Players playing time

[got2luvit]

A question to coaches. Why do you pick up players for a season and don't play them? In the older age groups these players need to have game time not just practice. I've seen players sit thru complete tournaments waiting for a chance and coaches using the same girls in every game. Don't you think you should work them in somewhere in the 3 to 4 games played?
Just a question.

[watchtonsofsoftball]

This is a loaded question and is based on my experience at the various levels from 12u-18G.
Ive also been a liason for a few years so will shed some light on recruiting as well.

To answer your question of why? Because coaches dont always communicate their plans for your dd and if they do they are not always truthful. On the other hand if they did communicate to you, it is up to you to understand your role or find another team if you are not satisfied.

Now the long version. At younger ages you see kids being picked up as a way to fund the team. The good teams will COACH these 'weaker' players and hopefully they become productive to the team. The bad coaches use them and discard them at seasons end. OLDER ages 16-18 should be picking up players they feel they can showcase. These days teams are getting larger to fund expensive travel and play time suffers. Having said that if a team is playing the same kids in every game I would seek a new team. The good teams showcase all players in some form. Bracket play does alter things to the teams looking to play nationals. However pool play allows you to get kids in. These days its less about winning and more about recruiting and showcasing. Everyone has an opinion on which is best. The teams that win Nationals dont have 5-7 players they play every game but have 11-13 players that can all play. So these teams who play the same kids effectively are counterproductive. The teams that do this are often coaches with kids on the team and multiple parents helping out.. Experienced 18G coaches USUALLY are without dd's on the team and understand that they need quality players 1-13 (sometimes more) to do well in recruiting and bracket play. It is possible to do both year in and year out. If a coach is playing the same kids and your dd isnt one of them its probably time to leave as there is always a better fit for your dd. A good fit for your dd where she can get exposure is always is better then sitting the bench. Game time is crucial to getting better. Recruiting is about some exposure and attending camps, writing letters amnd learning to communicate with college coaches. Of course they need to do well at these camps. Obviously they have a better shot of getting seen in a camp of 40 then a surf city tourney with 1000 kids playing on 7 fields. When looking around or trying to find a team ask around and do your research. Heybucket will give you both sides from happy parents to angry parents. If your getting the same story it probably has some truth to it. When our DD got to 16U our criteria was no daddy coaches. It will always cause a problem one way or the other no matter how good she is. It usually costs more for a team with a 'staff' but its worth it in the end. It worked well for us. Good luck.

[got2luvit]

Well said, I agree with you that at the older levels coaches should use all the players and not just use them for a funding the team. But like you said teams with coaches who have dd's on them make sure there player plays every game and any position before a bench player. We are doiing are homework so this does'nt happen again. It's too bad because we were with a good org. for awhile.

[#1fann]

One piece of advice for playing on 16 thru 18 gold teams, if at all possible, stay away from the teams that have a coaching staff with daughters on the team. There`s one organization in particular where this is blatant. Make sure your daughter is doing her part by contacting colleges. Ultimatecollegesoftball.com is a great site for getting contact info for nearly all of the top colleges. These organizations are only as good as the player agent in charge of acting as the liaison between the players and the scouts. A ton of money is invested by parents and if an organization has a coaching staff with an agenda or a weak player agent, you might as well flush your money down the crapper. If a player is good enough, she will be seen regardless of how much a coach may try to hide her. Attending camps is another great way to get her name out there.

[watchtonsofsoftball]

#1fan
I completely agree about having a great player agent/liaison. Be nice to find one on a team with no kids as well. They can then market all the kids the same with no hidden interest other than to help everyone find a fit for college ball. It would be great to hear from current coaches but maybe I covered all the bases
There are several ORGs that are bad with this and not anyone in particular. Its not as easy as you think to find a team with no 'favortism', you just have to find one with only one or two. At tryouts ask for criticism and where they see your dd. If it is not clear or they are seem to deflect the question find another team. A head coach who cant clearly communicate where your dd can help there team is a big problem. When my dd went to tryouts I always asked what my dd needed work on, where they saw them in relation to the team and overall talent. Read between the lines and dont let them 'sell' you. I deal with people everyday so I am pretty good at telling between honesty and BS. Dont involve your emotions based on team name. If the team name is selling you, thats your 1st mistake and coming on heybucket bashing wont help you. We will just say told you so.

