Playing as a pick up for Major Tournaments

[marriard]

We only guested when we were truly needed - either replacing a player who could not make it because of personal reasons or injury or to add needed depth to a team with a lean roster (Nationals are LONG and hard especially in the losers brackets)

We never accepted an addition role where we were going to be taking away from an already rostered player on a team. Never felt that would be fair to anyone. These sorts of opportunities have certainly been offered to us though.

 

[MNDad]

DD was asked to guest for a few big tournaments. They only promised a great experience and a couple starts in pool play. During one of the tourney’s coach decided to use her as their #3 instead of another girl who had been with the team all year. While you’d think there might be resentment this other girl was all class. At one point DD came in to relieve her and she gave DD a big hug and wished her luck. Needless to say resentment wasn’t an issue on that team. For those that follow college softball the other pitcher was Tessa Daniels from Florida State. When I read the stories about her being just happy to be there and spread her message I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Just a remarkable kid. Odds are a you won’t get a hug from a girl you replace, and then watch her go on to win a national championship, but you never know.

 

[Eric F]

I'm currently keeping my eyes and ears open for opportunities for my DD to play as a pick-up player on a PGF team, purely for the experience of it. I have discussed the situation with her HC, and assured him that we will be coming back to the team in the fall. He's fine with it.

 

[Easton33]

Agree with others, know the role your dd will play. That's a lot money and time. Is she needed or is she just backup to have fresh legs? She may be used exclusively in pool games and sit or be pinch runner for bracket. Situations like this need crystal clear clarity on both sides or else people will be unhappy.

 

[CPEM]

It all depends on your situation and what you are trying to get out of it. Last year, DD1's team was going to Colorado while DD2's team wasn't. DD2 asked to look for a team she could pick-up with because she didn't want to spend the whole week sitting around watching her sister play. We spoke with her HC and he found a team nearby that was going to Colorado and was in need of one more (their #3 pitcher wasn't going). When we first met with the coach, I told him what our expectations were, which were almost none. We were already making the investment of getting out to and staying in Colorado, so there wouldn't be any complaint from us about how much we spent just to watch her not play. DD2 just wanted to stay active, and she was fully aware that any playing time would be a plus. Much to our surprise, she played early, including pitching in a game and DP'ing for another game. She had a shaky outing her first time pitching for them, but they gave her another shot the next day and she did much better, winning her game. Then half the team came down with food poisoning, so she spent a day getting significantly more playing time, since she was one of the few who wasn't sick. The team played deep into Saturday night, and she pitched the last 4 or 5 innings of the team's last game after the #1 pitcher ran out of gas. For us, it was worth it.