High School Softball

[BobInMadison]

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[Grogger31]

Some girls luck out with their high school experience. Others have to grit their teeth and bear it.

DD is a sophomore and a catcher. She caught 16 of 20 varsity games as a freshman last year due to the Junior catcher being injured. During preseason practices, she and the (now) Senior catcher did nothing but catching reps. Coach asks her what other positions she plays. She says 1B and 2B. She repeatedly asked the coach if she or the other catcher should be taking reps somewhere else. She is told "good idea", but they continue to only take catching reps. Starting pitcher (the team Captain) goes to coach and says she needs DD to catch instead of the other catcher in games due to a significant skill difference. The response was "I can't play (the senior catcher) anywhere else".

Fast forward to the first scrimmage ... DD is told she'll be playing left field in the scrimmage and for the season. She still has yet to get a single fly ball in practice.

 

[Doug Romrell]

It turns out the JV coach really does have it in for DD 3.
Not a joke. I heard from other parents who were at the game.
The coach benched DD 3 almost half the game and put her at 1B instead of P or 3B.
Starting 1B had never played before. 3B was a great 1B but can't play 3B, made 6 errors.
They traveled 2 counties to lose 6-5 a game they should have easily won.

Now I know why everyone hates HS softball so much.

Bob, Might it be the case that this coach actually doesn't like you, and thus is being vindictive in his treatment of your DD?

 

[Cannonball]

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Now I know why everyone hates HS softball so much.

Bob, I hope everything turns around for you and so, your opinion about HS Softball.

We played a couple of games yesterday. I think that our dugout was a microcosm of HS Softball. Our parents the same. The expectations are so different. Some like the HS Staff and some can't stand us. It isn't hard to figure out which is which. When our second game was over which we lost, it was easy to see some parent hang around to hear that after game speech. BTW, never more than 5 minutes on that after game speech. Anyway, I touched mostly on each player evaluating their efforts and checking themselves and I told them that I would have to evaluate just how I need to improve. We now have a game every day this week. Same next week. HS softball for us is about to kick in to full time games.

 

[Orange Socks]

My DD's HS team is playing a team we beat 16-7 earlier in the season. The team is way better than the score represents and our team is way worse than the score represents. We are the home team and the DD is playing catcher after playing all season at SS. The coaches finally realize that the team is much better with DD at catcher. Top of the 1st we are already down 10-0 with 2 outs and our 2nd pitcher is starting. It's a blood bath! Our pitcher is throwing batting practice and the coach does nothing. DD calls time out and signals the coach to come out to the circle. DD says it's time to make a change. The coach says even with 2 outs?? She emphatically says YES! Ok. New pitcher allows only 2 runs in 6.1 innings while we score 8. Final score 12-8. Can we just forget about the 1st inning?

 

[BobInMadison]

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[BobInMadison]

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[MoparFin]

I think saying now I know why everyone hates HS softball was a bit exaggerated to say the least.

This was a case of where my DD 1 actually had fun in HS softball, at a low level.
Then I had so much concern about how my DD 3 was being treated, and that all seemed to go away when i saw her walk to the bus for her first game with girls she played with in elementary school, and also last fall. The moment they had played for all those years was here. Then I started hearing from other parents about how badly my DD 3 was being treated, and it was exactly as she had predicted the day before, in tears. That was a huge mood swing for me.

Hope things get better for you and your DD Bob. I am pretty sure that my oldest DD is on JV because of me. I was (I left for a bunch of the following reasons) helping at the JH level and disagreed with some of the things that the HC was pushing on all of the teams HS and JH. Squishing the bug, SS being behind the bag on steals instead of in front when receiving the throw from C, how to field ground balls in the outfield and some other stuff. DD does (or doesn't in the case of squishing the bug) do all these things the way her previous coaches and I have taught her, which is against what he teaches. She has had college coaches coaching her rec and travel ball teams. Almost the whole V team has asked her why she didn't make V.

The comment was also made that most people in our area don't like travel ball players cause it is bad for school sports and travel ball coaches (which I was before moving here) are not good coaches and aren't like either.

 

[MoparFin]

BTW, never more than 5 minutes on that after game speech. QUOTE]

Wow, you need to come tell that to the HC at my DD's school. They lost to a team that they were told they should beat. Their meeting started at the end of the game obviously. Lasted until the other team finished their meeting, cleaned up the dugout and got on the bus. Seriously, they were loaded on the bus and the meeting was still going on. Crazy.

 

[BobInMadison]

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