Now I remember why I disliked rec ball

[ctfastpitch]

Stephanie,

That is the high road and definitely better than my advice to her which was, "Chin high rise inside, that is why they wear helmets with face masks". Thanks.

Yeah...you don't want to take the actions of a few idiot parents out on the kids. I really have no use for adults that would sit there and boo and jeer at a 14 year old girl, just because she is better than most of the other kids. Don't stoop to their level.

BTW...are these the same parents that will be "cheering" on your daughter when she is pitching for the tournament team, helping their kids win in the tournament?

 

[Rooster98]

Okay.....I am going to rant here a little...Not trying to start a fight just state an opinion......I have been a frequent visitor of this site and have gathered a wealth of knowledge. I have also enjoyed your posts Socaldad, so please take no offense.

There is a real reason there is a rec league and good reason there is a travel league in your area. Not every parent has the desire or commitment it takes to have their daughters involved in a travel team.....Not to mention the skill level. I coach travel softball, my daugther plays travel softball. I came from a recreation league background when she first started playing. The goal in our area with a recreation league is to teach the basic fundementals of softball. Girls get equal playing time and a girl that has never pitched before in her life will get the opportunity to do so. If she likes it she can get a pitching coach and improve and maybe move onto a level your DD is currently at.

But lets take a step back and look at this from a different perspective. While you may view this as your DD getting to hang out with some old softball friends. Take the time to think about the players on the other team and their parents. Some maybe playing for the first year. No one wants a travel DD pitcher to come into a Rec level game and get three strike outs in a row for three innrinings. What are the other girls learning???? Your showing off your DD skills in a rec level game. They see that...they see that as BS. They would also question the coach that allowed this to happen. Is he really just letting your daugheter hangout with her friends or is he feeding his ego to get a win....which by your orginal post he did so by bringing her back into the game to get the W....coaches like this frustrate me to no end.....at the Rec level....winning is great, but development is what your are hoping for.....

Most girls in a Rec league are using this for a summer activity, not a travel life...Its not a succeed or bench situation. It should be a learning enviorment.

So next time you post something on how your DD just wants to hang with her buddies think about what that does to another Rec level team.....This situation could of been easily avoided by having your daughter play another position she is not use to playing. I got the feeling you pitched her to show her off. If I was the other teams coach and I knew your DD played on a travel team that is what I would of have going through my mind.

Travel is a different world....expectations are so high....performance is expected....your DD has had this drilled into her head since she started...She does not know how to turn it off....This is the parents job to put this in perspective and you could of asked for her to be allowed to sit in the dugout with her friends....Not smash a Rec Level team with your travel level pitcher. And to bring her back in to get the win was wrong.

Like I said I not meaning to start a fight. I am just giving a different perspective. Me as a Rec level coach would of been fired up....Me as a Travel coach would of been fired up....especially if you got her hurt playing in Rec level game to get a team with no WINS a W.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Your DD has as much right to play rec as any of the other girls.

There are many reasons that girls decide to play rec, many of them are personal.

Probably, the mom that is complaining, would change her tune if your DD was pitching for her team.

 

[sluggers]

I don't have much sympathy on this. The parents on the other team were jerks...but, come on, what did you expect?

SoCal's DD is playing travel in southern California, the travel softball capital of the universe. His DD over the last six months has consistently pitched against some of the top players IN THE WORLD. She has been playing against kids that are going to be starting for UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, and Washington. And then, she pitches against a bunch of rec ball kids who haven't swung a bat in months?

Sorry, I don't get it. I don't see the point in this.

 

[SoCalDad]

A few points I want to make very clear. First, my DDs primary reason for rejoining rec ball and playing on the tournament team is winning. Not winning in the regular rec season by beating up on helpless rec players who can't swing a bat but winning by leading her tournament team to a state championship. The core of her rec league tournament team has been together for almost 6 years and made the best showing of any team in the history of our league at state last year. All but 2 starters are returning from last year and this year's team has a real chance of winning it all.

Second, her travel team is an A division team. As slugger's pointed out SoCal is the hotbed of softball and the competition level is intense. In my honest opinion SoCal A division travel teams are little more than glorified rec all-star teams. The real competition is at the Gold level. This is proven out by her travel teams win-loss record. When my DDs travel team plays against fellow A division teams they are competitive and win more than lose. When they play against Gold teams they get their teeth bashed in (30 - 1 final score against a gold team a few weeks back). In fact in the past 6 months her team has never beaten a Gold team. If my DD played with her current travel team over the next few months she would win some games and lose some but have no chance at a championship title this year. She wants to win a championship and her best chance this is year is with her rec team.

