Post Season Honors

[sballfan]

Now that the post season honors are starting to be awarded, I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the subject or was more informed than I on how honors are decided. The coveted Miss Softball honor will be awarded soon so any ideas on who that might be? I do know that All Conference honors are based on performances in conference games which explains how maybe a player that isn't in the paper alot can make an all conference team and the conference coaches do the voting after the coach has nominated their players. All State teams as I understand it are divided into five districts with each district having five players. The top spots go to seniors and juniors mostly even though younger players may have better stats. Essentially if you make an all state team (first, second or third) you are in the top 15 in your district. What is cloudy seems to be All County selections, especially players of the year and the Indy Star selections. Do coaches have to nominate their players for these as well? Is it the reporters that vote? I'm sure that I am not the only fan that has enjoyed watching digital sports every week and seeing the stat leaders (obviously you have to look at the number of games/at bats to put them into perspective) and I expected to see those kids on these teams. What else is there to consider if not stats? How their team did in playoffs? I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. Also, if you were putting together a team by position, who would be on it and why?

[bucketboy]

First of all the coaches nominate players and up to four players can be nominated and the coaches have to attend the all district meetings to vote on the various all state, all district and academic all state teams. In the case of DD's high school none of the kids from a team that finished as a state runner up were nominated nor did their coach bother to attend the meeting and I have also heard of others that didn't nominate quality players nor attend the meetings from other schools as well. If your coach doesn't nominate a player or attend the meeting no kid from that team will get votes as the coaches are there to try and get their kids votes period.

At the various district meetings the top 5 vote getters are first team, next 5 second, next 5 third and last 5 are all district. The player that receives the most votes is the Miss Softball candidate for that district so on Saturday there will be 5 candidates for Miss Softball and those five will receive votes from the coaches that are in attendance on Saturday and the top vote getter will be named Miss Softball.

There are two all county teams one voted by the coaches and another voted on by the star or at least there has been in the past. The super teams will be coming out shortly as well which will be a mix of the various teams from around the Indy area so we will see who the Star picks for that team as well.

Congrats to all the kids that were in the Star this morning as these kids do work hard and deserve the accolades that go with that hard work, but I am sure there are some that should have been listed that were not due to the politics and that is a shame.

[sballfan]

Wow...that is awful for your daughter's team! I assumed that it probably came down to the coaches support of their players at some level. You would just think that with computer technology as it is, it would be so simple to print out the stats and say here are the top kids in each district regardless of connections to the coaches or what their grade level as it is obvious the juniors and seniors get priority over the younger players. I guess no system is perfect but for kids to get left by the wayside because of a coach's laziness is inexcusable and I'm sorry to hear that happened in your case. I respect your opinion very much (as it is obvious others on here do as well) I would love to see your Super Team picks. And feel free to include your daughter as she is an awesome player and no one would dispute that pick at all!

[jag1]

I think high school stats should be used as a loose guideline in regards to which kids are receiving recognition and/or garnering attention.....but just about all schedules have their "soft" spots where things can be, and are padded. Big game performance, play-making ability, and alot of intangibles need to be factored in too.

[sballfan]

I agree...some kids really came through for their teams in the playoffs (and some did not!) I think that is definitely a good measuring stick. On the flip side of schedule though, some weight should also be given to the girls that play tougher schedules (HCC or MIC conferences as an example) If you are batting .500+ in a tough conference it should mean a little more than someone doing it against lesser opponents for sure.

[jag1]

That's a good point. Alot of schedules might have a weak spot here or there, but some are just "soft" overall...!

[coolstuff]

I guess a good arguement for focusing on seniors and juniors is that you are choosing players who have shown consistent play throughout their HS career. If a freshman truly is a better player than those chosen for all-stars, that player will have her due in good time. Good motivation to keep playing hard and improving.

The Lafayette paper usually does a good job in choosing their big school/small school teams and players of the year.

[sballfan]

I guess my interpretation of these awards was to give credit to kids that performed well during the current season...if a kid has a standout season as a sophomore and then, hate to even say it, gets hurt and can't play the next season, that season's accomplishments never gets rewarded. The Senior All Star team is the place to reward kids for their careers.