Slider wrote:Slider,
You may have that one ultra-competitive kid out of 100 who will forsake her social life in order to continuously improve her game....or you could be one of the 99 parents whose kids tell them they want to work out instead of going to the beach because they are desperate to please their parents. I don't know....I don't know you or your DD....I do know that I have coached at this level for almost 10 years and of all the girls I have coached and have known, I may know exactly one who would choose to work out over going to the beach in August....and I don't really know her motivation.
JMO
Sam,
Hmmmm........I don't think that anywhere in my post I said that my DD doesnt take the occasional trips to the beach, or hang out at the movies, or go out with friends or that she does not have an interest in boys. Trust me that is someone else's kid your talking about. Just the opposite. We tend to push her in those directions to keep her grounded so that she remembers there is life outside of softball. We also want her to be a kid as long as possible.
I think that what gets me about your post is you "assume" that every kid who works hard or chooses not to take a break is in someway be driven by the parents. Your comment about the parents not giving a "crap" about the kids was an assumption on your part. As you stated you don't know my DD and my guess is that you don't know 99% of millions of female athletes out there playing softball, but you felt that you could make an assumption about the tactics or motives of those families. So to make an generalization that say's every player who goes full speed must have "crappy" parents is based on your opinion only. I am open to opinions, I just don't agree when they are insulting the character of people you don't know.
Like I said, Have some faith in the kids! Most of the time they are smarter than we give them credit for being.
again JMO
I didn't say the parents were crappy....I said they didn't give a crap....to expand, they don't give a crap that their DD may want some time off....their DD might be afraid to tell dad that she wants time off....mine never wanted to come out of a game....never wanted to tell me when she was hurt.....would pitch even if she had a bulging swollen knot on her clavicle. That's not very smart, especially when I repeatedly asked her if she was hurt. Same issues with a kid I coached who is going on a full ride to a D1 school. They aren't even close to being smarter than we give them credit for being. Its our responsibility to be smarter than they are and not to allow our own competitive juices to color our decisions.
I don't know every kid that plays, but I do know a lot of kids and have coached quite a few kids who are either in college on rides or are going to college with scholarships. I base my opinion on knowing a lot a parents and being a parent who didn't give a crap....and realized it too late.
If you think I am insulting you and other parents, so be it. If it makes you at least think about it and really observe your DD and possibly suggest that you actually question her motivation....then I have accomplished at least a part of my goal.
I hope for you and your DD's sake that you are right about her.
