Team Merger

[sylvesterx4]

Lmao.... That's why I came on here to ask. Wanted to know what I was in for.

 

[_MIA_]

Lmao.... That's why I came on here to ask. Wanted to know what I was in for.

The answer is the same as when my DW is asked if she likes me....it depends.

 

[El Oso]

Just looking for some experiences with joining two teams together.

How'd it go?
Is it worth the growing pains to skip out on looking for players?

What age group?

 

[Hawk_]

This is most likely going to go very poorly..... one team might be better, or they might not click at all. The teams that got all their best players taken from them isn't going to be good and all of those girls will most likely leave. Plus hurt feelings of them not being up the A team.
So have your popcorn ready.... drama is about to start.

 

[newnin]

There was a three way team merger at the start of last fall at the 16u level that I thought was going to be a disaster, but appear to have made it through the year. I am only watching from afar, so I guess the real test will be if they make it to the start of this upcoming fall season.

 

[CrazyNani]

If the parents all know each other already, they would then sort of have a heads up of what they're going to be
'softball cohabitating with'.
That would be a bonus,
otherwise here comes the social learning curve...aka: the fun adventure of team sports.

Both team has an A pitcher...hmmm
that will be tested on the new team if they actually have two...
Because usually who starts specific games dictates role of who is actually the A.
That doesn't always happen but just a probability it might

Maybe one is A+ and the other, just an A...

 

[Rolling Hard]

The coaching staff will combine as well. Each will be bring HC and 1 AC per

I highly doubt that four men could come together with their only goal is to help young ladies become better fastpitch players and people in general. 4 DDs on the team? Good luck

 

[radness]

Just for reference.... 2 B teams taking the best half of both to play a more competitive schedule.

And it is going to be a more competitive schedule so there may be a few more bumps in the road to encounter. That in itself will be a learning curve.

The decisions of who plays where when and who's pitching will probably get scrutinized if the team has adversity to conquer. It will be good for everyone to keep remembering that it is a more competitive schedule and be realistic about its goals and end season result.

 

[coachdennis]

There are a lot of things to consider....

We did this 2x at the request of our organizations president.
The first time it was an inner organization merger at 12u. where my team took on 5 players / parents and one coach from our other 12u team when the coach left for another organization.
The players and parents knew our parents and players as we played in several events together at 10U and 11U.
The merger gave us another strong pitcher that went well with the two we had. Her dad had concerns about her getting innings at first but the three ended up pretty balanced by year end with innings and starts. The roster was large at 14 but we did very well with even the weaker ladies seeing a lot of playing time as we did not play less than 6 games a weekend and we kept the core of the ladies through 18U.

The second time was with another organization at our second year 16U. Their organization folded / rebranded and the team was a first year 16U. Their coaches were tight with our board and origination hitting guru so we were asked before the season ended to merge for next year. It was not as fun...

We took on 6 and retained 8 from a roster of 12. We ended up with 3 top line catchers to go with 4 pitchers that were all committed.
The catchers were athletic enough to play any position and all 3 crushed the ball so they seen a ton of playing time.
Two of the four pitchers only pitched and the other two got to see some spot time in the outfield. One was a very strong lefty hitter as well.

We won a lot of games and honestly had one of the strongest teams we had ever fielded winning an open event, going 7-1 vs. college programs and finished high in several top tournaments but the parents did not really get along sitting in separate areas during events and practice, layovers or post game activities. Add in several of the players did not get along and it took a lot of the fun out of it especially when in the 4 and 5 day events.
In the merger we took on a lady that was not as strong as the rest with softball skills. She was very athletic and fast but struggled hitting and fielding at the A level. Her dad was an Ex NFL player and he was friends with the board president and played on his men's team so she could not be cut. Dad wanted her to be a starter and that was not going to happen. While she did start several pool play games she only seen pinch running and spot play during bracket play and that created issues with her dad.
It was nice having 2 other coaches to bounce off ideas and help with practices and game day activities but there were a couple occasions where we did not see eye to eye on line ups, pitching/batting changes and the ladies could tell there was some friction.
At the end of the season we only kept two for the 18U season, their coaches took their ladies and started their own 16U team.
A big hit to us was the loss of two long time families because of the parent issues and roster size that moved to a team closer to their area.

 

[_MIA_]

along sitting in separate areas during events and practice, layovers or post game activities.

Sounds good to me

Add in several of the players did not get along

this is more of a problem than the parent thing if it bleeds onto the field