The flute player
- Thread starter CloudofDust
- Start date
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Our rec league has suffered from this. A lot. So many travel teams forming and rec is left with so little. A thriving program now struggles to get 3 or 4 teams with 9-10 players per team.
radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
- 7,270
- 113
No i have young kids , older kids and families with siblings on my schedule year round.
33 years teaching softball, coaching in there and training teams as well, life experience, brings these topics.
Have to discuss this with young people every year.
As you notice i posted,
No matter the decision to this topic it will. Probably effect people in different ways.
Because..simply...people have different views on how to handle things and react differently.
For instance in some cases
This issue is influenced by parents talking about it in front of their kids. Other times its kids bringing it up.
Yes, when a kid goes to every practice. And another kid doesnt. The kids know!
Plus ( come on now) we know people raise kids differently.
How's her flute? She give that up?
This conversation is just begging for this as walk-up music (skip ahead to 2:27)
at 8U you may be correct. I know that at 9U Kids see it. They may not know what it is called, but they see it. My DD plays another sport. There is no need to go into details, but all of the kids on the team have mentioned it to each other and their parents. The favorite has even gone so far as to mention that she can do what she wants and not get yelled at or taken out.
as RAD mentions it is complicated because this girls is also a dominant defensive player. Is that why? Or are other circumstances?
- May 29, 2015
- 3,815
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Lots of conversation and I am not keeping up ... but this was mentioned somewhere before, not sure if it was the OP or somebody else.
There were very few things you could do to lose your spot as a coach in my program. Unfortunately, just as coaches lamented not being able to discipline kids in REC ball, I lamented not being able to discipline coaches. There just were not enough bodies, let alone good ones.
HOWEVER ... planning to take a team or even a significant number of REC players so you could satiate your ego as a "travel/competitive" coach (and I use that term VERY loosely) next year was one that would get your privilege as a coach yanked. Sorry ... my COMMUNITY REC league is not a minor league for you. Of those 10-12 girls you plan on taking because they are "your team" ... MAYBE -- MAYBE -- two of them had any business in travel/competitive ball. (Odds are, neither of those two were your daughter.) At that point, you aren't here for a rec program, you are here to wreck the community program.
We were always clamoring for teams, but every year I turned away teams because the coach who contacted me would always start with "I already have a team (Strike 1!); we need somewhere to play for a year or two (Strike 2!) because we are going to go play competitive (Chainsaw, let 'er rip!)."
If this is your plan, your hope, your desire ... DO NOT stick your nose into a rec program. Rec programs are not minor leagues, target practice, or cannon fodder. They are COMMUNITY programs that are there for the BENEFIT OF THE KIDS.
That said, I like the two-tiered organizations who support rec and something more competitive (without having to be full-fledged travel ball). When I finally threw in the towel, we were on the verge of creating a two-tiered system which would allow a rec team for all players, and a "travel/select" program for more advanced players (and coaches).
- Feb 20, 2019
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It's a situation the league has created by allowing league-sponsored select teams to access the league’s player database and solicit the rec players. The message being sent is that rec ball is for beginning players to play for a couple of seasons and then move to select ball if they enjoy softball and have any talent. Furthermore, select players are not allowed to play rec ball once they have joined a select team (even if they find select ball is not for them).
What’s left is a rec league fully devoid of any decent pitchers, catchers or hitters. I’ve been an advocate of allowing select players (not whole select teams) to continue playing rec ball to gain experience at different positions and improve the level of rec play. But my opinion has been in the minority.
And BTW, the previous coach took 5-6 players from the previous team and solicited players from other rec teams to join. Also, my intention is not to take my entire team to form a select team, but to take just a few and follow the above plan as the league has designed it. I’m not in favor of the system, but I’ve not been successful in implementing changes to it either. I'm not moving to select by choice, but by necessity. If I don't provide an outlet for my best players to play more competitively, they will be swooned away by someone else.
- Feb 20, 2019
- 109
- 28
Thank you everyone for your feedback, sincerely. There are lots of opinions here, some good, some not so much. I’d love to come back and post how it went with the flute player, but I don’t get the sense anyone really cares all that much.
We all have different ways to manage a team, not every method works for every coach and not every method works for every player. I’ve been associated with rec teams who focused only on fun. I’ve watched those teams lose every game by 20+ runs in consecutive seasons. No one had fun. In fact, only 4 of 26 players kept playing the sport after those two seasons.
For me, rec ball is about teaching/learning the sport and developing each and every player on the team. As a coach, if you can achieve that, winning (and fun) will follow. I tend to spend the most time in practices with the worst players. If they don’t come to practice, they can’t get better. If they don’t get better, they bring the team down. This is a team sport and your team is only as strong as the weakest link.
The source of my frustration with this parent is that I went out of my way to ensure I had the correct contact info before the start of the season, just like I did with every other parent. This parent confirmed I had the correct info, yet waits four weeks to tell me he's not receiving emails. He also confirmed he had been receiving text messages, where 90% of our communication takes place. My conclusion is that this parent expects special treatment.
Also, for those that think rec ball is just about getting out of the house to get some exercise, they should take their kid to the playground or make them ride their bike.
We all have different ways to manage a team, not every method works for every coach and not every method works for every player. I’ve been associated with rec teams who focused only on fun. I’ve watched those teams lose every game by 20+ runs in consecutive seasons. No one had fun. In fact, only 4 of 26 players kept playing the sport after those two seasons.
For me, rec ball is about teaching/learning the sport and developing each and every player on the team. As a coach, if you can achieve that, winning (and fun) will follow. I tend to spend the most time in practices with the worst players. If they don’t come to practice, they can’t get better. If they don’t get better, they bring the team down. This is a team sport and your team is only as strong as the weakest link.
The source of my frustration with this parent is that I went out of my way to ensure I had the correct contact info before the start of the season, just like I did with every other parent. This parent confirmed I had the correct info, yet waits four weeks to tell me he's not receiving emails. He also confirmed he had been receiving text messages, where 90% of our communication takes place. My conclusion is that this parent expects special treatment.
Also, for those that think rec ball is just about getting out of the house to get some exercise, they should take their kid to the playground or make them ride their bike.