[Blind Squirrel]

I think some of what has been said in this thread is, at the very least oversimplification and at most an unfair indictment of anyone that coaches/manages and has their kid on the team. I never coached my kid in softball and never felt my kid suffered in any way because she played with a player whose Dad coached. Furthermore, the man who was my kid's greatest advocate during recruiting was the Dad of a teammate. He could not have done more for my kid's recruiting and we were no better friends with him than anyone else on the team. While I suspect that the advice to avoid teams with involved Dads is well intentioned, I disagree with it. I believe it is an unnecessary and invalid heuristic. How about talking to parents on a team before joining to see if the coaches/laison appear to be problematic? It isn't difficult. Find out where the team is playing and walk up to parents and ask.

Playing time is a must. If she isn't playing, for whatever reason, move on ASAP. Saying your kid plays for the XXX team doesn't mean crap if she isn't good enough to play a lot. In fact, it will likely hurt her recruiting though the temporary boost to the parent's ego will surely be worth it. The size of the boost will just as surely be directly proportional to the opposing feelings when reality sets in.

And BTW, college coaches don't tend to be blind. But there are no shortage of parents in desperate need of bifocals.

BLIND Squirrel

[watchtonsofsoftball]

Blind , It may be oversimplification however your speaking of one coach with a DD. If your talking about a team coming up through the ranks though, many times as they get older you need more help. So a team with one head coach who gets 2-3 parents to help coach/run practice drills along with a dugout mom, another to be the liaison, another to be the manager and take care of emails/tournament info. Now your potentially up to 6-7 kids with parents who run the team. This is the scenario I am speaking about. There are quite a few like this in our area , especially at the younger ages. When they move up this becomes more of a problem when exposure to colleges is involved. When our DD played we had one assistant who had a dd on the team but their DD didnt play much due to skill level and grades so it was never a problem. Moral of the story is just do your homework and do what is best for your DD. Its tryout season coming up so I think this is a great topic especially if your looking for the right fit for your DD. Check out the many different coaching styles that are available in NorCal and find your fit. To the OP give a competative team a shot and dont worry about the ORG name

[ICMTM]

From my experience playing the coaches that helped me the most didn't have children on the team. In both cases they were guys in their late 20's/early 30's. Their playing days were over, but they still had a passion for the game so they gave their knowledge to younger players. It's becoming a reality though that most college kids realize they have a marketable skill so they don't give it away.

Volunteer parents helping out is a necessary part of youth sports, and without moms and dads it dies. A good coach is a good coach regardless of their child being on the team. The motivation for a mom or dad to get into coaching is just often times different than a non parent. In some cases it's a necessity. It's more times than not a burden on the kid when their parents are involved versus a relief as well.

[V Mot 4]

Sports are such an oxymoron...

Teams will take a player who pays their player fee, and then a uniform fee. "Thank you for choosing to play for -------, but you are not guaranteed play time".

I see all the top teams have a lot of bench players, and usually the same players sit... I had aparent tell me once, that daughter's team S-rce-e-s 14U, you fill in the blanks, there were players that sat all the time, and they didn't care. They just wanted to wear the jersey... ????
You pay all that money to sit??? That was just an example.

Players and parents need to understand that if you play for an organization where coaches get "paid or get perks", they are there to "win". They will play their top 9 or 10 around 80 to 90 percent of the time. If you are a borderline player, get used to pine...

Question:

Why would any 12U or 14U have 17 girls on the roster and/or team? I see that on a few teams, and I wonder why....

[lookingIN]

got2luvit what team did your DD play for??