team jumping, need more time to shop around?

[NumeroUno]

I am amazed on how many teams just after fall are having problems with returning players and how many players are looking for greener grass. I think the problem is ASA Nationals end and one week later tryouts start. Instead of having a few weeks off and then getting to shop around you have to make a quick decision. Then you hear the coaches promises and all the bs lines and you jump on a team because you don't want to be left out in the cold. Do you think I am right about this? How can you be on a team for 3 months in fall and start looking for another team in December? Should it be mandatory that these young players take more time off? Pro athletes get more time off than a 10U travel ball girls.

[DDG]

I agree. DD is doing exactly that, changing teams at the winter break – which is more time off than she had in the summer.

Her parents screwed up and rushed into arranging try outs too soon as “everybody” was holding tryouts in August.

Next year, if she is looking for a new team, we will wait. We saw plenty of “looking for players” announcements in September and early October. And, if the team she ends up on in Spring is still her team next fall (I hope it will be), we will make sure she has at least the remainder of August off, if not longer.

[GIMNEPIWO]

Spazdad sez:
"So many things I would like to add but I am a kinder, gentler Spaz for '09"

Has anyone started a pool yet on how long this will last?

[blackwidow]

More teams begin their try outs right after Nationals, but if parents would not buy into it and not attend them they would not start so early.
There is plenty of time to get on a good team. I always see teams posting for players and even teams that are not posting will take a look at players mid-season if that player may improve their roster.
Sometimes the BEST time to get on a good team is after try outs are over and you can get the coaches full attention instead of fighting for spots against 30 other kids.

[bucndranch]

The majority of team jumpers are the ones coming right out of rec. In the younger divisions we see much more first time travel ball payers. Your seasoned travel ball players do not move around as much. There are always those parents that after winter that think the grass is greener! Win or lose, if your daughter is improving, getting good caoching and having a great time, the parents need to put their ego's asside and ride it out for their kid! If you are not getting any of these with your team, then by all means its time to move on!

[Blue_F150]

This topic opens up many questions about this sport and what direction it is going in.
I happen to agree that there is not enough down time between seasons (at loss for a better word), Summer, Fall, and for the younger teams Spring. Down time not as much for "shopping around" for a new team, but analizing what you have with your existing team, and where it can go for the player.

This jumping around from team "du jour", to coach "du jour", program "du Jour", and around again does nothing for the player, or the sport as a whole. You don't have to tell me that there is no loyalty in softball.
But there should be good reasons to leave a team. I can think of a few....

Bad Coach
Cost
Schedule
Team Chemistry
Playing Time
And the big one.....Recruiting Program & Opportunities (you better be the next Jenny Finch to use this one)

But just because, or because someone else has decided to leave, does not cut it. The shame of it all is that many times good coaches, with winning records, lose teams to "just because".

We all say that this sport can provide "life lessons" for young athletes. The revolving door policy players go by, and as parents we support, is not the best "life lesson" we could be teaching. True thing is that some coaches are always trolling for the new, and better player to poach off another team, and thinking of nothing to drop an existing player to make a spot.

Whether or not it makes any sense I have spoke my peace.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!

[Fuddrules]

If everyone held tryouts in October instead of August, would it just not delay all of the team jumping by 2 months?

Don't most of you follow or observe teams/coaches/organizations your daughter does NOT play for? Are there that many teams or organizations out there that come out of obscurity? I ask that honestly as the area I'm located, it's not very difficult to get a good feel for what you would be walking into if you joined a different team.

[Sam]

There's only one reason players leave their teams after the fall....the parents aren't happy witht the playing time their DD is getting....as they have, yet again, overestimated DD's relative playing abilities.

August or October...wouldn't matter.

[dittoz]

the parents aren't happy witht the playing time their DD is getting....as they have, yet again, overestimated DD's relative playing abilities...

I cannot begin to agree with this statement enough. My own daughter was cut after this past fall season and we've continually questioned whether we're one of those overestimating parents. Even asked the coaches last season what they thought and where they envisioned her and got nothing but positive responses and encouragements. Then, they cut her anyway (by email!), but our strong suspicions (and that of others too) are that it was so that the mgr's kid had somewhere to play, so leaving a mommy-ball team was not a bad thing in retrospect.

Now, in response to the OP, yes, there is waaaaay too much commitment entirely too soon. We are still holding off on making any new commitments to a team - everyone needs players and there will always be a place to play for a kid with heart and half a bit of ability... At least while they're still in 14's and below.

[Iluvblue]

There are many reasons players leave teams, and playing time is not the only one. A star player on a team may leave because her parents arent happy with the overall ability of the team or the coach. It is funny that we read so much about bad coaching on these boards, and then some of you want to criticize people for switching teams. This is youth sports, and if you arent happy for whatever reason, then dont try and stick it out out of some sense of right and wrong. When a season ends, get the heck out of there and get on another team.

I personally try to still use the old calendar. By that I mean that I take time off between seasons. We were forced to hold tryouts in November because parents feel the pinch to get on a team ASAP. But, unlike most teams, after we selected our team on Nov14, we take off and dont meet again until Jan31. I need a break, and I want my players and parents to also have a break. I feel it keeps the players hungry, and right now I am starting to get emails and calls from my team that lets me know they are starting to get the itch again.