Why this attitude??

[wild man]

For the past few years I was involved as a coach of Majors and Juniors Level LL.
This year I let someone else do it Because I cant handle Two teams any more.
I watched The team that is comprised of mostly Players I coached before This weekend.

Now I am glad that someone stepped in but I wonder why So many LL coaches coach a down play Non Competitive style of play.

You see our LL teams travel to play and for years the coaches I went up against were coaching pretty hard fast softball. We dont have travel teams locally But a lot of the LL teams we faced where made up of lots of Travel players.

Now all those Coaches are gone.

But this weekend as I watched my former players on the field I was astounded that they seemed to have went backwards in every catagory and skill.
I cant believe that girls that where Playing with all they had, are now playing at half speed.

Every one tells me "Its not travel ball so Lighten up". My reply to that is that our HS league is loaded with travel players so they need to get it NOW.

So just because you dont have the talent pool to draw from in LL does not mean that the coaches have to go about it like its a Sunday pick up game.

I may be way off base here but I hate the "Play it down" Attitude. I always go for it as a Coach No matter what I am coaching.

Guess I am just Old School.

 

[sluggers]

Great post...it got me thinking. It is about priorities.

A rec coach really should teach how to play the game, and then she/he should expect that the players play to the best of their ability.

A rec coach shouldn't be afraid to lose a game. Sometimes you put a kid out there and the kid fails, and perhaps loses a game for the team. You put the same kid out there a couple of days later, and she wins the game for the team. Rec coaching should be all about making better players, and sometimes making better players means putting kids in spots where they might fail.

Every one tells me "Its not travel ball so Lighten up". My reply to that is that our HS league is loaded with travel players so they need to get it NOW. So just because you don't have the talent pool to draw from in LL does not mean that the coaches have to go about it like its a Sunday pick up game.

Absolutely agree with you.

Development of the players comes before winning in rec ball. But, once a coach is comfortable that she/he is doing all that can be done to develop the players, then play to win.

 

[starsnuffer]

IMHO coaching the girls to play to their fullest ability is as important, if not more important, then teaching them how to hit and catch. Yeah, it's rec ball, and yeah, it's about having fun, but it's about having fun playing softball.

I'd wager that the kids aren't even having as much fun if they aren't playing as hard, they're probably just phoning it in.

I agree with Ray, it's about teaching the game and has little to do with winning, but there's no excuse for poor attitudes and no effort.

-W

 

[NWO Valkyrie Fastpitch]

My approach to any team at any level is win or lose all I expect is give a 100% effort. If you allow and accept mediocrity that's all you'll get from your players. A sound work ethic will follow them the rest of there lives. A coach has a chance to help build character and sadly there are some that pass.

 

[PAcoach]

Years ago when i coached at the rec level, i followed a principle my father had taught me. My job was to prepare the player for the next level and next coach. Wether it was getting a 9-10 year old ready for 12u or 12u for 14u etc. When i selected other fathers to help with the team, i chose the ones who thought the same as me. We didn't always win, but our players were ready when they moved to the next level. The coaches who got them didn't have to take weeks going over basic skills. to this day as a travel coach and High School coach, i still think the same way and hopefully some college coach doesn't have to wast etheir time retraining them.

 

[Dragoncoach]

Not only is it important to get better but if they are not fullly engaged they get bored, some will quit. Rec ball is suppossed to be fun, so you better be intense and keep them in the game.