TheSoftballZone

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Your daughter could be looking to pickup a few extra games or maybe she doesn't have a team but wants to continue playing. Maybe this year you couldn't find a good fit for your family. For whatever reason, you're now searching for game time for your Daughter.

What do you expect out of any team/coach that picks up your daughter as a sub on their girls softball team?
 

daboss

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If I picked up a player for the day she played. If I picked up a player for the weekend she played. Regardless, any player/family that responded to my calls for help I made sure they played. If the reason I had to pick up a player was because a regular girl/girls were not coming for any reason, the pick-up player got priority playing time. I did not pick up a player to sit the bench. If the other girl/girls showed up they sat to allow the substitute/substitutes play since their reasons left the team short player/players due to other commitments.

If we became short of fielding a team due to injury/injuries, we would seek help to fill the void. If the regular player/players miraculously healed and wanted to play after we went thru the efforts to obtain a sub, the sub still played.

However; I did not pick up a player if I had enough of my regular roster players to participate. I have offered the opportunity for girls to go with us if they chose to be with their friends. I've gone as far as to offer to put them on the weekend roster, share a uniform for them to wear, and sit in our dugout for the tourney. They knew beforehand they would not expect any playing time but could warm up with the girls and go thru any pregame drills. Why not, they were going to be there anyway. It might spark the fever for them to try out later. The family may see how much fun and benefit comes from being in the program.

Bottom line; I remained faithful to the ones that paid to play-------------regardless of the difference in athletic ability. Hindsight is normally 20/20 but I stick to my loyal roster whenever possible.
 

Denver Roach

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It depends...

Is it a single friendly/scrimmage or a top level competition National Qualifying event? Expectations would be very different on both sides of the equation for each. Friendlies are good opportunities to try lots of different things that wouldn’t be a realistic consideration for a team conscientious coach to consider during a National qualifying event or perhaps a showcase event. A reasonable parent I don’t feel would necessarily expect their DD to get much if any play time come semifinals or final games when playing in such prestigious events mentioned. A small amount of play time during pool play to begin with and maybe then see where the talent of the guest DD theoretically places her in the defensive talent pool and batting line up so to say. There are too many factors to consider to have a simple answer to the original question.

Several years back we landed an opportunity to participate as a guest player with a solid 10u team at a showcase that many would consider the premier tournament in the Midwest during that time of the season during Early-Mid July as I recall. It was a good opportunity for the team to have a look at a prospect and a good opportunity for us to have a Sample look at the working dynamics of not only the team but Travel ball in general as well.

How did it work out?.....Good!!! DD saw several innings in outfield play which coincidentally to this day is her preferred primary position to play. No infield play and all though we had began the craft we weren’t yet prepared to pitch at that point in time at the elite level of competition which is par for that specific invitational tournament. So pitching wasn’t even discussed at any point however I’m now curious how that might go.

The biggest area of DD’s participation throughout the weekend was as a pinch runner. Because DD’s a very solid base runner with good knowledge of game the coach utilized her throughout the entire tournament mostly as a pinch runner with good outcome. Honestly DD probably crossed the plate more than any other girl on the team as a result. The pitcher and catcher typically made their scheduled appearance at the plate an once on base was then switched with DD to pinch run for them. The humid hot air played a role as well I figure. The limited field time DD saw wasn’t a disappointment at all as a result of her being able to be involved helping the team achieve success. Stealing bases is DD’s favorite part of the game. Of course I do see better talented base running than DD is capable of however that’s typically the exception and it’s often the case that those better base runners are 2 years or more older as well during games that DD played in a higher age division which we like to do in an effort to play with her sister. We like to play lots of rec ball, As much school ball as possible, fall ball if there are local options and local elite events if we can land an invite. I guess one would say we’re a mixed bag.

So once again lots of variables come into play so far as expectations go. My DD works hard on her fielding, hitting, and pitching to remain competitive at the elite level of play that’s expected and for the most part does okay in those areas. She falls out of bed every morning and wonders why not everyone can run like a deer when chasing down a deep fly all in the outfield.


Our host coach was very on top of their game throughout the entire event and somehow managed to ensure a significant amount of game time for DD to include bracket play into the semifinals. Core team members got their their fill of playing time especially so during bracket play. I was surprised to see DD put a helmet on to pinch run as often as she did especially on Sunday which I didn’t expect at all however I was happy to observe especially as DD advanced bases either stealing them or changed places with the batter from second.

Now that we’re working hard on pitching I will add that I would expect a coach to take a good look prior to any significantly important Sanctioned game play and depending on performance go from there. A filler non sanctioned open class tournament is an entirely different set of variables....So it depends on a lot of things as to what our expectations would be as a guest player. We like to guest play but it’s not as simple as it sounds like it should be.
 
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