Are Ohio HS girls being hurt by OHSAA rules?

Rant Alert:

Is the draconian rules of OHSAA actually hurting scholorship chances for Ohio girls. In a month, 14U - 18U girls will be done with their travel teams and get handed off to HS coaches who might just be there for a paycheck (not all HS coaches are like this). In other states the girls get top notch instruction and training without HS eligibility concerns.

I guess I just don't like the idea of the state telling me that my kid can't go out and play a private game with her friends on her own private time or else she can't play for the school.

There are many rules that the OHSAA have that can seem rediculous @ times. ( all sports ) Why restrict off season instruction? If the player and coach are willing to put in the time and effort, MHO is that it shouldn't be restricted. Why only 4 girls from a school disrict on a summer team? Who came up w/ 4? It would be terrible if a group of atheletes wanted to play together and improve as a team, wouldn't it? Who gets hurt in that scenario? Teams that don't put in the time and effort anyway? One of the best teams my dd played against ( a few years ago ) was @ Sluggerfest. They were from Tennessee. They were a complete HS team - had been playing together for years and it showed. I could go on about how my dd got screwed out of playing on a spring break trip because of an OHSAA rule - but I've had to let that go for my own sanity. MHO is the OHSAA tries to do a good job and seems to have the atheletes best interest @ heart but comes up short and ends up screwing up in reverse in many instances.

letem' hear it --- mine is still jr high but Ohio needs to get with it. Get rid of the dumb rules ----while we are at , how bout asking for the small school division to get an allowance to let 7-8th graders play. Word has our school only had 9 girls at the 1st meeting. But we have a group of 7-8th graders that could help make the varsity team stronger and give them some numbers. MD

You can rant all you want about the OHSAA rules and maybe, (big maybe) someday down the road they will get changed.

However, a big part of why Ohio girls are not as competitive now is because their overall athletic abilities are sub-par. ?As a state, we are behind the curve on agility, speed and strength training. ?This opinion has been confirmed by college coaches.

Advice to parents: ?travel and hs coaches will provide your dd's with game experience. ?Get outside training in hitting and pitching (and proper fielding techniques if they don't get it from their coaches). ?Plus, get outside training in speed, power, agility and quickness.

So if we did get rid of it....

your DD plays for Average HS Coach. ? AHSC tells your kid that if they want to play school ball you HAVE to play for the school team in the summer. AHSC says we'll play 8 tournies all within 15 miles of said school because AHSC is a poor teacher and can't afford traveling to other towns to play the best competition. ?AHSC can only see winning the district as the ultimate prize because AHSC gets ?$500 bonus for winning in his contract. ?Every weekend they play either crappy competiton or get beat by stud travel teams. ?How long before people are begging for some control of what a AHSC can and cannot dictate you your DD.

On the other hand. ?Some school ?- make it a private school for discussions sake - decides it wants to be the best softball team in the state. ?They higher the best travel coach they can find - call him joea1011. ?joea1011 knows the best kids from all around the area and they all flock to private school because they know that he has nothing better to do than coach softball, talk to college coaches and occassionally appear in a courtroom or on a local softball message board. ?How long before parents are screaming cause they can't afford private school and how "unfair" it is that private school recruits? ?

The rules are what they are and allow us ATCWTWE (arrogant travel coaches who think we know everything) to have fun teaching, coaching and helping kids ejoy their summers and maybe - just maybe find a college scholarships.

i feel like Horshack in the back of the room!

No answer until work is over, bummer city!

But, wow, some people really hate their high school coaches aorund here..

I'm not one that hates my dd's high school coaches. my dd has been lucky to have great high school and travel ball coach's. BUT>>> i think OHSAA does hurt alot of the kids in alot of sports. I think they tried to do it right but somehow down the road sports got more advanced and they didn't. ?I think the athletes that it hurts are the ones wanting to improve their game its almost like playing with 1 hand tied behind their back....and people want to know why softball in ohio is not comparable to California...

and yes.. I'm bummed about this year's spring break.. First our girls play at a time when alot of their friends are off in some fun warmer climate and now Our high school team can't even take a trip because of the dates.. and its her senior year.... oh well....... what can you do. ? ?

hermom - think of the money it is saving you by not going on a trip !

Here's a crazy spin.
Maybe it would help the quality of players and coaching if they actually added 1 more rule.

A HS coach can only coach 1 sport.

At our little HS, the softball coach also coaches V-ball and that dredded C-leading. Which tryouts for C-leading for the following year is always in the Spring, which takes away from Softball practice for about a week. If they would limit it, maybe others who are more interested in the sport and instruction of the sport would have a opportunity.

Typical case of someone in HS coaching for the money not the love of any sport.

