I know it is awful to say, but I am thrilled that her HS softball season is over!
DD is a sophomore and it is her 2nd year on Varsity. What a disappointment!
Something I wish HS coaches would think about: Please don’t pull up younger players if they’ll only get a rare opportunity to prove themself. Are your upperclassmen really that good that they’re teaching these younger players about the game and serving as mentors? Or are you creating a clique of entitled starters who know they are untouchable?
The girls are not developing and the pressure to be “perfect” during their rare appearances is high. Softball is a game of failure, the bench player doesn’t have the luxury of shaking a strike out or an error in the field off! Do you realize the damage that you do to a player’s self esteem?
I don’t want my child to be handed anything but I do want her to get a fair shot at proving herself. It would also be nice to know she is being corrected and supported on areas of weakness/during tough times.
Maybe I am expecting too much and/or wearing those rose colored glasses. Regardless, it is frustrating and heartbreaking to see your child’s love of the game and confidence in their abilities fade away.
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There is a lot going on here and I don't think the issue is that simple. Really the Varsity team should be the best players, and I think what you are arguing is that the players were not used well to maximize everyone's abilities. After watching different coaches I realized it more about the coaching and culture than anything else. Love or hate him Bill Belichick has figured this out because TB12 is held to the same standard as guy 53 and guy 53 is told his contribution is as important as TB12. I know people might say it isn't 100% accurate but for the most part Belichick treats it that way with arguably the greatest QB vs a guy who could be cut tomorrow.
The point is this, few HS teams have a TB12 player or that much variation. Even then a coach is going to play the best 3-5 kids all the time but the difference between player 8 and player 12 on a HS roster is never that big (range my vary) so making them all feel valued makes the team better. They need to believe they matter so when you need one of them to step up, she will.
What I see is the good coaches get this. Unfortunately most HS coaches run the "best 9" out all the time and Suzie who never played TB or is 0-for-her-last-95 AB or is a error waiting to happen is run out everyday regardless of performance. She has no incentive because she plays regardless of failure (and often becomes entitled) and the bench kids have no incentive because they won't play beside a crumb. I have never understood why you wouldn't see if you find a diamond in the rough or see if someone gets hot. I have the feeling some coaches think the kids are dumb and they don't actually know who is good and who is not...they would be wrong because IME the players have a better (more honest) grip on that than most coaches.
This applies to some TB teams too...