I feel for all of you and your DDs and DSs and believe all of these stories are true.
My DD is a Junior in HS so I hear some horror stories from her travel teamates parents.
I will say that I have also seen situations at our HS where parents will use politics as an excuse as to why their DD doesn't play or isn't a starter.
When DD was in 7th grade I started to keep an eye on our HS softball team and noticed that the coach (20 years at the school) only used 1 pitcher. That's right just one all season. I knew the roster and saw that he had 3-4 capable pitchers but he only used one. I had a conversation with DD that summer and shared that if she wasn't clearly, beyond any doubt, the number 1 she needed to know that she would most likely not play.
She didn't take that well and began to train like a warrior with the goal of beating out a senior who sat for 3 years waiting for the last pitcher to graduate.
DD made every open gym and fall workout. She put in the time at the gym and worked her tail off to beat out that senior and the 3 other girls for that #1 spot. She made first team all conference as a freshman and made first team all state as a sophomore leading the state in strikeouts and whip and finished the season with a 22-3 record.
During last season I overheard the #2 pitchers mother complaining to a parent that its political as to why her kid doesn't pitch. It doesn't bother me but I often think that parents use that as an excuse and worst yet tell their kids that it's not their fault. All that does is strip the kid of the very gift of learning how to overcome adversity. Last year DD wanted to be on our travel orgs Gold team. She asked to tryout, I told her no. She wasn't happy, but in my opinion wasn't ready to contribute in a meaningful way to that team. I knew that, and saw her flaws and what she needed to do to be good enough to contribute. Back to work and this summer she was ready, tried out and made the team. We just finished the fall season where she contributed at a very high level after committing to her dream school (D1). A school that 2 years ago as an incoming freshman I would have said she had zero shot of making.
This past HS season her team was 17-0 heading into a game with their arch rivals. DD wanted a little time off of training that week as it was her 16th birthday.. she took those days off and pitched against that rival on her 16th birthday and failed.. her team lost 3-1. I saw it coming a week earlier but sometimes you have to let them fail so they can learn.
Please do not rob your child of the opportunity to "go through the desert".
My DD is a Junior in HS so I hear some horror stories from her travel teamates parents.
I will say that I have also seen situations at our HS where parents will use politics as an excuse as to why their DD doesn't play or isn't a starter.
When DD was in 7th grade I started to keep an eye on our HS softball team and noticed that the coach (20 years at the school) only used 1 pitcher. That's right just one all season. I knew the roster and saw that he had 3-4 capable pitchers but he only used one. I had a conversation with DD that summer and shared that if she wasn't clearly, beyond any doubt, the number 1 she needed to know that she would most likely not play.
She didn't take that well and began to train like a warrior with the goal of beating out a senior who sat for 3 years waiting for the last pitcher to graduate.
DD made every open gym and fall workout. She put in the time at the gym and worked her tail off to beat out that senior and the 3 other girls for that #1 spot. She made first team all conference as a freshman and made first team all state as a sophomore leading the state in strikeouts and whip and finished the season with a 22-3 record.
During last season I overheard the #2 pitchers mother complaining to a parent that its political as to why her kid doesn't pitch. It doesn't bother me but I often think that parents use that as an excuse and worst yet tell their kids that it's not their fault. All that does is strip the kid of the very gift of learning how to overcome adversity. Last year DD wanted to be on our travel orgs Gold team. She asked to tryout, I told her no. She wasn't happy, but in my opinion wasn't ready to contribute in a meaningful way to that team. I knew that, and saw her flaws and what she needed to do to be good enough to contribute. Back to work and this summer she was ready, tried out and made the team. We just finished the fall season where she contributed at a very high level after committing to her dream school (D1). A school that 2 years ago as an incoming freshman I would have said she had zero shot of making.
This past HS season her team was 17-0 heading into a game with their arch rivals. DD wanted a little time off of training that week as it was her 16th birthday.. she took those days off and pitched against that rival on her 16th birthday and failed.. her team lost 3-1. I saw it coming a week earlier but sometimes you have to let them fail so they can learn.
Please do not rob your child of the opportunity to "go through the desert".
