Looking for some advice on HS ball because this dad is driving the struggle bus (Sorry another HS topic)

[erniekru]

Here is part of the OP since you're forgetting some things ...


What she did do quite a bit was DP/Flex almost the whole year and ended the season 3rd on the team in BA (.412) and in the top 5 in RBI and OBP. This year is a new coach and assistant coach. She's been working all off season to get stronger, throw faster, improve her pitching, etc. So far this year she's seen 0 pitching time during games She hit in 1 game and was 1-3 with an RBI and hasn't been up again. At practice she throws BP and because they're resting the starter she doesn't get to hit at practice. She comes home almost every day after practice ready to break down because the coaches do not let her practice positions in the field or at pitcher.


How anyone can defend this coach is baffling. Groupthink at it's best. Or they just didn't read/comprehend the OP.

I'm not defending the coach.. Coaches can be great and coaches can suck. Most are in between. I had said in my post that it was my opinion that they should use this hardship as a teaching moment, get stronger, get better, always look forward. If you think I'm wrong, OK I can handle it.

I always used to joke with my DD about all of the catchers that fell by the wayside that were slotted above her on teams. Grind, grind, grind. Get better and be undeniable.. That's it.

 

[softgabby]

Kind of wish my freshman kid was in your kids situation.

Her team has 2 other pitchers and there isn't really a catcher on the team.

My kid has caught every inning of every game

She is probably the best pitcher on the team but hasn't even had a chance to throw a single pitch in practice as she is always catching the other pitchers.

With the high school practice schedule and games my kid is basically not pitching at all. Games have conflicted with lessons.

She is going to suck at pitching when summer rolls around.

She has never been a catcher and has no aspirations of becoming one.

If you don't mind my asking, why did the coach of your daughter's team choose your daughter, who is a great pitcher and made her the catcher? Did the team have an injury to their catcher and just selected your daughter to fill in the role?

 

[Frost033]

Figured I would write another update. My daughter finally got in the circle tonight. She pitched 5 innings. Had 9 Ks, 1 walk, 4 hits and 2 earned runs. She also got to hit and was 2-3 with 2 RBI, a single and double. Hopefully this is the start of more time in the circle. I'm not sure who was more nervous before the game, her or me. I just wanted her to do well in this opportunity and she did what she normally does and pitched well.

 

[Cannonball]

Hahaha..............You know if this were true, your argument as well as others, would make more sense. But it's simply not true. Most HS softball coaches don't have to win to keep their jobs. The HS softball team's winning % is well down the list of things the school's AD and principal are concerned with. All the softball coach basically needs to do is keep the drama down and away from the AD and Principal. Hence all the AD's here telling the OP to not go visit the AD. Ha!

That is not true for most of the schools in my area. If you lose at many of the area schools, you are going to get replaced. Don't your schools have things like the all-sports championship? We have one in our conference. Girl's and Boy's sports are equal and there is a race for the all-sports championship each year. As we have often pointed out our experiences are radically different depending upon where you live.

 

[Towny9]

Figured I would write another update. My daughter finally got in the circle tonight. She pitched 5 innings. Had 9 Ks, 1 walk, 4 hits and 2 earned runs. She also got to hit and was 2-3 with 2 RBI, a single and double. Hopefully this is the start of more time in the circle. I'm not sure who was more nervous before the game, her or me. I just wanted her to do well in this opportunity and she did what she normally does and pitched well.

Nice. Sounds like she took advantage of an opportunity. Hope it leads to more opportunities!

 

[softgabby]

I was approached by another dad whose kid attended a local private HS telling me that the school was "highly motivated" for my DD to play her Sr. season there. Recruiting for sports purposes is prohibited, which basically means I would need to initiate contact with coach. This private HS routinely competes for a state title and would have been nice for DD. Her HS team never once made the playoffs and would have been really nice for her to play in the post season. I ultimately decided nah. I needed that $14K. Looking back at her senior year, the softball season was a complete Sh$t show with a new inexperienced coach and bunch of not so motivated players. I should have moved her!!!

I totally understand where your coming from, Not only is a constant coaching carousel frustrating for parents... it's frustrating for us as players as well. We get used to one style -- one philosophy one season and it's something totally different the next. I'm dealing with that now in college where we had a coach that was here for 20+ seasons and now we have a new head coach. It's not he's a bad coach... it's just that it's a major change of philosophy compared to what we had.

 

[El Oso]

That is not true for most of the schools in my area. If you lose at many of the area schools, you are going to get replaced. Don't your schools have things like the all-sports championship?

No sir we don’t. Wish we did because like you say, it sure would make softball more important to the AD and make the coaches more accountable.

 

[dbronstein]

@El Oso When parents or players ask me about playing time I always say the same thing. “The minute I think you can help the team win I am going to put you in there”.

What you should be telling them is "You need to work on x, y, and z." It doesn't do any good to tell a player she's not good enough to play without telling her specific things she needs to improve.

 

[CoachJD]

IMO there needs to be a better response that that but then again us parents are just stupid while coaches and AD's are all rocket scientists.

Do you miss the point all the time for fun or is it a condition or something? It has nothing to do with anybody being especially smart or competent or even deserving of the job.

The coach could be a drooling idiot and unless they're somehow abusive it's entirely inappropriate for a parent to go complaining to the AD. Complaining because your daughter isn't playing? That parent should be laughed out of the room for even thinking to have that meeting.

This coach has a pretty terrible philosophy on how to use pitchers, if everything posted here is accurate. It's silly to offer an opinion on if this person should still be the coach of the team without knowing a whole lot of other information. It's even sillier to imagine a conversation with the AD that boils down to "Tell the coach to play my kid more" going the way the parent wants.

 

[CoachJD]

Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you, Exhibit A of why high school coaching is soooooo bad. There is no accountability for performance to the AD and there seems to be a built-in negativity towards parents. High school coaches can be a dumb as a box of rocks and still retain their jobs with AD's attitudes like this.

It's actually incredible you can type entire sentences while also being completely incapable of reading comprehension (did you miss the part where I said I was replacing a coach?).

There is accountability for performance. Parents just don't get to decide that. That's not how any of this works, and nor should it be.

I'm struggling to imagine the level of entitlement required to think your opinion on a coach's job as a parent should have any bearing on whether they keep the job. It's even more bonkers to think that statement means coaches shouldn't be held accountable. They should. They absolutely should. Just not by you, the parent.