Highschool Ball

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What is everyones thinking on this situation?

Last year our highschool team did not have enough girls go out to have a varsity team and a reserve team. First time in forever we did not have a reserve team. The new coach and AD decide it would be a good idea to keep everyone then, make no cuts, to build the program back up so that we will have a reserve team hopefully next year, meaning this year. I did not have a problem with that even though I would have not kept 16 girls on the varsity but anyways the season gets going and after a few games what do you think starts happening, right, the girls not getting to play start fussing and then parents start fussing and oh what a wonderful year it was. Now the goal of keeping all 16 remember was to field a reserve team for this year. Well at the end of last year the coach quits and we now have another new coach, but the same AD. This year we had 22 girls go out, great right, well the coach and AD decide to cut 5 and keep 17 on varsity this year because they say that the reserve team would not be competitive. Am I wrong or am I the only one that thinks you try to win at the varsity level and you work the kids to get better on reserve to get to the varsity level - reserve team is not all about winning but working on the game, kind of like a farm team for baseball. Not to mention that tryouts were Monday and Tuesday and they know they kept 17 players and now on Friday the AD asks a girl that played last year why she was not playing this year and if she wanted he would talk to the coach so she could tryout on friday, knowing they have 17, so she gets her tryout and now we have 18 on the varsity team. What would you think if you were one of the 5 girls cut after doing the conditioning and open gyms and a girl that could of been at some open gyms and misses the tryouts basically gets to walk on the team? Now we could of had 23 girs and plenty for two teams. As a parent what are your thoughts? What would you do to try to get two teams on the field so all the girls can play?

 

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Let the girls play and build the program for both reserve and varsity. Trump card is do the boy's have a varsity and reserve base ball team if the do then you have the title 9 trump card either the school drops reseverve baseball or has a girls reserve softball your you persue your your alternatives. It will not be this year or possibly for several years but there will be a lot of negative publicity for the school and the AD.

 

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All I can say is "Welcome to high school ball!" First of all, I completely understand what you are feeling, AND I agree with your logic about building the program. BUT - not every HS program works alike. Yours may be more about pleasing those parents with playing time for their kid. But who really knows?

On the surface, the situation you describe is a painful one. HS coaches/ADs have all sorts of ideas for "program building". In your situation, not making a JV team (regardless of competitiveness - DUH!) when enough kids were available to fill a decent roster was insanity! So - what are those kids gonna do NEXT year?

Bottom line is if YOUR kid is a decent player, and is playing a competitive travel ball schedule - sometimes it's best to put your chair way down the baseline, sit back and relax, and just keep your opinions to yourself! Otherwise you'll be labeled as "one of those complaining parents". Besides, it's extremely doubtful you'll be able to sway the coach or AD to come to their senses. HS is a fairly short season - just smile and enjoy the ride.

 

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WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am speechless

 

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Let the girls play. Try to keep the program moving forward if possible. As of yesterday our jv team will be losing 4 games this season ( 2 DI schools) that can't field a jv squads. The next week should be interesting to find out if there are others with try-outs winding down. Perhaps parents and coaches need to realize there are young ladies out there that aren't looking for the college experience and they would just like to play softball during their high school years and have fun.

 

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First off 18 girls on any team is absolutely nuts. Second why is it that every high school thread ends up gettimg highjacked by travel ball or asa tourney ball. I wish that people would just answer the question asked in the thread and be done with it! I think that eveyone who is anyone on any forum gets it, travel ball is the "big show". Anyone who is anyone in college recuiting will go to an ASA, NSA, USSA, etc tourney to scout 100 players vs going to a high school game to see 1 prospective recruite. My daughter plays tourney ball so I get that, but every tourney team out there is made up of nothing more than a bunch of HIGH SCHOOL"S top 3 or 4 players. So the questions about dealing with the drama and politics of HS ball are valid. Please answer them, and quit diverting the question to travel ball.

