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Feb 3, 2011
1,880
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In NorCal, youth soccer runs on Saturdays, and B fall ball runs on Sundays. Rec softball respects that soccer is a fall sport, so this schedule allows families to do both. But a kid who is already doing club soccer is committing to full weekends, so softball would be a no-go.

were informed via text she did not make the team which is if you ask me is the easy way out. So I asked for a call to see what they felt were the areas to focus on and I got a text with a very “canned” response
Welcome to 2019. Texts often lack nuance, so sometimes a phone is faster, but if a text can convey the bottom line, then a text is preferred in many cases. Flush, and move on.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
on the multisport aspect, basically, my school of thought is that the sport that is in season generally takes precedence, ie soccer in fall, basketball in winter, softball in spring/summer.

having said that, DD got recruited to a low level/casual (not a knock, just what it is, flight 6 of 7 in their league) travel soccer team for this fall. AC girls swim and go to school with DD, and he heard she was a GK, and they needed one (they had a part time GK). She practiced with them once and joined the team, but we were clear with him that softball would generally trump soccer, even in fall (a lot of this is based on the relative levels of the teams in their respective arenas). he understood and accepted, and now he has a whole fall and winter to recruit/develop another GK. looks like she will miss at least 25% of the league games they have, not certain of tournaments, soccer HC has not announced a tournament schedule, but likely miss at least one (fastpitch tournament already scheduled for columbus day weekend, and that is big soccer tournament weekend in our area). Luckily, HC for softball is supportive of multisport athletes at their level (12u), and is willing to be lenient with attendance to a degree (and he knows DD gets privates about 2-3 time a month, so that also helps).

every situation is different, but as long as everyone is honest up front, many issues can be avoided.

hope your situation works out, but if it looks like there might not be a team, i would continue to try and look around, even as late as it is, lots of teams at least in our area "looking for that one more player to join a top level established team". or look for guest play opportunties.

welcome the "long strange trip"
 
Jul 19, 2019
7
3
on the multisport aspect, basically, my school of thought is that the sport that is in season generally takes precedence, ie soccer in fall, basketball in winter, softball in spring/summer.

having said that, DD got recruited to a low level/casual (not a knock, just what it is, flight 6 of 7 in their league) travel soccer team for this fall. AC girls swim and go to school with DD, and he heard she was a GK, and they needed one (they had a part time GK). She practiced with them once and joined the team, but we were clear with him that softball would generally trump soccer, even in fall (a lot of this is based on the relative levels of the teams in their respective arenas). he understood and accepted, and now he has a whole fall and winter to recruit/develop another GK. looks like she will miss at least 25% of the league games they have, not certain of tournaments, soccer HC has not announced a tournament schedule, but likely miss at least one (fastpitch tournament already scheduled for columbus day weekend, and that is big soccer tournament weekend in our area). Luckily, HC for softball is supportive of multisport athletes at their level (12u), and is willing to be lenient with attendance to a degree (and he knows DD gets privates about 2-3 time a month, so that also helps).

every situation is different, but as long as everyone is honest up front, many issues can be avoided.

hope your situation works out, but if it looks like there might not be a team, i would continue to try and look around, even as late as it is, lots of teams at least in our area "looking for that one more player to join a top level established team". or look for guest play opportunties.

welcome the "long strange trip"

Thanks everyone need some more etiquette help. We have told the “A” team she cannot commit and they will allow drop in practice if we cannot make it, they had their first practice Sunday and we went. Today I received an email from her previous team seeing if she can fill in for a tournament this weekend for a girl that broke her arm. They also know she cannot commit full time.

I would like to know your opinion about playing for her old team. I have not spoke to the coach yet but she would only be able to play on Saturday as she has a state cup soccer game on Sunday.

Am I getting myself into a bad spot?
Thanks in advance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
as long as you are upfront and honest, and they are willing to accept what your family can and cant do, I do not see an ettiquette or ethical or otherwise problem. but just also be ready to be told "we found a girl who can commit, thanks, but we no longer need her".
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
as long as you are upfront and honest, and they are willing to accept what your family can and cant do, I do not see an ettiquette or ethical or otherwise problem. but just also be ready to be told "we found a girl who can commit, thanks, but we no longer need her".

Spot on.
 
Jan 24, 2020
70
18
As a former 12U Coach, I always liked having multi-activity kids on the team. At that age kids need to be experimenting with different activities and learning to find their own way in the world. I always wanted them to be comfortable coming to me and discussing their schedule conflicts themselves, so I never judged their choices, and never wanted them to feel guilty about prioritizing something else. What I found was that their commitment to our team actually increased, and they always were happy to be at our practices and games, so their morale was higher because they were choosing softball at that moment and not thinking about something else.

For the other players, they benefitted from additional opportunities when players higher on the depth chart at a desired position had a conflict, and they knew that they would get plenty of reps and innings at those desirable positions, so their attitude and effort improved all around. Knowing the situation ahead of time also allows a coach to get in front of any resentment that the "committed" players may feel and stressing the positives all around.

If your DD is going to be taking on multiple activities communication is critical, both from the parents and the player, make sure to be upfront, and if something pops up let the coach know right away. That is how you and your DD integrate into the team culture, and you will look really good compared to the family that texts 15 mins before game to say they can't make it.

Often the "committed" players missed almost as much time but for other reasons: family events, trips, school activities, etc. The Girls that had multiple commitments had the support of their whole family so they would go to extra effort to make every practice/game that wasn't in direct conflict. Had one girl that played in a basketball game between 2 friendlies, her parents made sure to let me know that she would be leaving at last out of the first game and might be late to the second game within an hour of the schedule being posted.

The worst part was coaching DD's team when she was at an MUN summit, soccer tournament or at an academic camp. Ultimately that's why I stepped out of coaching.
 

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