wanting equal respect for high school team

[teddyballgame]

needing some help here gang. i have long played the game and coached ASA, USSSA, NSA but i am now taking over a high school team that has long been placed behind cheer-leading, theater, and home-ec. Not that i have any thing against those activities, i just don't think they should have more importance than spring softball. The program gets no respect in this predominately basketball school from the top down. The team is routinely ran out of the gym for cheer or dance team practice and from what i have find out has never been allowed to use the indoor batting cage. The school administration and the Athletic Direct (also the basketball coach) are mainly to blame for this as is the community for allowing it to continue. Regardless, this ideology must be changed before a successful program can be established. This easily explains the 10 years worth of losing seasons.
My question is not about legality, i realize some of this is title 9 stuff, my question is what can i do to bring respect, community pride, team pride, increase player interest in the team, etc.? Should i try to get the games announced by P.A., have senior night, "black out" game (play under the lights at night), special events, even dare i say increase parent involvement although they are clearly part of the problem in allowing this treatment to go on for this long? looking to find out what other schools do out there. thanks for any help and ideas you provide.

 

[lawdawg]

In the infamous words of Al Davis - "just win baby!" Seriously, I understand and empathize - I have been at schools where softball was merely an afterthought. Fortunately, we are now at school where girl's basketball and softball are the marquee draws - football, baseball, boys basketball and track are mediocre at best. All because we win. Winning begets winning. So do whatever it takes to develop some pride with the girls - usually winning does this also. Demand a lot, get a little and win with that.

 

[Greenmonsters]

As in anything, respect has to be earned and you have to overcome 10 years of history. Although your access to facilities and resources unfortunately may be limited, just remember there are numerous stories of MLBers from some of the Latin American countries who learned to play the game with balled up socks, bottle caps, and broomsticks. Run the best program you know how to run with the facilities you have available, coach your players to improve, teach the players (and the parents) to respect the game, and the respect for the overall program will start to come. (I sense you're rightly frustrated, but I also think you already knew what you have to do!)

Good luck - GM

PS - An ace P and lots of Ws would help, too!

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I do know (from teaching), that you have to start with day one. By day 2, the patients are running the asylum and you are just drug along.

Get the gym schedule, etc. set in writing. It should only take one time for you to say loudly "Hey, we have this until 7:15!" for the problem to get resolved. If you are actively running drills, etc. I don't think that anyone would try to run you out.

One thing that helps to draw girls in is other activities like bowling, etc. with lots of pizza. I think that getting the girls the best t-shirts that you can and requiring a practice uniform helps too.

 

[bobbyb]

Going to chime in ...because i think its soo important on building programs whether hs softball or any other sport.

First to your questions...
games announced by P.A....YES...with music...people like events...make it an event, not just a game.
have senior night, YES...make it important/special for the girls and the younger girls will see that and have something else to look forward to.
"black out" game (play under the lights at night), YES...as my dd says...its "kul" to play at night.
special events, YES...hold a day camp or two day camp for younger kids each year...have team help you.... both the young and older girls get alot out of this! ...have a special home game night where you have invited the local girls all-stars and give them recognition and a game dedication...little prize awarded to them by the high school girls etc.
increase parent involvement YES...find a great balanced parent that will handle the parent stuff for you...some are nuts! (NOT ME!

Most important that i wanted to chime in on. Take your local sports writer to lunch or supper....get to know him or her on a regular basis...do the same with a local radio news personalities, even sports tv personality if you have such a thing.

Ask them what they would do... before you tell them what you are going to do. If you just happen to use some of their suggestions...they will like that...and you will get more coverage on what your.. i mean...their ideas..i mean your ideas were.

Also let them know you are at THEIR SERVICE. Invite them to a practice or game or anything else you have goin on.
If they want to do something special..let them. For instant...after home games...they want to interview you each time. Don't waste their time. If they want to interview right after the game...DO THE INTERVIEW... THEN talk to the team. Keep them updated by email/calls etc.... on a "respect for what they do"..kind of way...of whats going on...and always get their thoughts. Have one of those great picture moms/dads send pics in after away games if they want it or even the home games too.

