Relationships

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,132
113
Dallas, Texas
LAS, I had a feeling you were referring to Washington. You are incorrect.

Like most states, Washington has restrictions for football. However, for other sports, there is no similar restriction.

Other than the football coach, the coach can have contact with his/her players in the summer as long as (1) the school is not in normal session and (2) the program is not limited to students based on school affiliation.

Here is a link to the rules:

https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Eligibility/WIAARules.pdf

In the midwest, it is very common to have HS baseball coaches field a baseball team. In fact, they even have conference leagues made of the same teams that are in their HS conference.
 
LAS, I had a feeling you were referring to Washington. You are incorrect.

Like most states, Washington has restrictions for football. However, for other sports, there is no similar restriction.

Other than the football coach, the coach can have contact with his/her players in the summer as long as (1) the school is not in normal session and (2) the program is not limited to students based on school affiliation.

Here is a link to the rules:

https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Eligibility/WIAARules.pdf

In the midwest, it is very common to have HS baseball coaches field a baseball team. In fact, they even have conference leagues made of the same teams that are in their HS conference.

The softball teams up there adhere to the rule. I guess the fact that the TB teams are year-round could be why. Either way, it looks like the high school coaches could only coach the girls for about a month or two the way I am reading it. They play a lot in the Fall because that is the only time the weather allows it and it also looks that by the time the high school coaches could start coaching all the qualifiers would have already been played and some of the Nationals would have, too.
 
Last edited:
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
PA has some rules regarding high school coaches and travel teams, but they leave a lot of room for interpretation. Hence, there are numerous 18u and 16u teams that are coached by high school coaches and have numerous players from those high school teams playing for them throughout the summer travel ball season. Just like any other rule, I have seen some coaches that do this ethically (by my standards) and some that do not.

Eligibility Rules - PIAA
 

bmd

Jan 9, 2015
301
28
I failed to mention that this travel team that I am referring to where the high school coaches plays year round. Middle school(7-8) plays in the fall and high school(9-12) plays in the spring and the travel team plays during both seasons and during the summer. It really does not matter to me whether there is a rule against it or not. I never said that there was any type of rule. But I do worry about the coach being partial to "his" players. He is only human. And I worry that some of "his" players will feel that they are more entitled to playing time since they have been loyal and played for him all of these years....
 
Jul 24, 2013
19
1
Ray, Good job finding the WIAA reference. Unfortunately, the "W" in this case is for Wisconsin. In Washington, a high school coach may coach his/her own players from the end of the spring state tournaments to the start of the fall sports seasons. Once fall sports start, coaches may not coach high school-aged players outside of school sports.
 
Sep 28, 2015
109
0
I fear a similar situation for my dd even though she is in 7th grade at the moment. The high school that she will be attending has a "14u travel team" my dd doesn't play for that travel team. The coach of the 14u team is .....you guessed it.....the high school coach.



My son will be in the same situation for JV baseball next year. Frustrating but it is what it is - it's so biased even the kids on that TB team know the deal!!!
 
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
In Ohio, you are allowed less than 5 players from the same school on a TB team at any one time and the HS coach may coach a TB team. However, they are not allowed to interact with players from their school in a sport setting unless it is one-on-one outside of the HS season. So many of them coach a younger team from their area through first year 14U then fall back again. At least around my area.
 
Feb 25, 2016
82
0
Like many rules it's nearly unenforceable. When's the last time a coach's been brought in for that kind of violation? They need to make a stricter rule such as a MS/HS coach can't coach the same age of players off season, unless it's in a camp setting. That way HS coaches will have to go all the way down to coach pitch if they want to get some reps in.
 
Mar 19, 2009
946
93
Southern California
Quick background I was a local pitching coach that got the bug to get back into coaching. This is my 4 year back, with several students and former students coming through the program. It didn't feel right charging my students so I stopped charging once they came to the high school but continued with their lessons. This year I kept some sophomores on the Frosh team and junior on the JV team. The juniors were disgruntled because thy didn't make varsity and the sophomore on Frosh were disgruntled because they didn't make JV. This is an outline of a talk I had with the JV because of their complaining negative attitude to the harder workers on the team. Let's just say I called them all out. I wanted to give you 1 coaches perspective.


Why you didn’t make Varsity

A player’s perspective


1. Coach doesn’t like me… Be real, if I didn't like you it would be easier to cut you in the 1st place.


2. Coach plays favorites. I have favorites but I don’t favor them, I expect more of them. My favorites are the hard workers that are committed to both self and team improvements that don’t give up when they get knocked down or don’t get their way.


3. It’s political. I don’t even really know what that means.


4. He picks his friends daughters. All 8 coaches evaluate the players together and give input. I have the final say but not without help and assessment of all my coaches


5. Coach is not fair. I’m not fair this is competition, and competition is not fair.



Why you didn’t make Varsity

A Coaches perspective


1. Other players at this time are better than you. Bottom line if you were better than someone on Varsity, you’d most likely be on varsity because I want that player(s) that can help us compete at the highest level and win.


2. Position and playing time. 4 1st basemen


3. You have a weakness in 1 or more of these areas.


A. Throwing - Speed and or accuracy


B. Fielding- Speed and or accuracy


C. Speed – you think and move too slow


D. Mental toughness can you play with pressure?


E. Attitude -Attitude - Attitude .Are you a team 1st or me 1st player.


F. Handle disappointments and setbacks.


G. Hitting Flaws, Mechanics, Ability, work ethic.


4. Commitment to self-improvement over your 4yr of high school. You have the same weakness year after year.


5. Coachable being coachable is not as easy today as it used to be when I was a kid. Today, we make excuses and blame others. Make a honest assessment of yourself. Look around, if you were the coach and having a team that plays at the highest level possible is the goal, whom would you pick.


6. You’re killing my dream with peer pressure and meanness. Resist human nature Instead of working harder and being part of a softball family that challenges and inspires each other to be, act, and perform at their very best, you put down the hard workers and kill my dream of having the finest high school softball program.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,475
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top