When do they get a break?

[CrazyNani]

So, my granddaughter has been playing year round, except for the Covid year when her team only got together to practice, the Spring of 2020. This past year, she played last Spring, Summer and then Fall for a higher level travel team. After that season ended, she went straight into high school basketball which was so good for her, conditioning, confidence, all the good things. Basket ball led straight into Spring Softball where she played on the JV team and had a really good year. She got called up to Varsity at the end of the season for the league championships and now the state sectionals. She does not play other than pinch running now and then, goes to practices every day after school, and that's all fine. But she and the other freshman that got called up were told, the only way they would be assured to stay on Varsity next Spring is to play summer travel ball. My GD had already decided that she wanted to take summer off from travel ball, "maybe" play again in Fall. She has a big 3 week vacation planned out of the country this summer also and wanted to do some Summer work with the basketball team. My question is, how does putting these demands on kids, what they need to be doing in Summer in order to secure their spot for next year, before this season is even done with, help these kids decompress mentally? With all the "talk" about their mental health every time we read about some tragedy, we have this real hypocrisy, putting even more demands on these kids. My GD is like, "Oh well then, I guess I'll just have to play JV again". Glad she has her head screwed on about her own needs because clearly, no adult, coach or otherwise is seriously looking out for their needs or wants. I just don't want to see another post by any coach about kids; mental health when they aren't going to make any attempt to address it with their own teams.

 

[_MIA_]

Not saying that the stresses of sports in 2022 are not an issue but unfortunately college age kids have been committing suicide for a long time. MIT made freshmen year P/F for that very reason to ease the stress of freshmen year in a high stress environment. Parents need to pay close attention to their babies when they leave the nest regardless of whether they play sports or not.

 

[softball dad 6]

DD played softball every season from her 10 year old year through her 18 year old year. This summer will be her first summer without everything planned around softball. She even played the summer after her freshman college season. She also played basketball in HS, filled in when she could for an AAU team, and played volleyball her freshman year. When the tb ride ended last year I asked her if she had any regrets. Her answer was no, she would do everything all over again. That is the answer I had hoped for. I would have hated for her to have regrets after all the time commitment. Your gdd should do what she wants to do. If she prefers to go on vacation and have fun great for her. If she does, will it effect her softball skills some; absolutely. Does it mean she cant play HS softball, not at all. The coach would love to see all his/her players working on their game out of season. Every coach wants the best players they can get.
Many sports have out of season workouts in HS. DD commonly went from one practice for an in season sport to another activity in another sport. She then had to do homework late at night. It was what she wanted to do and was willing to make the sacrifices to do it. It made her happy and she always did better in HS when she was busiest with sports. It helped her manage her time better as crazy as that sounds. She still has to do that now in college. More than once she has returned at midnight or later on Sunday night with an OChem or similar exam the next day. She says she is happy balancing it all out and she is maintaining her grades and hopes to go to veterinary school after undergrad.
Every girl is unique and should be allowed to find their own path with guidance from the family.

 

[_MIA_]

I also don’t think the pressure is necessarily from playing all year long but from the expectations put on some of these kids from a young age. Rankings, National teams at 12u, etc.

I ran into this myself 30+ years ago. I was somewhat of a phenom in LL and then could never live that down. My parents never put pressure on me but when you hear how good you are when you are 11,12 YO it gets in your head and the pressure to live up to that as you get older can become an issue for some kids. For me it ruined the fun of the game eventually..

 

[Sweet Lou]

Take the time off, let the chips fall where they may. For some sports and nothing but sports is great, for others taking time away may be just what she needs to avoid burn out.

 

[Dabears17]

For my DD having the Covid summer off just to relax, hang out with her cousins, and have fun was good for her.

Is this "suggestion" because the coach is involved with a travel organization, or a generic suggestion that playing this summer would highly likely improve her skills enough to make Varsity?

I say take the summer off, enjoy the trip, and work on hitting and/or conditioning some.

There is a place about 40 minutes from me which does small group throwing, hitting, and conditioning workouts. My DD went twice a week last June and July when softball didn't intrude. It got her in the best shape of her life, made her faster, and increased her vertical leap.

My DD plays HS volleyball in the fall because it is a sport she is pretty good at, but since she never played club volleyball, there is no pressure, it's 100pct fun. She's been a pretty good softball player since t-ball, so since 8u there has been pressure on her to always perform well so her team does well. That being said, she has taken two falls off 100pct from softball and 1 fall just picked up with a team for 3 tournaments. The breaks did wonders to renew the love of the game.

She didn't make Varsity volleyball as a junior because all but two summer volleyball workouts conflicted with softball, and one of the two volleyball workouts were canceled. It was because her serving was rusty during tryouts, not retaliatory. She also really likes the JV volleyball coach.

 

[radness]

My question is, how does putting these demands on kids, what they need to be doing in Summer in order to secure their spot for next year, before this season is even done with, help these kids decompress mentally?

? Wasn't your last post about your granddaughter what can she do on her hitting to earn a spot for Varsity next season? You were asking how could she play Varsity instead of stay on jv. So you recognize there's a different level of competition.
I do not see anything as a demand.
She played on JV without having to have the same requirement.

Varsity is an opportunity
that comes with expectations of standards the player's time they would be putting into the goal. Simply
The coach wants players to stay active on developing their skills. You could ask the coach if training by herself would be sufficient to meet that expectation.

Looks like she prefers basketball in your post. And wants to spend summer with basketball program.
Good for her she figured out what she prefers!

. Got to put in the work for a lot of things in life.

 

[radness]

another perspective adding to the goal of holding higher standards with the team

Sometimes if coaches don't produce winning seasons or at least develop the program they will not keep their job.
So if you want to talk about pressure it can start at the top. That can come from the principal and athletic director. Not saying something is right or wrong just pointing out perspective.

Especially in high school most of the time the coach is wedged between a rock and a hard place that is the parents or the school's administration. There could also be a reason they hired that particular coach and maybe it's because they like the way the coach facilitate softball.

 

[Orange Socks]

To answer your subject line, serious Softball players get a break after their last Summer tourney which is some type of Nationals. And then their next break is after their last fall tourney in November. TB players/families learn early to not schedule ANY vacations til August or late July. What is her goal? Only play on Varsity, which for most teams is less competitive than TB? Play in college? That will dictate what her summer looks like. Hard to imagine a team would take a player part time, unless she only plays a pick up player which is an option. Most likely lower level teams will post openings or talk to her team she played with in the fall. Lots of options.

The coach wants the kids to come with extra reps ready to go.

 

[Dabears17]

My DD quit softball after 1st year 12u. I was blessed another coach convinced her to play again (took him a month and a half). It broke my heart when she retired from pitching after 1st year 14u fall ball. I've considered every game played since the fall between 1st and 2nd year 12u a gift from God. The journey will likely end 52 to 54 weeks from today.

It's mostly been her journey since after 1st year 12u, and 98pct her journey since she retired from pitching.