Parent turning Coach

[Eric F]

Skills and understanding the game will beat matching gear bags and batting helmets all day long.

 

[SCDad]

Money is always an issue. $100 a player for a season is unrealistic as the player gets older, in travel. Most tournaments charge $300 and then some per, That comes out to $30 per player, per tournament. I have supported my player for over a dozen years, and a good low-ball average is $10 per game cost. So you are way behind the eight-ball here. The best answer is to fund raise, as all ball player parent knows. Have a pork roast, do concessions at a theater, your problem right now is money!

It sounds as if you have the players.

 

[Bucketmom]

There are many ways to raise money.
Your local Dicks Sporting Good would be a great place to start to get training aids donated.

 

[Andrew72]

Ok I will try and cover most points hit...Ive had a busy past few days at work...Our local organization we as parents have been trying to fix for years now...I am on the board and it still falls on deaf ears...and honestly to me a summer league is set up for any and all kids to play...but the serious ones do crave more then what the rec can offer or is willing to offer...........as for the money side....the $100 per girl I know isnt enough to play a ton of tourneys plus cover gear.....this is why we will be doing fund raisers and we have had a few sponsors already interested ... as for practices I have a huge yard to work on anything we need as well as we have a cpl gyms we could rent fairly cheap to use the indoor balls and get some time in on the bad weather days.... I also talked with our schools Varsity coach and he is on board to get the ball rolling...he has offered to put this all together and another coach and myself will run things until the HS season is done and then the HC steps in and we all move forward together.....again its going to take time to build and alot of it but I feel things are going to come together well and the girls are going to be very happy when we tell time mission is a go lol.

 

[Coach Fastpitch]

Good luck!!!

It will be frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking. Just remember who is most important and why they are most important and it will work out eventually. You have a great start.

This is a great journey to be on, enjoy the smallest success along the way.

 

[CoachKevin]

Sounds like your on the right track. Getting the HS coach involved is huge. If things work out, you can probably use the HS fields for practice for free (and that saves a lot of $$$). With the money situation, I would determine how many Tournaments you will probably play in, add in some equipment (you may be able to use some of the HS gear??), registration fees, insurance (if needed), uniforms, and maybe $20 extra from each player to cover unexpected costs. It will probably end up in the $300-500 range, but don't let that stop you. You can set up a winter payment plan where the parents pay 50-100 per month. You have to make a cut-off date that everything needs to be paid. Good luck

 

[Bucketmom]

What gear do you need? Our organization has an abundance of gear. New gear. Maybe we could send you some.

I know it might not be much but maybe if enough interest on here you could set up a shopping cart online and members could buy and ship direct to you... Just a thought

 

[Andrew72]

I want to thank everyone for the input and support....I am brain storming like a mad man on how to raise the funds and keep the cost low for the girls and their parents......we are from a very small town of around 1700 but have a bigger town near by so fundraisers should do ok....as of right now we are still in the planning stage and other then the gear the girls own we have nothing. My daughter has her own catchers gear ,batting helmet and bat...and I know 2 others have helmets and bats as well....so we will be starting ground up...batting helmets,bats,balls and so on. Only reason we ever bought our own gear before was due to the gear provided was way to big on out girls and got sick of trying to ask the league for proper gear.

Roxjett...thank you for the offer...very kind of you...though I expect nothing from anyone you made my day alittle better =)

 

[cmustangsfp]

I agree with the pay as you go philosopy. For our girls that equals about $20-25 per tourney. We fundraised the money for the uniforms, Insurance was only about $100-150. Start out with T-shirts and let the parents purchase the pants.
I too have see leagues care more about the boys than the girls, even in big cities. The would separate out the "better" boys and have a "AA" league for them, but would not do the same for the girls. So you had the girls who wanted more put in with the forced-to-be-there girls, inexperienced girls, can-you-babysit-my girls and the rest. Very demoralizing for the ones that wanted more. We actually had one girl that could seriously crush the ball in a 12U rec ball league and her throws could hurt you too. i was so worried about her seriously injuring an inexperienced or inattentive girl, I even tried that angle with the president, to no avail.

Start your own team, make it fun, learn to coach (I like the USA Softball series of DVD's) and prepare to lose. Inform your parents that this is no longer rec and be prepared for parents to still have that rec ball mentality. Also inform them that the rules change for TB. Winning will come, learn the differences in a teams class, like A/B/C and try to enter tourneys with teams that are in your class. You need to look for C level to start with and then move up.

 

[Andrew72]

cmustangsfp ......Ive had chats with a few of the girls and told them dont get down if we lose and lose alot of games....its going to take time to gel and most of them deff understand that...I think its the parents Im more worried about lol. But again above all making it fun and letting these girls (and myself) learn will only make them stronger in the long run......Im excited to get things rolling for sure.