Unprepared Coach

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May 6, 2015
2,397
113
if org director does not take you seriously (ie comes out and surrepticiiously watch a practice and or tournament) and take immediate action (ie force this guy to get or accept some help), I would run, do not walk, do not pass the dugout, do not get refund, run.

in my experience, this guy is not going to change, beyond some lip service to the head of the org (parents will probably not even get that). players at that age needs tons of goods reps in practice, and it is simply impossible to do that with one adult and 10-12 10 yos.

run
 
Aug 4, 2021
2
3
First, let me say that I know the HUGE time commitment involved with coaching. It's usually not a paid gig and it's a huge sacrifice. I've coached one rec season and I appreciate anyone that is willing to step up and help lead a team. I'm also going to admit up front that as a parent I'm at fault for my daughter being in this scenario by not asking enough questions and doing enough research. That's probably why I'm so frustrated.

Today was our first tournament as part of a 2nd year 10U select team that's part of a well established organization in our area. The coach has been running practices mostly by himself up to this point and despite repeated offers to help he has been uninterested or dismissive at best. I was concerned, but figured surely he had things worked out. He showed up for the tournament today and our select team had no other coaches. He was going to run the entire thing from 3rd base. That includes the dugout and the first base coach responsibilities. We were told to arrive 50 minutes early, but he did no hitting or fielding practice other than throws to first. He had no typical team equipment with him.

I'm now officially worried that my daughter is going to lose a year of development time at the team level and be woefully unprepared for the jump to 12U at tryouts next Summer. Yes, we will work on things at home, but it's different than practicing with a team and having coaches guide you along the way. I'm torn between the lesson of commitment to her team and what's best for her if she wants to continue to compete at the select level next season.

Looking for advice from many of you here that have much more experience than I do! What would you do in this scenario?
so my DD is a young 2009 played ball with the boys unti getting into softball @ 9 years old in 2019, and fell in love, started pitching lessons but was still very green, and had a a lot of catching up to do. She was able to get on with a local 10U travel team...unfortunately, they were kinda the same way as your team, not much as far as practice and developent goes, so most of her work was at home with me and with her private pitching/hitting coach. She was ready to rock come spring 2020...then Covid hit, and we had zero team practice time all spring. Luckily my DD has a love for the game and an amazing work ethic, so we spent that entire spring on the field 5 days a week...made it fun and worked fundamental, ground balls, fly balls, bunting. Long story short by the time we came back around, she had closed the developmental gap and then some. We actually moved her up to 12U early last fall, and found the right organization for her and haven't looked back. You can work on a lot of things at home, but the one thing you can't give her is that game experience. That's where they put it all together. I hope that helps!!
 
Nov 26, 2020
338
43
As you said parents are talking. I would prepare yourself for the possibility of one of the other nine quitting the team and you guys not being able to play. You may want to explore some options to keep your daughter playing.
 
Apr 11, 2016
133
28
DD's 8U team had the opposite problem. They had 5 dad coaches (or was it 6, I lost count). It was a pretty good 8U team, despite some conflicting coaching and tons of yelling at the kids by 5 dad coaches with 5 coaching methods. In their 2nd year in 8U, they had some pretty good drills and such. When they moved up to first year 10U, things started to fall apart. HC was often late, understandably, since he worked and could get stuck in traffic. Yet, the girls would throw balls to each other for 30-45 mins. Then HC showed up, and all he did was hit balls to the girls to catch for the next 45 mins. Then practice was over. Nothing new to teach. The girls didn't learn much. We left after that season.

The next team DD joined had great training and drills. They had other problems, such as the head of the organization didn't know what he was doing creating his own org, but the coaches were amazing and really knew how to run practices and games. DD learned a lot that year.

If your DD isn't learning much, then you have to move on. Find another team. Her HC cannot run a team solo. It requires tons of help from parents. Need at least 1 assistant coach.

Another recommendation is to go to tryouts. Tryouts give you great info about how a team is run. This past summer was an eye opener. DD went to some private and some open tryouts, and you can tell pretty quickly how organized a coach is or how a practice would be run.

DD's current team has a wonderful coach who understands college recruiting. Even though DD is still in 8th grade and only in 14U, and people say it is too early to think about college, her coach is teaching them the skills and mental preparation needed. Some of her teammates are even younger, but every girl on the team wants to play D1, at least for now. I never realize how much a coach can influence the love of the game. Her coach isn't just teaching them about softball, but the mentality and attitude for teamwork, school work, and life.
 
Oct 2, 2018
205
43
Georgia
I believe that softball would be better served without coaches at games and no travel ball until you can drive. Allow other girls to be base coaches and make line ups, no more than 2 games a day, and parents need a breathalyzer and or sobriety test to watch a game. The travel scene is way too serious to early. And for what? When can colleges recruit, 11th grade? There is no multi million dollar contracts awarded to best athletes like baseball. What are we doing? Why do we allow this behavior to continue
 

Cannonball

Ex "Expert"
Feb 25, 2009
4,854
113
I believe that softball would be better served without coaches at games and no travel ball until you can drive. Allow other girls to be base coaches and make line ups, no more than 2 games a day, and parents need a breathalyzer and or sobriety test to watch a game. The travel scene is way too serious to early. And for what? When can colleges recruit, 11th grade? There is no multi million dollar contracts awarded to best athletes like baseball. What are we doing? Why do we allow this behavior to continue
If polled, I would think that the majority on this site would state that the overall experience of HS and TB combined have been a positive experience for their dds. I know for mine it was. She didn't care about the opportunity to play professionally and was great with the idea of playing in college. Overall, my dd just loved to take the field and now is enjoying coaching this great sport.
 
May 20, 2015
1,095
113
when I coached 10u travel, I could not recruit enough parents to help......there were days when I had 4-5 (2-3 were assistants) parents helping, I would take time to teach them one station, how to run it, and most importantly what I was looking for the kids to learn from it......

i'd set the kids up, set up a rotation, get them going, let them loose on the stations.....I would spend a lot of my time rotating through, giving feedback, etc

it's all about reps at that age.....keeping them active, having fun, learning
 
Jul 27, 2021
276
43
I believe that softball would be better served without coaches at games and no travel ball until you can drive. Allow other girls to be base coaches and make line ups, no more than 2 games a day, and parents need a breathalyzer and or sobriety test to watch a game. The travel scene is way too serious to early. And for what? When can colleges recruit, 11th grade? There is no multi million dollar contracts awarded to best athletes like baseball. What are we doing? Why do we allow this behavior to continue
Colleges and Pros recruit as early as the rules allow and bend the rules as much as they can. Which is pretty early.
 

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