Travel Ball vs. HS Sports vs. other club sports

[CoachJD]

You know why a coach never misses practice?
They schedule the practice.
They also schedule tournaments. If the coach has a sibling getting married I doubt they schedule that weekend.

This is undoubtedly correct for most coaches, but I'm smart. I purposefully schedule softball so it conflicts with all the stuff I don't want to do.

 

[RADcatcher]

Comparing high school and travel ball.

It could be said that high school sports are unreasonable making players participate 5 days a week and parts of the season on Saturdays also.

Reflecting the academic rigors and challenges to educate individuals who have different learning curves (to get good grades) that in itself can be overwhelming.

 

[RADcatcher]

Last school year I know a player who went to her MIT campus visit. Where they offered her a spot on the softball team. Because she missed one of the High School practices for the basketball team she was playing on. (for the MIT visit)The coach decided to bench her the basketball playoff game of the season.
(even though she didn't previously have any attendance issues)

The player now in her senior year is completely focusing on extensive High academic courses at her High School Academy. Including courses at the local Junior College. And will not be playing basketball. When the coach heard of this travesty that their basketball team would not have this player. They contacted the mom to find out why . The family simply said if you cannot tell that academics are an important goal and you're going to punish somebody for focusing on their academic goal. Playing for your basketball team, which is an added extra sport, will not be on the priority list this year.

 

[daywalkerdad]

Last school year I know a player who went to her MIT campus visit. Where they offered her a spot on the softball team. Because she missed one of the High School practices for the basketball team she was playing on. (for the MIT visit)The coach decided to bench her the basketball playoff game of the season.
(even though she didn't previously have any attendance issues)

The player now in her senior year is completely focusing on extensive High academic courses at her High School Academy. Including courses at the local Junior College. And will not be playing basketball. When the coach heard of this travesty that their basketball team would not have this player. They contacted the mom to find out why . The family simply said if you cannot tell that academics are an important goal and you're going to punish somebody for focusing on their academic goal. Playing for your basketball team, which is an added extra sport, will not be on the priority list this year.

Very sad, I seem to remember Bobby Bowden had a player (I think Rolle was his name) that missed a game to try and be a Rhodes scholar. He was overly supportive saying something’s are more important than football or something to that effect.

 

[angispeds]

Last school year I know a player who went to her MIT campus visit. Where they offered her a spot on the softball team. Because she missed one of the High School practices for the basketball team she was playing on. (for the MIT visit)The coach decided to bench her the basketball playoff game of the season.
(even though she didn't previously have any attendance issues)

The player now in her senior year is completely focusing on extensive High academic courses at her High School Academy. Including courses at the local Junior College. And will not be playing basketball. When the coach heard of this travesty that their basketball team would not have this player. They contacted the mom to find out why . The family simply said if you cannot tell that academics are an important goal and you're going to punish somebody for focusing on their academic goal. Playing for your basketball team, which is an added extra sport, will not be on the priority list this year.

This is priceless and that coach got what they deserved. Some high school coaches need to take a chill. Sometimes things are going to conflict. My dds 13yr soccer career ended last night. Watching her take those stinky cleats off for the last time really made me grateful for having coaches that supported her college softball goals and allowed her to continue to play soccer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CoachJD]

It could be said that high school sports are unreasonable making players participate 5 days a week and parts of the season on Saturdays also.

My counterpoint to that is that the season is like 10 weeks long, so the overall commitment is still not that great.

 

[RADcatcher]

My counterpoint to that is that the season is like 10 weeks long, so the overall commitment is still not that great.

My Counterpoint to that is 10 weeks is enough time to fail in class/grades.

 

[CoachJD]

My Counterpoint to that is 10 weeks is enough time to fail in class/grades.

Almost without exception, I have seen student grades improve, usually significantly, during sport seasons.

 

[RADcatcher]

Almost without exception, I have seen student grades improve, usually significantly, during sport seasons.

While you may have experienced what you commented say on your school roster. It does not reflect the students who don't play sports because they can't handle doing both. I like the incentive to have a GPA requirement to participate in sports that can help keep grades up. But it can also be a detriment to those who cant/ dont keep up

Definitely know travel ball players who won't play high school softball particularly because they want to focus on better grades.

 

[Towny9]

Ahh the old high school vs travel debate. Years ago our soccer team at our high school won their first regional title. The first round of state playoffs they were missing their three best players because they had a travel tournament that weekend. Thank god I never had to deal with stuff like that as a hs baseball coach. I would rather lose with kids who are committed to the hs team than win with kids who aren’t.