Varsity Awards

[tim_s]

I am right there with you for all-conference awards. You're saying the team that got mercy ruled 90% of the season has a girl hitting over 0.700? Sure, but I've got my doubts.
We also give out varsity letters, and then pins for each additional year on varsity.
I am curious how you select your awards.
For 'most improved' do you normally look at that single season or improvement over their tenure playing?
And what are you looking at for the 'coaches award?' I feel like there could often be some crossover between that and outstanding senior.

agreed on the crossover.......outstanding senior is pretty much the girl that has contributed most to program that is a senior......that can be the "best" senior, and usually is.....but there is some subjectivity in there for intangibles

we are currently discussing "most improved" - we have 3 candidates that could come into play, i think we tend to look at last season vs this season, not overall improvement

coaches award is really up to us......sometimes it is the "Team MVP" if that person isn't a senior, sometimes it is the kid who just comes in and does everything you want them to do every day........generally speaking, we find that there's a lot of overlap between the two of those criteria, not surprisingly

 

[_MIA_]

Having any team awards that are subjective just opens you up to criticism and derision..I don't see the point. Give out letters (based upon some known, minimal, participation criteria) and be done with it. Most of the time everybody knows who the team MVP is and if people don't then you are going to have issues anyway..

 

[Carty]

I suggested “The Axe & Shield Award” considering we are Vikings. This would represent our top offensive and defensive performers, hence the axe and shield.

I like this one, and then one for most improved. I wouldn't separate one for pitchers, they are part of the defense.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

We have a team in our league with a former 20 year D2 coach who loves to run up the score against weak opponents to pad stats. He has a local D1 commit who's a good player but will never see the field in college. She hit almost .700 this spring with 5 HR and 48 RBI in 19 games. He tried to lobby for her to get POY because of the gaudy stats. Here's the thing. She stunk against the good teams. In 7 ABs against my daughter, she struck out 6 times, and she had 19 strike outs for the season. The girl who won the award is committed to Mizzou, and she had similar stats. The difference is she had more HR and fewer RBIs, but the biggest difference was she had one K.

The coaches of the other teams figured out this coach ran up the score, so she wound up receiving zero votes.

That's one of the reasons I like the fact the other coaches vote for your players. It does take some of the subjectivity out of the equation.

 

[_MIA_]

That's one of the reasons I like the fact the other coaches vote for your players. It does take some of the subjectivity out of the equation.

I have no issue with conference awards..if your parents complain you can just blame the other coaches..Back in the stone ages at our school the end of year banquet they gave out letters and a sheet with the season stats on it..that's it. That was the first time all year any of us knew what our stats were (obviously you would probably know how many HR you hit and me personally since I was really good at tracking negative stuff I knew how many errors I made.. ) There were also no conference awards but the local newspaper would list a first and second team for the area (with multiple conferences being represented).

 

[VikingSB]

I like this one, and then one for most improved. I wouldn't separate one for pitchers, they are part of the defense.

I am on the fence about that. There is a clear cut top offensive player, but then 2 that come to mind for defense. 1 a pitcher and the other OF. That's why I considered doing 1 for each.

We could also go with 2 A&S awards and then most improved since that one can be really flexible since it doesn't necessarily have be an everyday starter.

 

[RADcatcher]

I am on the fence about that. There is a clear cut top offensive player, but then 2 that come to mind for defense. 1 a pitcher and the other OF. That's why I considered doing 1 for each.

We could also go with 2 A&S awards and then most improved since that one can be really flexible since it doesn't necessarily have be an everyday starter.

Utilizing the same way you could single out an offensive award.. perhaps
As far as pitcher only award.
Would have to look at the pitching statistics getting out's themselves
AKA strikeouts & defensive plays..
Compared to looking at the defense and see how well the defense supported the pitcher. Simply need to discern if the pitcher carried the team or did the defense support the pitcher. Or equal defensive contributions could be handing out two Awards.

 

[VikingSB]

but they want kids named "because they played for 4 years", "they were hurt but came to every practice", "they are a senior, your kid has two more years"......and the teams that go 4-12 and honestly don't have a player that should be anything but honorable mention (each team can submit two without vote) all collude ahead of time, and kids that deserve it don't make it

So incredibly frustrating. I have no problem with a freshman winning awards or starting over a senior. Do I have my favorite players? Sure, we all do, but you can't let that get in the way of recognizing the talent and hardwork of those deserving. Especially when you're dealing with players from other teams.

 

[YoungBuck]

The best award (looking for the sarcasm font) I've seen lately was when Covid wiped out the high school softball season and yet Gatorade (and others) still named Player of the Year awards... with no games being played.

 

[VikingSB]

The best award (looking for the sarcasm font) I've seen lately was when Covid wiped out the high school softball season and yet Gatorade (and others) still named Player of the Year awards... with no games being played.

Well we all know they "should have won!" or was there a virtual zoom season I missed out on?!?
Let me know when you find that sarcasm font!