HS Softball team is terrible

[Coachmom]

I'll love to hear from greg once his DD is actually in high school.

#1 To see if she is still a pitcher. #2 To see if she is still dominant. #3 To see if she is still playing softball at all.

I've seen too many dominant 11 year old pitchers reach their peak and then drop off for various reasons. Nearly every player on my DD's current 18GOLD travel ball team was a pitcher at some point in their softball career. Some can still pitch pretty decently but choose not to. Some were dominant at a young age then did not grow as a pitcher.

Whatever the reason, they just stopped pitching.

Not trying to be negative but RELAX and enjoy the game that your DD is playing right now and try not to project too far into the future.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

IMO it IS different.
1) BB and Football players can get recruiters looking at them at their HS
2) TB is about getting on the best team possible so you can be seen by recruiters

I don't think LL players should move to different districts to be on a "better" team and I don't think HS players should do it either. Both of these programs are about community pride, not college recruiting. DD played LL years ago and her team SUCKED! But she stayed on the team and played with her friends and was in the local newspaper a few times. DD's HS team had struggled for a few years, she was asked to go to a different HS (PC's HS) to help make them a championship team. She didn't move because she has pride in her HS, she plays with her friends, is headliner in the local sports page regularly AND gets to be the BIG DOG ATHLETE around school during softball season.

I understand why it happens, I just don't agree with the reasoning and I don't think it's right.

 

[ctfastpitch]

I don't think I said that my DD is awsome. I said that she is better than 80% of the players on the team now. Guess what, I'm almost positive that of the people on this board that have DD's that pitch 80% of them are better then the girls on the HS team too.

I've seen girls on the varisty throw with the wrong foot forward. Pitchers that stay square to the plate to pitch, and just step and throw like slow pitch, also with the wrong foor forward. Not saying my DD is great, just saying how far behind softball is around are area.

Just remember that the HS kids you are comparing her to are not the kids she will be playing with. If it is worth worrying about at all, you should be looking at kids in the area that are in 5th, 6th & 7th grade now. That will be her HS team. How many kids in that age group play TB? Rec Ball? MS Ball?

I've found that in HS it tends to be cyclical. There are age groups that have a ton of TB players that will make up a strong HS team when they are there. That is usually followed by a few pretty lean years and the HS team struggles. All depends on how big the town/city/district is and what kind of developmental programs are around (TB, LL, Rec, etc.)

 

[Lozza]

We had this problem in my senior high school team. We had a state pitcher and everyone on the softball team only played Saturday. I was the only other player on the team who played rep. Guess who learnt how to catch that year?

I think you need to be prepared for the fact that if your daughter is still dominant, you might have to accept that she will have a receiver and not a catcher. (I was 100% a receiver when I did it) Teach your daughter to know what to throw. She will be a better pitcher for it.

 

[dbias]

My DD came to a once dominant HS program last year as a freshman and played every game on Varsity and pitched half the games and recorded all their wins, and led the team in about all hitting stats.........and you know what? so what and big deal!!!

Last year going into her freshman year DD and myself were keyed up about HS ball a little too much. HS ball is what it is....luck of the draw. For a school with 2,000 students there is only about 30 to 40 that try out for softball and the coach does not even bother with a JV team. 15 make Varsity and that is it.

DD loves to play for the HS team as it is with her friends and win or lose she goes out to have fun, for the fun of it. Having her name announced in the morning announcements for a pitching win or homerun is all the reward she needs from the HS team.
Now her TB team that is an 18u showcase team is where she knows that softball is more serious and like real business, and she approaches it as such. Two and a half hour drive to practices, not even knowing most other players by name yet and going out and busting her butt to make herself better. She puts serious time into her pitching and hitting instruction and TB games and practices and works hard.

HS ball is like i said luck of the draw. You play with those who live in the same area. Do your best and have fun!
Now TB is IMO a different story. If you are going to go the extra mile and do TB then associate yourself with the best team you can and strive to excel to the fullest. Her TB team is filled with good players who all seem to take the sport as serious as DD does and that is what she likes about the team.

HS ball ... have fun.

 

[cwestwjg]

I wouldn't worry about how good the team is right now with your DD only in 6th grade. My DD is only in 7th and our HS team which may graduate 60 this year got destroyed at state in the first game. They had four very good seniors and the rest fill ins. This years team probably isn't going to win much because whats left is rec kids that just want to have fun.

My dd plays alot of travel ball so I should panic and move immediately right? Wrong!!!

Our 6th, 7th, 8th grade all have a currently dominate class A pitchers on travel teams sitting in the classrooms. We also have two quality catchers in the 7th grade that play TB. Beyond those girls the middle school has a dozen or so very strong A and C class ball players. I am guessing by the time my DD is a sophmore they will be a team to deal with.

Maybe this is what you should take a look at, who are the players around her age group in the district, because most of the current HS girls will be gone when she is a freshman.

Be proactive start coaching rec and get some 4th and 5th graders playing heavily and help build the programs future!!!

 

[GOINGDEEP]

The thing I like about HS softball is a state championship is earned. It's a do or die situation in the playoffs to advance. Not a pay to play in a travel WS or playing each weekend trying to win a birth into ASA Nats.

There are no second chances, you lose you're done. Until next year anyway.

But I may bias, we have a team loaded with travel ball girls. 17 of the 21 have been traveling since 8u. If our team sucked I'd probably hate HS ball.

 

[BaldNBeautiful]

Great topic -
Be prepared for catchers that can't handle the spin pitches and HS coaches that will shy away from calling them thereafter. These are all REAL challenges your DD will face in a HS like the one it sounds you have (& us too).

I strongly suggest finding a catcher that will for sure go to the same HS and mold the pair.

My view of this comes from the Catcher's side of things. Hooking up a pitcher and catcher to work together, play travel and HS together is a great option. A strong catcher that understands your particular pitcher's strenghts and weaknesses can be a huge benefit to your future. Starting a battery together in the 6th or 7th grade can really pay off for both players.
Obviously there needs to be a good working relationship between the two, as well as a common goal.
Which brings up another point: allow that catcher the opportunity to learn and to call pitches. Too many well meaning coaches take this away from their catchers and they never learn how / develop confidence in it. I know that alot of Dads don't want to let go of the control, but NO ONE is in a better position to read the hitter, or to evaluate how well the pitcher is doing today.
Expect that Catcher give feedback to the pitcher. Expect that catcher to work hard enough to earn the pitcher's trust and respect.
A few years back, my oldest daughter (a catcher) and another girl in our Rec league (pitcher) started working together in an effort to make our local (small rural community) Middle School team. To make a long story short, even though they did not play alot of TB together, the working relationship paid off. Both made the MS team, both made the HS team, with both becoming starters in their freshman year. Both earned All-District honors, etc. Now both are playing college ball at the NAIA level on scholarship.
Was it always a perfect relationship? No.
Did the Pitcher's parents and the catcher's parents always get along? No.
Did they make each other work harder (out of commitment and competition with each other)? You bet they did.
Would either have played as well in HS without the other? I really doubt it.

 

[greg99]

I understand that the girls in HS now won't be there when my DD gets to HS. But I think that is one reason that girls in middle school and younger don't want to play softball. There are 2 "B" level travel teams 30 mins away and 2 C level teams 30 mins away. There just isn't any interest in my immediate area. I was thinking about having my DD play rec and make what ever practices she could that didn't interfere with her TB but the more I think on it, I don't think that would work for a lot of reasons.

I think i will just go the the fields the teams practice on when I get time and see if I can help.