 

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New High school here, no Seniors, will have three teams with just enough on each. All skill levels of players--- long distance travel, local travel and rec. Build for the future with pulling some up and down regularly to get experience of Varsity for the future... This is the 3rd HS in town the coach has opened, so he has experience doing it. Only two years left with our last one, so we are going to sit back and enjoy it....

Might have to adopt another one...

 

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Let the girls play. Try to keep the program moving forward if possible. As of yesterday our jv team will be losing 4 games this season ( 2 DI schools) that can't field a jv squads. The next week should be interesting to find out if there are others with try-outs winding down. Perhaps parents and coaches need to realize there are young ladies out there that aren't looking for the college experience and they would just like to play softball during their high school years and have fun.

Great post. I wish every parent would have this attitude!

 

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its to late now but u could always move. u r daughter is to good to sit on the bench not that she would but sounds like ad is lost

 

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High school ball

 

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It's a matter of economics...plain and simple!! Having the same problem in our district. One less team means one less paid coach, fewer bus trips, fewer umpires, equipment, et... Everyone is feeling the pinch.

 

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Hey Buckncm
How was the thread before your post Hichjacked with travel ball, or even before my post now...

 

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Danger12u, I'm feeling your pain. All I can say is that I just went to my Doctor and got on Lexapro. Should be smooth sailing from here.

 

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First off let me say that I am a travel coach and no I do not think my daughter is one that will sit, she started last year at pitcher and shortstop. I am not in it for just my kid, I am in it for all the kids. I talked with my daughter last night about the player parent meeting on this monday and told her these questions that I wanted to ask the new coach and AD in front of all the parents and players to see what their come back was. Everybody knows that one on one conferences are different than when you are put on the spot in front of everyone else. She agrees with me as she is not selfish and wants everybody to be able to play as well, whether it is varsity or reserve. She does not care if she starts pitching on the varsity team or the reserve team, she just wants to play, but like I said before - she is the starting pitcher or shortstop as of now as they do have a few pitchers. We do have a varsity and reserve baseball team and title 9 did come to mind but I need to do more research on this issue before I threaten title 9 because I do not know that much about it myself. I know the general but not the fine lines and I am working on that as we speak. Any help would be appreciated. Like I said, I am in it for the girls and everybody that knows me will tell you that, this is not about my kid but about the other kids that are or already have been short changed. I will do everything I can to help others but I must first take the proper steps as I do not want to get anybody in trouble, I can take care of myself so no worries there. Can anyone give me more info on title 9? Also I am under the belief that at the beginning of a school year the budget is set for all sports and with that being said does'nt that mean the money is there for a coach- head and head reserve, umpires and bus trips, etc. So if this is true as well then I should not get the reply of we do not have the money to support a reserve softball team, if I do then I would ask about the school budget and then ask where did the money go that was set aside for the coach, umpires, buses, etc. It had to go somewhere - where is it!!!

 

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Even if it is a money issue, if you have a group of really dedicated (and willing) parents and kids, you can do fundraisers. If the parents are willing to pitch in $$ to help, that shows the AD that you aren't just going to roll over. Without getting into specifics, ask what method is used to fund the boys sports. Should be public information. That answer may give you an indication of their motive.

 

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Thanks for the advice Sammy. I know the kids will do fundraisers and the parents will pay, we all did last year. Don't think the parents should have to pay, but we did anyways. The main reason I am disgusted with this right now is because of what they said last year to try and help this year and then the numbers are there this year and they don't do it. Does'nt matter if it is a different coach or not to me, they lied to us plain and simple. I cannot stand liars!!! Then if this trend keeps happening year after year and they keep doing this there will not be enough girls to field one team let alone two. My daughter is a sophomore and has recieved college letters the past couple of weeks and as you can imagine her hopes and wanting to play hard are really up at the moment and then this hits. If they keep doing this by her senior year there will not be a team at all. Then when she graduates I have two more daughters who will be freshman. I graduated from this school and wanted to put my kids through it because it was a wonderful school but now I have one that might graduate there, that is her choice because I am willing to pay and put her in another school and I will be damned if the other two daughters go there as of right now. Just disgusted and willing to do all I can to help the girls now and in the future - if possible and the community as well.