How about if your the AD, BB and Softball coach. After 10-15 years of this, can you imagine that extra $ and PERS!!

I don't know if I like that joea1011 character And I'm guessing he would put in more than an occasional appearance in a courtroom

I do agree with DoomsDad12 that coaches should only be coaching one sport, or at least head coaches of one sport. Assuming a person is teaching or at some other full-time job, there is no way to be a head coach in two sports and do a good job.

I find the girls that are hurt the most by the OHSAA rules are the players just below the travel level. For the most part their only instruction is from their school coach and we're not allowed to give it outside of the spring and a little during the summer.

I think bigtrain has said here before that the main reasons Ohio is so far behind California and some other states is (1) we don't get most of our best athletes to play softball, as they are mostly playing basketball or soccer; and (2) very few people in Ohio are willing to take the game serious enough to find top-notch instruction and then work year-round on the game.

I just had a college coach tell me yesterday that he saw the Slammers at the start of 2006 I think it was, and then at the end of the year, and he couldn't believe how much better they had gotten. Bigtrain finds the best instruction, learns from it, gets his other coaches to do the same, and then he and his team put in the time in the fall, winter and spring to work on a regular basis, multiple times per week. And from what I understand of the top West Coast teams, that's about what they do. And that's the main reason why they're better than us.

I like the idea of coaches only being able to coach one sport..... Our hs softball teams coach also coaches jh basketball. I think it takes away from varsity softball. and the asst. coach is worthless. JMHO

How do you control coaches only coaching one sport when it is a bid job. That is why you see coaches that start in the fall and end in the spring because its about $$. This will not change!

OK, so what can and can't we do about these rules (besides gripe to each other)? Let's think about this. How about we make a list of about five or so rules that can reasonably be changed and attack those.

What one rule would you like to change? What are the advantages and risks to changing it?

Has anyone sat down and really tried to read to understand the OSHAA rules? My God, what kind of test did one have to fail to be the one making those rules up?!

4 on a team? Completely arbritary...

Indoor games are ok year round, but practices are not...

My diastolic is rising so I better stop...but honestly, rules for the sake of having rules, are made to be ignored, aren't they?

I think that a coach should not start the season by saying the team will be lucky to go 500 and tell them the game that they will win and lose. I also think that if you want winning hs teams then the coaches should be given a length of stay pre- determined to get the job done.. If not up to speed by certain time sorry look for a new job. Our high school has a lot of good ath that get tired of the coaches not knowing or putting good effort into the school programs. I know it takes good ath. but the coach has to know the sport also.. JMHO

JoeA10101010 is right. Bigtrain has a plan and has followed the plan. It will be interesting to see what happens to that team in the next few years when those kids enter HS. Is all that great training he provides year round going to end because of OHSAA. That would be a shame and detrimental to those kids.

It will have to end for the girls to be eligible. Or are they forced to choose between the two? What a shame for the HS if that were the case...

I agree! Good individuals working to help girls play better softball should be allowed and encouraged. If we had more wonderful people who serve as examples (and there are many out there already) and rules that allow them to do so, maybe more schools would hop onboard.

This is a double edge sword that affects two different groups of people in different manners, and will require 2 different mindsets, and a fix for 2 different problems. ?With that being said there will be no quick fix for this problem.

The first thing to remember, is that the ones at OHSAA are education leaders first, then athletics. ?The OHSAA and alot of their decisions are based on what feedback they receive from HS principals and AD's, as well as other education leaders. ?Do you see where I'm going with this? ?OHSAA is an athletic association that is governed by Educators, the bottom line is HS athletics is an extenuation of each student/athletes education, and that is what drives OHSAA rules. ?So very little if anything can or will be done. ?

If you want something changed at OHSAA, do any of you even know where you would start? ?You would have to go to your HS Principal and School Board. ?Convince them that softball players should be allowed to spend more time with their HS/Travel coaches year around, so they can become better softball players, and have a better chance to get to college on a softball scholarship. ?Listen to what you would be asking them to do, put sports in front of there education. ?They will laugh you right out of their office!!!

Even if they would consider it, it would only help one group of the 2 that are affected, and that would be the HS coach. ?No HS administration, would recommend to OHSAA, to allow travel coaches to spend more time with their athletes. ?Most travel coaches may know more about the game, but most if not all do not have background checks, First Aid courses, Sports Med. Certification, as well as alot of HS coaches having teaching degrees that have taught them how to deal wth alot of things student/athletes deal with. ?To be honest with you, I doubt that the effect there rules have on travel ball players has even crossed HS Adminstrators minds!!! Why would it?

For those of you that want to put up a fight or keep fighting, my hats are off to you, but your beating a dead horse. ?Spend your time on something more worth while and achievable....Like World Peace!!!