How does your team handle pick up players?

[Eric F]

Where do these pick up players come from? Don't they have their own team? How does their teams coach feel about the a player playing for another team? How long can a player be a pick up player before she has to pick a team? How does a coach explain to dues paying parents that their DD is being replaced for the weekend by a non dues paying pick up player?

There are multiple places players can come from. Our HC has borrowed players from the team of another HC he is good friends with. Their schedule allowed for a few players to help us out, but not miss any of their regular team's games. Our team has done the same for theirs, too. More recently, we picked up a player that had tried out with us in the past, decided to go another way, but then left that team. She was without a team at the time and was able to help us out for a weekend.

As a parent, I have no issue with pick-up players to fill in for missing players if it means the team can keep playing at a similar level. If it turn out that the pick-up player is a good fit for the team, and decides to join full-time, that's just fine.

In my experience, pick-up players aren't used to replace players who are already established on the team and present for the game. Pick-up players are used to fill holes.

 

[Rolling Hard]

There are multiple places players can come from. Our HC has borrowed players from the team of another HC he is good friends with. Their schedule allowed for a few players to help us out, but not miss any of their regular team's games. Our team has done the same for theirs, too. More recently, we picked up a player that had tried out with us in the past, decided to go another way, but then left that team. She was without a team at the time and was able to help us out for a weekend.

As a parent, I have no issue with pick-up players to fill in for missing players if it means the team can keep playing at a similar level. If it turn out that the pick-up player is a good fit for the team, and decides to join full-time, that's just fine.

In my experience, pick-up players aren't used to replace players who are already established on the team and present for the game. Pick-up players are used to fill holes.

If your DD is the obvious starting catcher, of course you do not mind coach bringing in a big bat or an ace pitcher. Might help win, right? But if your DD is number three pitcher, you might see things a little different. Coaches/orgs need to carefully offer spots on teams and not just take scrubs to fill roster and then always be looking for better players. In So Cal there is sooooo many 12u teams and coaches need/want to fill rosters and team hopping is out of control. Disgruntled parents ready to switch teams at the drop of the hat. Tryouts and private workouts are posted all year long. Almost every team looking for " ace pitcher, big bat, impact player, elite catcher or looking to add to an already pgf team, blah blah blah."

Loyalty is a two way street seldom traveled. And this is 12u. Can't wait to see 14u.

Ps: My DD is not the number three pitcher, she is the obvious starting catcher.

 

[Eric F]

If your DD is the obvious starting catcher, of course you do not mind coach bringing in a big bat or an ace pitcher. Might help win, right? But if your DD is number three pitcher, you might see things a little different. Coaches/orgs need to carefully offer spots on teams and not just take scrubs to fill roster and then always be looking for better players. In So Cal there is sooooo many 12u teams and coaches need/want to fill rosters and team hopping is out of control. Disgruntled parents ready to switch teams at the drop of the hat. Tryouts and private workouts are posted all year long. Almost every team looking for " ace pitcher, big bat, impact player, elite catcher or looking to add to an already pgf team, blah blah blah."

Loyalty is a two way street seldom traveled. And this is 12u. Can't wait to see 14u.

Ps: My DD is not the number three pitcher, she is the obvious starting catcher.

You're talking about 2 different scenarios. Filling a roster with "scrubs" while constantly looking for better players to replace them is very different than bringing on pick-up players to help a team on a short-term basis.

This is our 4th year in the world of So Cal TB. For 2 years of that, I was a team coach. In that time, I've realized that there is only one true loyalty...A parent doing what they think is best for their kid. However, sometimes parents are completely delusional.

 

[FP26]

As a coach I did the best I could to avoid using pick up players. But there were times that I had no choice. I will not enter a tournament without at least 10 players, 3 pitchers, and a minimum of 2 catchers. We have rarely had issues with that, but it does happen. To fill in we typically had a few different sources. Players that we knew from other teams that were not playing that particular weekend. We also knew some high school players that didn't want to commit to a full travel ball schedule. So we typically had two of them on our official roster, but only asked them to come along if we were short. Worked out great for us and them.

My DD also played as a pick up player quite often. As a pitcher, it seemed like there was always a team looking. Some experiences were great. Some, not so much. One team in particular treated her very well. She played quite a bit and hit nearly every game whether she was on the field or not. Her first organization also would pick up players from team to team. They had 1 team at each level, so she would play up. As a 14u player, she often played with the 18u team.

When used properly I think it can be a positive experience for everyone involved. It's not my style to have a pickup player come in for the sole purpose of replacing someone else on the team. But I do want her experience to be positive enough that she will come back if we need her again.

Rolling Hard -- Just an FYI> As a pitcher, I'm quite sure DD could have played 8 to 10 tournaments a year strictly as a pickup player without ever picking a team as a permanent home. That isn't something she wanted to do, but it would not have been hard to find enough playing time.