Finally,which would you choose? Playing on a team that doesn't have a real shot at a championship or playing for a team that does? I choose the latter and I bet the majority of people on this board would vote the same way as well. Winning feels good, losing doesn't.

 

[Rooster98]

One final comment then I am off to a real discussion on a continuation play or what have other teams done in this situation type of thread.

If what you say is true then your post is mis leading...you stated you joined a team that has not won a game prior to your DD arrivial. Then you state you "agreed" to have her play only two innings...meaning not a set rule. Then why in your last post would you say she has a chance to win a championship????? And why would you point out how your DD shut down the other team and as soon as the coach took her out the game was much closer??????? Then you DD came in to save the day at the displeasure of the other teams parents, who comments may have been rude and unjustifed....Which from not being there is your opinion. I can say with 100% confidence if I was coaching against your DD team I would have pleanty to say...A ball may be lower than Gold ball in Cali....but lets be serious...A ball is better than 3/4 of the rest of this fine country. Don't minimize and justify....just say you had your daugther come in and save the day at the expense of inexperienced players...then once someone called you out on it you said it was a potential championship team in her prior rec tournament team...Lower levels of play are for develpment of players or to give players who like playing a recreational activity...not a show case for "A" team pitchers in SoCal....Everyone on this board knows what comes out of that state and while everyone likes to win I would bet not the way you stated above...At least I know I would not....

" The core of her rec league tournament team has been together for almost 6 years and made the best showing of any team in the history of our league at state last year. All but 2 starters are returning from last year and this year's team has a real chance of winning it all.'

" She rejoined in order to play one last time with her friends on the tournament team before they age out to high school ball next year. Prior to the start of the rec season I made an agreement with the league and coaches that my DD would join the last place team in her division when she rejoined on 4/1 (just for the record I paid the full rec fees even though she would only play in about half the games). Yesterday was our first rec game since we had spring break last week. The team we joined is 0-6 and has lost all of their games by an average of 8 runs. My DD made a deal with her coach to limit her to 2 innings so the other pitchers on the team would continue to have inning opportunities. This is rec league and my DD did not want to take away more playing time from girls who had earned a chance to play by being with the team from the start. This is what happened:"

 

[sluggers]

SoCal, I may have misunderstood the situation. You guys in Southern California live on a different softball world than the rest of us.

Is the situation that your rec league puts together an all-star team to play for a state title? Your DD has to play on some team, any team, to play on the rec-league all-star team? So, then the real competition is during the all-star games. Given that this is California, I suspect that the all-star teams are pretty good.

 

[stephanie]

I feel bad for her teammates...

They are supposed to keep losing so that other teams don't get their feelings hurt....

 

[Renntiger]

SoCal, I may have misunderstood the situation. You guys in Southern California live on a different softball world than the rest of us.

Is the situation that your rec league puts together an all-star team to play for a state title? Your DD has to play on some team, any team, to play on the rec-league all-star team? So, then the real competition is during the all-star games. Given that this is California, I suspect that the all-star teams are pretty good.

Does this rule not apply to the rest of the country? As I understand it, here In California, anyone who wishes to play "B" or "C" ball in the summer must play in at least one rec game in the spring. SoCalDad's experience really isn't all that unique (except for the heckling part, which IS a bit unusual). I doubt that "showing off" ever entered his mind. The situation is very simple: his dd had to choose between having one more year of fun with her friends on a championship-quality "B" team or just another year on an average "A" team. She chose the former, and her dad honored her wishes despite his own reservations, for which they are both now paying a small price in having to suffer through some indignity due to the vindictiveness of another parent.

Once the summer starts however, all of this will be quickly forgotten. I hope the dd (and her dad) will have a great season.

 

[SoCalDad]

...Is the situation that your rec league puts together an all-star team to play for a state title?

Yes, players on a SoCal rec league all-star tournament team are bound by the SoCal ASA player eligibility rules documented in the yellow book. You can view a copy of the 2010 yellow book at http://www.socal-asa.com/jo/forms/YellowBook.pdf. To save you the trouble I will cover the two critical rules that she must abide by in order to be eligible. Rule B.3, Page 20: A team shall not have any player who participated on a travel type team after March 31. My DD has followed this rule. This past weekend her rec league was off and she attended her travel teams tournament. She went in street clothes and is officially off the roster. The second rule that is critical is Rule C.1, Page 20: 1. A player must play a minimum of 50 percent of the current season’s league games. She must play in the remainder of the games to be eligible for the rec all-star tournament team. I didn't make the rules, ASA did and I follow them to the letter.

Bottom line. My DD could have stayed with travel ball on a team that did not have a shot at a championship of any sort or she could play back in her rec league on a team that does have a shot at a state title. Being an intense competitor she choose the latter.