- Apr 1, 2010
- 1,673
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i let her go on that team because that was what she wanted. it was the best team in the area with the supposedly best head coach. but when your kid is treated unfairly by coaches that dont care about 12/13yo girls and dont give them a chance its tough to swallow.
we have a tournament tomorrow. i guess i'll see what happens.
It probably is the best team in the area, but it's definitely not the best team for your daughter. IMO she hasn't been treated unfairly; her commitment level simply doesn't match with what's required for that team. She needs a developmental team (B, C or rec), not a high-level A team that's geared toward Nationals.
If, when she had made the team, she had relegated everything else to second place so that she wouldn't miss practices or games and had begun to take individual lessons and practice on her own, she might be a valued and productive member of that team now. That's what was needed at that level.
There's nothing wrong with deciding that's not for her, but you cannot expect her to fit in on a team full of kids who live and breathe softball if a birthday party, soccer, etc. comes first.
My DD made it onto a 10U B team and I felt bad that she had a soccer commitment and missed a few practices for soccer games--even though she only made it to 3 of 8 soccer games because she put softball first when games conflicted, lol. She's out of soccer for good now. She hasn't signed up for summer tennis and has decided to give up Tae Kwon Do. Her decision. When she goes up to 12U in the fall, her sport will be softball and barring a school function or family tragedy, she won't miss a minute of any practices or games. She decided that she loves softball over everything else.
If a kid loves the sport, they don't mind the work, but if they don't, then it's cruel to put them in a situation where they need to work their rear end off to succeed. You now know a lot more about what she needs in a softball team and can guide her to a better spot next season.