 

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[QUOTE? Also I am under the belief that at the beginning of a school year the budget is set for all sports and with that being said does'nt that mean the money is there for a coach- head and head reserve, umpires and bus trips, etc. So if this is true as well then I should not get the reply of we do not have the money to support a reserve softball team, if I do then I would ask about the school budget and then ask where did the money go that was set aside for the coach, umpires, buses, etc. It had to go somewhere - where is it!!![/QUOTE]

I think you are right on this. Most school Boards hire coaches for the up coming year during the summer, so that should have not been an issue. Ask one of your Board members.
With 22 or 23 kids they should have at least tried to get some Jv games in IMO.

 

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To cut ladies from a program because the JV team will not be competitive is assinine.
The JV team is used to DEVELOP younger and/or less experianced student athletes.
The JV team I am coaching has 12 ladies on it and 7 of them have never played fastpitch softball at all. It is the job of the AD and softball program(varsity coach on down) to develop these young ladies and make them into the best student athletes as possible. ALL 7 I have has shown tremendous improvment already and as long as that keeps up this season will be a success, wether we win or lose. I would be p`d off as a parent and a coach (of any sport) in the school sytem that would make this decision and imho is a slap in the face on what high school sports are "supposed" to be about...

 

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Well, I just spent 20 minutes writing a responsive post that somehow got swallowed up in cyperspace. Main points:

buckncm: while I appreciate your concern that HS threads can be highjacked by travel ball participants, sometimes the HS situation is so far out of the control of the players and their parents that spending time and energy on trying to fix that situation may amount to tilting at windmills. I think the reference to moving a chair to the outfield and getting through the short HS season to the longer and more controllable travel ball season was made in that context. Travel ball players should always give their all to HS practice and competition, but trying to change institutional decisions made by duly hired school personnel can sometimes be a wasted effort.

Having said that, I didn't follow my own advice when our DD was in HS. I wrote my fair share of letters to the AD and even the School Board. As with Danger, it wasn't about my kid, who played varsity all four years, but about opportunities for the other girls. Danger, if you are going to fight the good fight, here are a few thoughts.

I doubt that your Title IX argument is solid enough to file an administrative complaint but depending on the facts that you can develop, it may be colorable enough to merit raising that issue to the AD and the higher-ups. Are decisions made for the boys' baseball teams based on whether the JV and freshman teams are going to be competitive? What percentage of boys who try out for the baseball program are offered a spot on either the varsity, JV, or freshman teams? Because the decision made by your AD on the softball side eliminated any playing opportunity for nearly 23% of the girls who tried out.

The budget argument ("where did the money go?") is tricky. Projected revenues and expenses for the current budget year may bear little resemblance to actual revenues and expenses. On the revenue side, for example, if enough mortgage lenders who are foreclosing on homes choose to wait until the foreclosure sale is complete to pay back property taxes, that can cause a gap between projected and actual income. If you get a "we don't have the money that was projected" argument back from the AD, follow up with questions about whether the softball and baseball teams are sharing dollar cuts on a pro rata basis. You could even ask about whether all the girls' sports programs and boys' sports programs are sharing cuts on an equal pro rata basis (expect the standard answer that the boys' programs generate more income from fan attendance, concession sales, etc . . . which doesn't, by the way, necessarily defeat the Title IX argument).

Best of luck Danger. I'll look for you this summer for a follow-up "off the record" chat about how things finally ended up.

 

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yeah makes no sense definately should have kept all and fielded a less competitive jv team because varsity is playing to win how involved can players 11-18 be??let others play jv you cant develop without playing or should i say you will develop more by actually playing in some real game scenario s