Fair or not?

[wild man]

I have not posted in a long time I have just been reading and trying to learn. I am a More than seasoned Coach I gave up Coaching at HS JV and now Coach the Only Juniors Div LL Team in the area. We have no Travel Ball, But have to travel as far as 75 miles for some games.

One of the teams we face is made up of all Very seasoned Travel players. My team is about half girls that have never played any sport much less softball. the rest have some experience. The team I speak of is Way out of our league in all areas. They walk all over all the teams we play. I am talking 15 + runs or more.

Now heres the thing, I like playing them, There Coach is, Or seems Classy, The Girls on the team dont show off or gloat. I noticed That my players got better playing them.

BUT..... Some of the parents think we should not play them anymore. They think that its pointless. And that it simply isnt Fair. But I disagree . Mostly because the girls , for some reason look forward to playing them. I think its because they are treated as equals on the field even though they are not near as good as them.

Am I wrong in my assumption?

 

[chinamigarden]

I find that girls who never see good play never understand what good play looks like. When my dd started playing travel it opened her eyes to how good, good is. It gave her something to work towards.

 

[mogsoftball]

You don't get better playing lesser competition. The better the teams you play the better you get.

 

[marriard]

If it is just one team, it is no big deal and in fact good for the team to see how good they could be. . Break it down into small victories for the girls and cheer these goals. Oh and bunt often - new girls will learn this faster than they will getting solid hitting off really experienced and fast pitchers and once the ball is in play anything can happen.

Now if you were getting beaten like that every game, then that is a different story - but that doesn't seem to be the case from your post.

Juniors would be 13&14 year olds so the goal is normally just making sure they are having fun mostly

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

You are spot on. Playing good, even superior competition is a good thing for many reasons. You and your team all look forward to playing this team and it sounds like it is a good experience for the girls.

I say poo poo to the parents. The point of playing this tough team is to see how many runs you can score and how many you can hold them to. Heck, the kids might even learn something they wouldn't learn playing an equally matched team.

 

[rowdy]

If your girls aren't at risk of getting injured then play the best competition you can find. We have many coaches in Travel Ball who play weak tournaments to add trophies but the thing is thier players end up paying a price.

No matter what you should be able to build a solid defense. Your goal should be to get the first three out they offer you and see where the chips fall. Your team will improve, and you girls will learn the value of hard work and where it will take them.

 

[JAD]

The best way to get better is to play teams that are better than you are. That is why so many ASA caliber 'A' teams will play up an age level in none qualifiers.

 

[sluggers]

Am I wrong in my assumption?

No, unless you only play teams that are much, much better than you. But, I assume you play some teams you murder and some where are you are equally matched.

Parents get upset by losing, and they think their precious DDs are going to fold because (*OH NO!!!*) they got their rear-ends handed to them. You've been around--you know that everyone gets shellacked. "What don't kill you makes you stronger."

It also sounds like the girls and you have a good, balanced attitude about it. My DD as a freshman after about 4 weeks of college pitched a fall game against Texas Tech. The results weren't pretty...but, she learned and she loved playing against really good competition.

There Coach is, Or seems Classy, The Girls on the team dont show off or gloat.

Most likely, the reason is that they have had their rear ends handed to them a few times.

 

[wild man]

Thanks to everyone. I told the parents almost exatcly what you all said. I think they get the message.