 

[Rolling Hard]

"Rolling Hard -- Just an FYI> As a pitcher, I'm quite sure DD could have played 8 to 10 tournaments a year strictly as a pickup player without ever picking a team as a permanent home. That isn't something she wanted to do, but it would not have been hard to find enough playing time."

A decent 12u pitcher ( throws 50ish and hits spots) in So Cal could play (picked up) every weekend for as long as she wished. Catchers to a lesser degree. Just go to HB, pick up the phone and they will be invited out to play pretty much sight unseen. "Just have her wear gray pants and blue socks and I will bring a jersey for her." Financially it is attractive, but most 12 y/o would rather play with teammates not strangers every weekend.

 

[Eric F]

A decent 12u pitcher ( throws 50ish and hits spots) in So Cal could play (picked up) every weekend for as long as she wished. Catchers to a lesser degree. Just go to HB, pick up the phone and they will be invited out to play pretty much sight unseen. "Just have her wear gray pants and blue socks and I will bring a jersey for her." Financially it is attractive, but most 12 y/o would rather play with teammates not strangers every weekend.

At 12yo, the bond with teammates is a very important part of the equation. I expect you will see more pick-up players getting involved as your DD gets older.

 

[FP26]

"Rolling Hard -- Just an FYI> As a pitcher, I'm quite sure DD could have played 8 to 10 tournaments a year strictly as a pickup player without ever picking a team as a permanent home. That isn't something she wanted to do, but it would not have been hard to find enough playing time."

A decent 12u pitcher ( throws 50ish and hits spots) in So Cal could play (picked up) every weekend for as long as she wished. Catchers to a lesser degree. Just go to HB, pick up the phone and they will be invited out to play pretty much sight unseen. "Just have her wear gray pants and blue socks and I will bring a jersey for her." Financially it is attractive, but most 12 y/o would rather play with teammates not strangers every weekend.

Agreed. DD enjoyed being a pickup player, but she loved her full time teammates.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

I haven't seen many examples of teams picking up players just to fill a spot on the roster first-hand. What I have seen mirrors how the Original Poster's team does it and it works well.
I have seen where pick up players play every inning and dues paying players sit nearly every inning because of the presence of the pick up players. That never ends well, especially if a team doesn't win every game with the pick up player(s). As was said earlier, a lot of the problems that teams create when they do this could be avoided by real, honest communication, but you will rarely if ever hear a coach explain why the pick up player deserves all the PT over someone who has paid all year. I would say the best way to use a pick up player if you have a full roster is to use them sporadically, like your team does. This leads to much less resentment from the families who are paying the bills.
We are in our first year with another sport currently that doesn't allow any kind of roster substitutions. Your team is your team, you can't go out and pick up that awesome player on another team or even try to recruit her during the season. Players generally can't join another team after committing to one without league approval which is rare, and if your bench is short because of injuries or absences, you learn to live with it. I have to say this approach is 1,000 times better than softball.

 

[Rolling Hard]

I haven't seen many examples of teams picking up players just to fill a spot on the roster first-hand. What I have seen mirrors how the Original Poster's team does it and it works well.
I have seen where pick up players play every inning and dues paying players sit nearly every inning because of the presence of the pick up players. That never ends well, especially if a team doesn't win every game with the pick up player(s). As was said earlier, a lot of the problems that teams create when they do this could be avoided by real, honest communication, but you will rarely if ever hear a coach explain why the pick up player deserves all the PT over someone who has paid all year. I would say the best way to use a pick up player if you have a full roster is to use them sporadically, like your team does. This leads to much less resentment from the families who are paying the bills.
We are in our first year with another sport currently that doesn't allow any kind of roster substitutions. Your team is your team, you can't go out and pick up that awesome player on another team or even try to recruit her during the season. Players generally can't join another team after committing to one without league approval which is rare, and if your bench is short because of injuries or absences, you learn to live with it. I have to say this approach is 1,000 times better than softball.

What sport is this and who governs the rules? Fastpitch is suppose to have some rules written and unwritten but neither of them are applied or followed. When a 12u team shows up for PGF with 22 players you know something is wrong.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

What sport is this and who governs the rules? Fastpitch is suppose to have some rules written and unwritten but neither of them are applied or followed. When a 12u team shows up for PGF with 22 players you know something is wrong.

Volleyball. The rosters are frozen as soon as a team qualifies for the national tournament, which prevents what you see at PGF from happening. Before the team qualifies, the governing association has rules that require teams to use the roster they submit. Players can petition to join another team, but nobody I know can think of any time when the player was allowed to (for that matter, nobody knows of anyone who tries).
USA volleyball sets the rules. Triple Crown and AAU may do some things different but Triple Crown purports to follow USA Volleyball rules.