Wow does this sound all to familiar, very similar to what happened to my daughter. Even down to the comment that hs softball is where college coaches come to see players. It was difficult watching games, the insanity was hard to take at times. Finally the freak show was over and my daughter decided to not return to playing hs softball. Now my daughter is playing softball in college and does not look back. If they want to play and it is not effecting them personally or effecting how they play let them play. If they are miserable find an alternative team to play on for that time frame or do conditioning and lessons.
More High School Politics and BS
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- Oct 10, 2011
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Last night my wife referred to HS Ball as the "reoccurring nightmare," that finally stopped.
- May 31, 2015
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I think djcarter1966 is right, tell them to relax, try to keep bad habits at bay, and give 100% but they need know this is more a social activity and at the end of the day this is their best opportunity to get peer recognition. But, school ball decisions don't have any bearing on their softball skills.
DD #1 HS ball was not terribly bad... It was no where near travel ball, not even speaking the same language but it was tolerable... Coach was good, she was young and tried to build a program but naturally parents with money ended up winning the day and getting her run off before DD #2 started through the HS circuit and of course DD #2 wants to play HS ball because DD #1 played HS ball... 
Last year for DD#2 was horrible... I would say maybe elevated rec ball to rec all-star level of play... Practices stunk and it was left to the girls to keep themselves occupied... Luckily that coach didn't last a year and I was really looking forward to this year because the school finally hired what I consider to be a quality HS Softball Coach... former D1 player, coached at the college level, still young enough to remember what it took to get there and relate to the girls but seemingly strong enough to withstand some of the "parental pressures"... One good thing is immediately upon her arrival that all positions were open and tryouts would determine who was where and playing what position... Well, the list came out today and while I was actually pleasantly surprised to see high quality players (mostly mid to upper level travel ball players) I was also shocked that some of the more "prominent" names from the community were absent from the list... Long story short, I think she got the list 90 to 95% right from what she had show up at tryouts and given that there were almost 200 girls that had to be evaluated - that in and of itself is quite an accomplishment...
However, I have no doubt the AD's phone and email is blowing up at this very moment and we will see if she can weather this storm...
Last year for DD#2 was horrible... I would say maybe elevated rec ball to rec all-star level of play... Practices stunk and it was left to the girls to keep themselves occupied... Luckily that coach didn't last a year and I was really looking forward to this year because the school finally hired what I consider to be a quality HS Softball Coach... former D1 player, coached at the college level, still young enough to remember what it took to get there and relate to the girls but seemingly strong enough to withstand some of the "parental pressures"... One good thing is immediately upon her arrival that all positions were open and tryouts would determine who was where and playing what position... Well, the list came out today and while I was actually pleasantly surprised to see high quality players (mostly mid to upper level travel ball players) I was also shocked that some of the more "prominent" names from the community were absent from the list... Long story short, I think she got the list 90 to 95% right from what she had show up at tryouts and given that there were almost 200 girls that had to be evaluated - that in and of itself is quite an accomplishment...
However, I have no doubt the AD's phone and email is blowing up at this very moment and we will see if she can weather this storm...
Sure, sure, while I and my kids understand that it really does only go so far. Lay back, chill out, relax
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Vent here - support your DDs the best you can - and listen and encourage them when they make choices that will grow them into awesome adults.
Sometimes asking them if they want you to do anything on their behalf helps get back to perspective.
Moron was my word for 2016 Spring/Summer college and travel seasons. Get some Tums to get you through till the tide turns...
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Sometimes asking them if they want you to do anything on their behalf helps get back to perspective.
Moron was my word for 2016 Spring/Summer college and travel seasons. Get some Tums to get you through till the tide turns...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Seems to me that at least some of the complaints can be brought to the AD's attention. Playing time decisions, who makes varsity and who doesn't... don't thnk the AD will entertain those types of complaints. UNLESS you can demonstrate that the coach is favoring those who play for her travel ball team and is punishing those that chose not to tryout. That's a very serious matter and if true could spell trouble for the head coach. Also having the JV girls travel when there wasn't a JV game - another thing that should be brought to the AD's attention. Goes to the overall competency of the coach.
- Jul 5, 2016
- 661
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My observation of complaints directed against teachers or coaches is that they are generally ignored and the administration tends to side with the teacher/coach instead of the student. The only exceptions I have seen are where the complaint is pretty serious and the people filing the complaint have an attorney helping them out. We had a coach who was very good at the divide and conquer game turning girls against girls and parents against parents. He was finally fired as coach because of complaints filed against him in his capacity as a teacher.
My DD's attend a 6A high school with the highest concentration of travel ball players enrolled in the region. The HS softball program only gets about 20-25 to tryout every year because of coaches reputation, favoritism, and how the girls are treated. My DD's tried it for two years. They will be playing with their travel ball teams during their last few HS season. They want to represent their HS, but it is not worth the aggravation and BS. The plus it that their are several big exposure opportunities in the spring that they will be able to play in that they would not have been able to attend if they were playing HS ball.
here in my part of NY, the only qualification that counts towards being a coach is that you are a teacher and therefore you get the job over anyone else. a good coach is always a good teacher but a good teacher (or former palyer) is not always a good coach. with 6 kids in sports at various times, I have witnessed some very good teacher/coaches but more so the clueless teacher/coaches. my oldest DDs' JV basketball coach won 4 games in 4 years so the AD decided to move her up to Varsity coach. in her 2 years as that, they have won 3 games. I just kept telling myself, softball starts in January.
