Please tell me it will get better

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Sep 29, 2014
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I have actually been in your shoes, yep it was 10U seems top be the worst, except I had seen this show before with my son when I coached LL and had seen one season of softball and just simply refused to let the draft proceed past round one without having at least one kid that could pitch the ball.

Our league president was one of the opposing coaches and he had 5 girls before it started (all top 10, we had 4 teams), I also put my foot down and told him he was not picking until the 6th round or I was walking think we might have agreed to hold off until round 4, but I still ended up getting the shaft at the end he said he would go ahead and take the girl on the board that couldn't show up for tryouts and be short a player....yeah you guessed it she was top 3 player...my solution in the end was to get on the board next season and rewrite the bylaws and draft rules.

I'm just not sure what to do in your situation for now, hopefully one of these girls gets the hang of it and can at least start getting it close to the plate. Our league didn't really do any special rules at 10U that was our line when it was just time to play ball. No need to throw in the towel on the season just keep doing best you can.
 
Apr 30, 2018
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League president is the team with the two best pitchers. He likes to brag about how many strikeouts his daughter and the other ace pitcher get. I've lost some respect for him. Bragging about striking out cannon fodder isn't saying much. His DD has always been in travel ball, but the other pitcher is from a C borderline B level local travel team that didn't make this spring after the team had to split with half the girls moving up to 12u. This girl is big, throws over 40 mph (haven't had a chance to get a radar gun on her yet), and can locate her pitches.

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Feb 18, 2014
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Your expectations are too high. They are young, they haven't been taught as much as they need and don't have the experience yet. Find victories where you can in the small stuff. Constantly reinforce that you are learning still and find games to help improve their skills and keep practice fun. Plan a big after season party, we did a BBQ and a day at the water park. A lot of these girls won't continue past rec, so make what they do get fun.
 
Jan 8, 2019
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League president is the team with the two best pitchers. He likes to brag about how many strikeouts his daughter and the other ace pitcher get. I've lost some respect for him. Bragging about striking out cannon fodder isn't saying much. His DD has always been in travel ball, but the other pitcher is from a C borderline B level local travel team that didn't make this spring after the team had to split with half the girls moving up to 12u. This girl is big, throws over 40 mph (haven't had a chance to get a radar gun on her yet), and can locate her pitches.

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Just some? I don't think he or anyone on your board that allows this to happen deserves any respect. Sounds like someone who didn't win enough little league games as a kid and is now trying to make it up. Probably plays every loophole in the rules he can, and teaches his kids to leave bases early until the umpire starts catching on.
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
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League president is the team with the two best pitchers. He likes to brag about how many strikeouts his daughter and the other ace pitcher get. I've lost some respect for him. Bragging about striking out cannon fodder isn't saying much. His DD has always been in travel ball, but the other pitcher is from a C borderline B level local travel team that didn't make this spring after the team had to split with half the girls moving up to 12u. This girl is big, throws over 40 mph (haven't had a chance to get a radar gun on her yet), and can locate her pitches.

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complete loser. i would publically call him out the next time he starts bragging, tellhim that is great, but as a league president, his priorities should be to make the teams as even as possible, and to grow the game.

or maybe just a sideways look and a comments along the lines of "what an accomplishment for the coach, wonder when (pick name of any hihgly regarded D-1 softball program) is gonna offer these girls full rides and ask you to replace (HC of D1 programs name here)"
 
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Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Yeah it was tough...two years later though when I did it we ended up being pretty good friends and I think being on the board with him and then coaching All Stars the following year the league truned the corner, I think he just had been with the league for 4 years and just had always done it that way...plus it was a military town and people were constantly rotating in so we really needed to make it more fair for the new people that would show up every year.
 
May 1, 2018
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First: It will get better.
2: 10u Rec should always be Mod Coach Pitch.
C: Accept that you are going to lose and teach what needs to be taught. Forget about the score, every game is a scrimmage. Teach what needs to be learn to get better today, then tomorrow and the next day.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
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Lots of great advice here ... and people with their head screwed on right!

Been there, done this, got the t-shirts ... as a parent, as a coach, and as the guy who took over as President trying to change it all.

First, THANK YOU for stepping up and coaching!

Second, 10u REC ... get your priorities straight! Not saying that pejoratively (OK, maybe) ... but the first thing you need to determine is what you want to get out of this. Do you want to coach this team just to get through the season? Is this something you want to keep doing? Do you want to keep coaching this team, or do you want to coach in a different scenario? There is no right answer, just determine what it is that you want. Then you can figure out how to get there.

Third, figure out how to get there! Set goals, for you, for the team, for each player. As others have said here, set micro-goals (“in this game I want ...”) and macro-goals (“by the end of the year I want to ...). Long term and short term. Involve the players in deciding their goals. Put this all in writing ... in a binder, on a white board, anywhere everybody can see it and see progress being made as you track it.

Fourth, you are looking at it wrong. You aren’t playing games. You are practicing in games. Keep practicing in games! :)
 
Apr 30, 2018
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When I first posted this I was mainly looking at it as failing as a parent to try and make a good decision on selecting a team for my DD.

This thread has morphed more into a coaching thread which is great. I do like coaching, but I realize I'm very green. I've learned tons on here and I'm pretty comfortable teaching the basic technical fundamentals at the 10u level. Still have some ways to go regarding pitching though. Learning all the rules is going to take some time and mentoring. DD has been to some good camps and some bad ones so we have had some exposure to what a great practice should look like and I try to emulate that. I write a practice plan before each practice and stick to it. I keep practices running on time. I've splurged a bit on equipment so I'm able to provide a decent practice setup.

There is so much more politics I'm realizing now. Our league is set up so that the coach of the winning team of the season gets to be the head coach of the All Star team. If there are enough girls that qualify, a 2nd team will form around the 2nd place team coach. The winning coach then gets to pick the 12 girls he wants on the all star team. Then the 2nd place coach gets to pick his 12. So if I want my DD to have a chance of being on the 1st All Star team I have to play nice and keep my mouth shut as it is pretty clear his team is going to win and he will be the coach for the 1st All Star team. The other option would be to skip All Stars and try to pick up mid season with a travel ball team, but that could be slim pickings finding a team that has a slot open.

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