Finding Dedicated Parents/Players

[JOHNN]

We are currently going through this as well after half our team decided to leave after the fall. Being that we are a 10C team, our coach wants girls that want to play and are open to being developed. We know we will probably have a long spring/summer but it will certainly be worth it if it means we dont have the drama parents and dads that always want to undermine the coach and try to take over.

By the way, where in ETX are you? We are in SLA.

 

[ETXmayhem]

Were in Tyler. I got a call last night from a few parents who were upset about the way the rec league was ran and are coming out tonight to practice. So I'm ok with developing rather than getting the all stars.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[uncdrew]

Were in Tyler. I got a call last night from a few parents who were upset about the way the rec league was ran and are coming out tonight to practice. So I'm ok with developing rather than getting the all stars.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Excellent.

I'm remembering a bit more now. When we formed our first year 10U, C-level team we took several players who simply showed athleticism. We knew they'd be fine, and improve in softball quickly.

And they did.

We were B-level by the following Spring after winning a few tournaments. Perhaps our most fun softball season to date. Wishing y'all the best.

 

[MB2.0LHT]

I've known coaching is hard both mentally and emotionally. I've been doing it for 8 years. However, lately the biggest struggle is finding the girls to make a team. I've got the practices lined out, constantly looking at new tricks and trades, even went as far as getting a better job so that I can devote more time for the team. But for some reason I can not for the life of me get girls to show for tryouts. It sounds horrible but I have a few that are all in but I can't make a team out of pick ups and prayer. I have had flyers blasted all over social media as well as local businesses. Any tips before I give up?

TIA!

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

It sounds like your area may be saturated with teams. It depends on location I guess.
We had a team disband recently. It was due to Owner/Mgr health issues. We had 10 girls and were trying to get 12 but those that did tryout just weren’t good enough to make the team.
Too many mediocre teams and parents that believe their kids are better than they actually are.
Honestly, some kids just don’t work hard enough to improve and earn playing time. TB is not LL where every player is required to play field and get an AB.

 

[chinamigarden]

I've known coaching is hard both mentally and emotionally. I've been doing it for 8 years. However, lately the biggest struggle is finding the girls to make a team. I've got the practices lined out, constantly looking at new tricks and trades, even went as far as getting a better job so that I can devote more time for the team. But for some reason I can not for the life of me get girls to show for tryouts. It sounds horrible but I have a few that are all in but I can't make a team out of pick ups and prayer. I have had flyers blasted all over social media as well as local businesses. Any tips before I give up?

TIA!

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Don’t take this the wrong way. But perhaps you need to take a closer look at what you expect. Is it possible the parent’s idea of being committed and yours aren’t in line. And if you are having a hard time finding players, is it conceivable that your view needs to be altered, not the parents.

 

[CloudofDust]

This thread has it all...all of the issues I have with the current landscape of youth softball sports, both rec and select. Poaching the local rec league and breaking up a current select team are the two biggest.

Too many rec leagues are already struggling to find enough players to form the necessary number of teams it takes to make a league. And some of you are suggesting to deplete that talent level even further? Good luck with that - it's just a matter of time before rec softball leagues cease to exist. Many city leagues in my area have already closed permanently due to lack of interest.

How about raiding another select team? In a word, classless. In most areas, the softball community is very small and chances are high that you'll run into several players, parents and coaches that were impacted by what you did. That's especially true if we're talking about 10U players. If players on a given team are really that unhappy, they will seek out other teams naturally and should see your advertisements for tryouts.

I applaud the OP's commitment and dedication to softball and I offer a few different suggestions to what has been posted thus far. Rather than try to poach the local rec league, get involved. Contact the league commissioner and develop a relationship that will be mutually beneficial. Try to recruit more players to the sport and offer a more competitive alternative for those that have outgrown rec. play.

Talk to your current players and ask them to recruit their friends that may play other sports. Go to other sports venues. Volleyball, basketball and soccer players often make for easy development of softball players - athletes are athletes. I've been very successful with this myself and have discovered that a lot of parents wanted to get their DDs into other sports but just needed a little nudging. The player continues to play both sports as long as they want.