Teams running off non-starters consistently.

[SoftballDadisBroke]

Most serious softball organizations preach they are not about winning only, that it's about helping the girls grow mentally and physicially and give them a real shot at a college scholorship. However in my experience none of them actually practice that. I am obviosuly making this point based on a limited amount of teams I have been around or heard about.

But in my experience winning is far and away the no 1 priority, nothing else is even close. If a girl can help them win, they will do eveything they can to get her better and they will play her as much as possible. The girls that are average to under average players get very little playing time and are expendable the second the team gets a better player.

I understand the desire to win is common and actually a trait of successful people and all that. But Softball orgs such as the Breeze/Lady Magic/Grapettes and most of the top SoCal organizations are expremely hypocritical about this. They will preach about how they want to help girls, but they really only want to help the girls that will help them win. I have seen one of these organizations run girl after girl after girl that was not a star off the team. The girl they are running off could be an awsesome kid who works harder than most of the starters, but they still will not give her any real playing team and will work with her very little. While a talented starter could have a horrible attitude and be a horrible teammate and they still give her as much playing time as they can.

Solution? Well I would like to see more honesty from the coaches. Be up front that they are here to win and that the girls will have to prove that they can help them win or they wont play. Dont talk about all that other stuff unless you mean it.

[fairball]

Solution?

Rec. ball

[EliteSB]

Why can't someone have an opinion on this site w out being called rec ball?
My opinion of above statements is your dd needs to work harder and shove it up the coaches a** the next summer. That's the best solution. You pay your money go somewhere else but if your looking for honesty it's not as common as you may think. Just keep movin don't waste time thinking about this crap. I remember how stressed I would get about similar stuff in tb

[99NorCal]

Why can't someone have an opinion on this site w out being called rec ball?
My opinion of above statements is your dd needs to work harder and shove it up the coaches a** the next summer. That's the best solution. You pay your money go somewhere else but if your looking for honesty it's not as common as you may think. Just keep movin don't waste time thinking about this crap. I remember how stressed I would get about similar stuff in tb

I actually read it as, the person was saying go to rec ball if you don't want to see that as much. Of course, it still exists there, too.

My answer is like yours. Have your daughter work hard, overcome adversity, and learn from every experience both positive and negative. Teach your daughter to stick things out and work through the bad. Even a bad coach or organization can be helpful in teaching the life lessons we want our kids to learn. But be a great parent to them. Really listen to what they want and try to help them work to get it. They should be having fun while they're learning about softball and life.

[ICMTM]

But in my experience winning is far and away the no 1 priority, nothing else is even close. If a girl can help them win, they will do eveything they can to get her better and they will play her as much as possible. The girls that are average to under average players get very little playing time and are expendable the second the team gets a better player.

For the most part I thought this is how it worked? If player A is better than player B, and player C is also better than player B, aren't you supposed to keep A & C? Player B (and her family) need to understand it's THEIR responsibility to have her ready for any situation you agree to play in. There are several teams to play for. Finding the best fit is key.

[FullCount]

For the most part I thought this is how it worked? If player A is better than player B, and player C is also better than player B, aren't you supposed to keep A & C? Player B (and her family) need to understand it's THEIR responsibility to have her ready for any situation you agree to play in. There are several teams to play for. Finding the best fit is key.

^^^What he said^^^

Lets face it, travelball is a dog eat dog world. The strongest survive the brackets, and the rest are eliminated. Top programs don't become top programs because they aren't playing their best players. Great players tend to gravitate towards each other. Top programs are trying to attract more great players by being that program that has the rep of playing well, showing well, and having a roster of monster players.

[CheckWriter]

Happened to DD1.

Had the infield that had been together forever, never played anybody else. The regulars only didn't play if they were on crutches. A lot of girls went through there that did quite well on other teams after their stints. Hard to play when you can only roster 10 or 11. Even harder when you only have 8 and still nobody will come to tryouts. Team eventually folded.

That was extreme and we stuck it out for the particular season we joined for but it was definitely in the bottom decile as far as softball experiences went. Live and learn.

[SoftballDadisBroke]

For the most part I thought this is how it worked? If player A is better than player B, and player C is also better than player B, aren't you supposed to keep A & C? Player B (and her family) need to understand it's THEIR responsibility to have her ready for any situation you agree to play in. There are several teams to play for. Finding the best fit is key.[/quote]

I understand that, but these teams will preach about how they want to get girls scholorships and so on. But even after the top girls have scholorships they will still play the top girls 99% of the time. It is a very un-healthy and hypocritical situation. Winning is 99% of the goal for most of these teams. The stress and pressure these girls feels is very un-healthy for the most part.

[CatcherDad99]

As a parent I feel you. BUT coaches are there to win no matter what they say. Honestly if a coach takes a loss just to allow bench players to get more time I can guarantee you that he will have fun dealing with the 9 parents who's kids normally play. I have experienced it in rec ball even parents are ruthless . I would only hope he is a little better with his bench player at friendlies.

I would agree with the above poster 100%. Tell your daughter get all the experience she can from the team. Work hard with her on your own on top of what they do at the TB practices. Use this experience for motivation. Try out for another team and let the other coach see what he missed out on every time he see's her play.