Need help!

[gdthompson]

I am a second year 14U travel coach that apparently needs help judging girls (and parents) commitment and character. In August I had an outstanding pitcher commit to the team and then renege after three weeks. her parents seemed nice and commited. A simple email three weeks later she was gone. Now, just last weekend, I had two girls tell me that they would be missing about half of the spring tournamnets due to their soccer tournaments. I was well aware that both girls played soccer and I had discussions with both girls and their parents at tryouts to ensure that they would put softball first in the spring. Both girls and parents understood and agreed. Now, In January, they are breaking their committment because their soccer team has decided to expand thier spring schedule.

I was basically lied to by the girls and their parents.

I obviously need some help in judging commitment and character.......any advice or pointers out there from other coaches would be greatly appreciated?

 

[medicpelle]

What was the reason behind the Pitcher leaving? What is your average turnover after fall/spring seasons?

 

[gdthompson]

She went to another team where her friend was playing.

 

[James Smith]

I could see this happening to DD in the opposite direction. Sure VB will be her number 1 priority, what SB is playing more tourneys now? Sorry VB coach, I am going to miss some matches now.

I do not know if that is a lack of commitment of the parents or players part and hopefully you will have time before Spring, which might mean replacing 1 or both of the Players. I do not know when your Spring season starts.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Was soccer for their school? If not, it is almost impossible to play 2 competitive sports at once, anyway. I guess they are figuring it out.

I would have a team meeting and get a recommitment from everyone and see where you stand.

 

[FP26]

I agree with Amy. If it is a school sport, they may not have much of a choice. Not sure I would blame them under those circumstances. Is it too late to alter your tournament schedule? If so, you may need to consider pick up players or maybe add a player or two to the roster. But I would check with your current team first, as Amy suggested.

NOTE: We knew up front that some of our players were involved in spring sports for their schools. We are avoiding spring tournaments because of this. Once the spring sports end, our tournament schedule will become very busy.

 

[CoachAl]

Good or bad, this kind of thing is a growing trend! What some coaches are doing, to safeguard their teams to a degree, is requiring a non-refundable deposit as soon as a player accepts an offer following tryouts. For teams that play in certain climates where the season is split between fall and spring, this goes a step further. Following the last fall tournament, another non refundable deposit is collected from all players/parents.

I kind of looked down on this practice at first but unfortunately we live in times where money is worth far more than someone's word. The coaches I know that have implemented this kind of policy with the deposits all say it works for the most part. At the very least it softens the financial blow of a departing player. Some parents dont seem to realize (or dont care) that when they bail on a team mid season their financial obligation is now placed squarely on the shoulders of the remaining players.

Hopefully this all works out and you end up with players and parents that actually want to be there!