Thoughts please not judgements

[Anthony Vertuccio]

I love the coach should be suspended post!!! lol. Thanks for all the input. From what I now rules and contracts were signed about missing practices and games but nothing covering Im leaving in the middle of the game and so long. Are some of you saying its ok just to walk out when you want because its a special year? What about the players that are always there? Should they all feel free to just do whatever they want? Come and go as they please? I mean, even coaches have other commitments ( and please dont say coaches are being paid). I love the debate...keep it up and keep it civil. Peace

 

[STRIKE3]

It is a good discussion and my point (not that you are referring to me) is that I wonder what the situation is off the softball field. Is work the difference between food on the table or going hungry. Again, I don't know in this situation which is why I asked.

I hate to even mention this but I have seen a HS kid (sweetest kid ever) that couldn't play every game or had to leave early at times because she had a little one she cared for on her own. Talk about a tough situation and softball takes a back seat but she did what she could and one hell of a player.

On the flip side, take a player that seems to want to play but has other priorities that are not that important (like putting food on the table). Decides she needs to leave because she has a job but that money is only discretionary. In that case, she probably shouldn't be playing. Softball comes first IMHO.

Two different situations but based on the info here, I don't know the situation we are talking about.

S3

 

[Cannonball]

I took over a couple of programs that were used to losing. On the baseball team, the "All conference" catcher had his own agenda. I cut him when he came to practice without any practice gear, clothing, ... He thought I couldn't do that. He was wrong. We won a whole lot of games without him and my freshman catcher turned into a 4 time 1st team all conference catcher. On the basketball team, I had a similar situation where the starting point guard would miss all of the time. I sent her home and told her to turn in her uniform etc. Both programs turned into area powers. I don't need to know too many facts here. If players are allowed to come and go as they please, are disloyal to the team and teammates, and are not committed, then they go. Take what you have and build that team. Otherwise, you'll have this every year.

 

[sluggers]

HS softball exists for the benefit of the kids...not for the parents, the umpires or the coaches. If a coach isn't running a HS team for the kids, then the coach has no business on the field.

The question is what is best for the child. Again, you haven't provided enough information about the child's circumstances and the team's circumstances to make a decision.

Basically, running HS ball as rec ball isn't a bad idea this year. A lot of kids desperately need softball this year.

Are some of you saying its ok just to walk out when you want because its a special year?

Saying this is "special year" is an understatement. This year is beyond anything anyone ever imagined. (I was raised to expect another a nuclear war and another great depression, not a worldwide pandemic.)

New York state, like many other states, is playing an abbreviated schedule crammed to the gills with games. Some teams are playing 4 or 5 days a week. It is impossible for kids not to have conflicts.

Did the coach know about the job? (I bet the coach knew s/he said something like, "We can work with you.")

What has he done in the past about it? How important is the job to the child and her family?

You could have a situation where the coach, the player and her employer thought they could work it out and something came up.

What about the players that are always there? Should they all feel free to just do whatever they want? Come and go as they please?

You asked about a kid leaving for a job...and, we don't know how important the job is to the child or the family. Now you are asking about a different situation.

But, how is losing one player going to affect the team? Will the team have to forfeit games because they don't have enough players? Suppose some of the kids end up quarantined for 2 weeks...do you want to risk ending the season?

I mean, even coaches have other commitments ( and please dont say coaches are being paid).

Coaches are adults. HS players are children. Coaches are supposed to run the team for the children.

 

[canyonjoe]

I'm in the need to find out more camp too. It's pretty easy to go and play ball when you have a good stable home versus the kid who needs to work to survive. I was an AC on a travel team a few years ago and some of the kids came from some tough situations. The coach was amazing at working with them to give them something good to look forward to.

 

[Bonesaw]

I agree with efastball and think the coach, at this point in the season, should have a better handle on his players needs.

Having the players sign some BS statements of understanding at the beginning of the season does not absolve coach from staying in touch/on top of those things.

 

[YOCOACH]

My HS team, as small as it was (11 players), had a very similar situation. We even finished games with 8 players on three separate occasions. The difference is, we knew ahead of time which were leaving for work and when. It happens in schools such as mine that there aren't dedicated SB players and no TBers on the team. Plus the 4 team members that have to work are doing so to pay for gas, car insurance and spending money since their families aren't well off.

There are 2 things that stand out to me from the OP. 1, The player ran home when not needing to because she had to go to work. To me, that sounds as if she was trying to get intentionally out and the inning over with asap; maybe the entire game as well. Without being there to see her demeaner over the situation, I can't in good conscience pass judgment on that but it bugs me nonetheless since it almost feels like she was trying to throw the game. 2. Even though the game ran way way long as @Anthony Vertuccio put it, the player left during the 6th inning leaving her teammates high and dry. I still haven't figured out if her sister was playing in the game and she had to leave as well or not. Either way, it just sounds as if, through a confluence of circumstances, it turned into a bad situation all around.

If it were me in the HC's shoes, I would suspend her for 1 game. I would also let her know that she should expect games to last as long as 3 hours sometimes which means I would expect to have advanced notice of her work schedule, that it wasn't acceptable behavior to leave in the middle of a game without prior notice and if it happens again, she'd be off the team.

 

[Cannonball]

HS softball exists for the benefit of the kids...not for the parents, the umpires or the coaches. If a coach isn't running a HS team for the kids, then the coach has no business on the field.

The question is what is best for the child. Again, you haven't provided enough information about the child's circumstances and the team's circumstances to make a decision.

Basically, running HS ball as rec ball isn't a bad idea this year. A lot of kids desperately need softball this year.



Saying this is "special year" is an understatement. This year is beyond anything anyone ever imagined. (I was raised to expect another a nuclear war and another great depression, not a worldwide pandemic.)

New York state, like many other states, is playing an abbreviated schedule crammed to the gills with games. Some teams are playing 4 or 5 days a week. It is impossible for kids not to have conflicts.

Did the coach know about the job? (I bet the coach knew s/he said something like, "We can work with you.")

What has he done in the past about it? How important is the job to the child and her family?

You could have a situation where the coach, the player and her employer thought they could work it out and something came up.



You asked about a kid leaving for a job...and, we don't know how important the job is to the child or the family. Now you are asking about a different situation.

But, how is losing one player going to affect the team? Will the team have to forfeit games because they don't have enough players? Suppose some of the kids end up quarantined for 2 weeks...do you want to risk ending the season?



Coaches are adults. HS players are children. Coaches are supposed to run the team for the children.

It depends upon the high school. At some high schools, the AD and ... don't care if a team wins or loses. However, at a lot of schools including the one I coach at, if you start losing, you will be replaced. That is across the board. As I have stated here before, when I was hired into this school district, I was told that I had a year to turn things around or I was gone. Both coaching expectations and player expectations are high. In turn, the property values in the community skyrocket as the sports team changed direction and a new high school opened. Enrollment jumped as well.

 

[radness]

Team Standards apply to everyone
or no-one.

Now the task of deciding wether you want standards or not.

 

[ang2bmd]

The way you described her manner of leaving I'm envisioning a rough kid in a rough situation not a snotty brat that doesn't care. Maybe I'm reading that wrong. There should be consequences for not communicating at the very least but if the job is about survival I'd leave it at that and insist she communicate.

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