You can actually be suprised how much they (writers, radio) know about the local history, team sports, state sports etc...and how much of a resource they can be for you. They have some of the worst work times you can imagine...so when you respect them and their time and their knowledge... and help them with their time schedules... and listen to them...they will more than likely return the favor.

 

[teddyballgame]

although we don't have much money or access to facilities we do have two things in our favor, 1) i have a history of coaching successful travel teams so i am completely aware of how winning changes everything and will pour my heart and soul into the program. and 2) more importantly i have the best freshman pitching prospect the school has had in decades, and i have already had her pitch for my 18A team to show her and her parents what level she is currently at and where she needs to be a couple years from now and that i am willing to help her get to that level.

 

[teddyballgame]

thanks a lot for your reply bobbyb, i will definetely try to establish those things into the schedule.

 

[Bishop]

Hey Teddyballgame,

I wish I had some good advice for you. It sounds like some folks have had success with getting spectator draws to thier games. That's awesome.

The just win thing, yeah. That alone isn't the answer. 5 state championships in softball and 4 state championships in baseball in the last decade. The only people that show up to the games are the families, siblings and a few non-related fans. Football and basketball for both genders have a good turn out of spectators and haven't had a 500 season in the same time. Go figure.

A friend did point out that since the football and basketball games are later in the evening going to those games means dumping the parents and hanging out with friends even if it is at the school. Softball and baseball games are right after school, so attending a game there means giving up the home alone time unsupervised before the parents get home. It suddenly makes more sense why students don't hang out to watch the softball/baseball teams play and ride the activity buses home after the games.

 

[SoCalDad]

The story I am about to share has some disturbing parts. For those of you who are offended by those parts of this post do not blame me as I am only relaying events as they happened. I was in a similar position with DD#1 about 12 years ago. I live in a small town that lives and breathes by its football, baseball and basketball programs. Equality for High school girls teams was viewed as a necessary evil imposed by an overpowering federal government. Inequality in facilities is an understatement. The boys baseball team had a state of the art facility with covered dugouts and bleachers, grass infield and padded outfield fencing with a warning track and lights. The girls softball team played at the middle school on a dirt field with only a back stop and a set of bleachers so old they were useless. No foul line fencing let alone an outfield fence.

When I brought this disparity up to the AD I received back a reply that was shocking, he told me "the only balls girls need to play with are not on a field, if you get my meaning". He belonged to the old boys network and truly felt that spending money on girls sport was not only wrong but in his warped view of religion was blasphemy. In a separate conversation he also blurted out that "sports iswrong for girls, they need to be learning how to take care of a man and not play a sport". Of course, I always noticed that he had plenty of time to hangout and observe the cheer practices. I am not accusing him of anything but if facts come out later about him and the HS girls it will not be a shock.

Faced with the reality that going through the established channels was going to be a battle I looked for alternatives. About this time our local county board approved the development of an adult softball complex in our community. I knew the gentleman leading the project and he had always been a strong supporter of our local rec league. I negotiated with him and he agreed to allow the girls JV and Varsity teams to use 2 of the 4 fields for practice and to allow our girls to use the showcase field for home games. He also paid out of his own pocket for a portable installable fence so we had 225' park instead of the 300'+ adult fence. The uplift to the girls teams was incredible. We started winning and I saw a change in the community. Newspaper articles were written about our girls and the good spirit carried down to our rec league where enrollment soared.

Now for kicker. My wife took over as school principle a couple of years later. The AD promptly resigned, something about reporting to a woman that did not sit well with him. The best news is that it took her about 8 years of hard work but two years ago the HS opened a showcase park for the girls and also created a second practice field for the JV/Freshman teams. For the first time since the school opened in 1965 boys and girls were playing ball on the same campus. The moral of this story is change can happen but it is often up to us as parents to make it occur. We will encounter plenty of idiots along the way but by being smarter and holding ourselves to a higher moral standard we can overcome and succeed.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Kudos to you and Mrs. Principal. The only reason my DD plays home games on a HS field comparable to the boys BB field is that some parent had the ****s to file a Title IX lawsuit. My DD has them to thank for being able to play on a skinned IF and sit in a covered dugout.