler, I can appreciate the individuality of a sport but even wrestling had a cumulative concern. One may win his match, but WE all wrestled for the team to win the meet. I will add that, though not a huge part of this is, there is consideration given to the thought that I, as well as all other parent(s) have made a fairly sizable financial contribution to this program - upwards of $800.
All of what I have written here is not just my concern or conversation; it is one I have had with a few of the parents of the incoming freshman class. Additionally, as DD does often, she talks with me about the chemistry of the team ... and it is not good. She (DD) and her teammates recognize all of what I have mentioned here and unfortunately, a few will not be returning next year ... not only for softball, but even to the school.
I do understand that this may simply be a clash of my perspective of how team sports function with the way they actually function in today's society.
Your comments would be greatly appreciated - good and bad.
Thank you all in advance.
I have a question that I am hoping parents and coaches alike will address. My DD has been playing rec ball for about four years. She is a contributor to the success of her team(s), strongly in the mix and holds her own however, she is not an intense, nearly obsessed or almost over indulgent stand out player. She enjoys the game and has fun playing it ... Until now.
She is in her freshman year of high school playing for the academic stand out school in our district. A school that is often referred to as the districts only public private school. Standards are very high both academically and athletically - which I find to be a good thing. However, great attention is given to 'legacy' and what simply appears to be 'who you are,' (i.e., small southern town perpetual family name.) There also appears to be considerable effort placed on getting these few players attention at the expense of all the other players and definitely at the expense of the inclusion of the freshman class, their parents and even enjoying the game. Being softball parents and coaches, I trust you can assemble the picture I'm painting here. This scenario, and my pondering the situation, has resulted in a couple of questions. They are:
1. Does today's HS SB attempt to mimic travel ball by making an effort to expose a few girls to prospective D1 coaches while basically throwing the remaining TEAMMATES to the curb? Or is it vice versa - TB mimics HS SB? Totally incorrect? For support of my point, JV plays twelve games; Varsity about twenty five including about three tournaments, of which, JV does not attend with the team nor do they stay behind with a JV coach and practice.
2. Is it fair to all other players, namely the incoming freshman "group," to be somewhat side stepped (that is, receiving little coaching time) while a VERY select player and/or couple of players (also freshman) are given unequaled amounts of coaching and attention do to that "legacy" or possibility of D1 success? Furthermore and specific to this particular matter I speak of, never mind the addition of shall we say, a 'continued legacy name' DD's parent brought out as a non-faculty member AC ... bearing in mind there are three, well experienced, faculty member coaches, coaching this team. And yes, the additional AC efforts are directly primarily at a very specific player (playER - emphasis on the singular).
Am I missing something or just getting introduced to a world I was not nearly as familiar with as I thought I was? Softball, like football, volleyball, baseball, etc is a TEAM sport. As a former wrestler, I can appreciate the individuality of a sport but even wrestling had a cumulative concern. One may win his match, but WE all wrestled for the team to win the meet. I will add that, though not a huge part of this is, there is consideration given to the thought that I, as well as all other parent(s) have made a fairly sizable financial contribution to this program - upwards of $800.
All of what I have written here is not just my concern or conversation; it is one I have had with a few of the parents of the incoming freshman class. Additionally, as DD does often, she talks with me about the chemistry of the team ... and it is not good. She (DD) and her teammates recognize all of what I have mentioned here and unfortunately, a few will not be returning next year ... not only for softball, but even to the school.
I do understand that this may simply be a clash of my perspective of how team sports function with the way they actually function in today's society.
Your comments would be greatly appreciated - good and bad.
Thank you all in advance.