Re: What to do when players miss too many practice
I dealt with the same situation last year as a parent and as a coach and its a tough one.
On my daughter's tournament team there was a player that missed almost all of the winter practices but started and played in almost every game. That's a hard pill to swallow when your DD and others who regularly attended practice sat the bench. It's also hard to explain to your DD go to practice and work hard, it will pay off when to her it didn't. (In the end attending those practices did make her a stronger player and in life not everything is fair but try explaining that to a 12 year old
)
On the local travel team, I had Sally No Show who made maybe 3 practices before the first game because of dance, ect.. When I put her in to at least get an AB and an inning in the field, the young lady that I took out was in tears and the other members of the team were chirping in the dugout about how unfair it was and that they didn't even know Sally No Show was on the team. To top it off Sally No Show's mom sent me an e-mail after the game berating me for not playing her daughter more. >
I explained that Sally didn't know the signs (which had been sent out in an e-mail a month before the first game) and really didn't know her position and that it wasn't fair to the others to play her alot when she hadn't practiced much but Sally's mom was a pain for the rest of the season.
Bottom line is this, expectations have to be made clear that practice is important. Certainly, there needs to be exceptions for illness or church or family activities but these should be the exceptions rather than the rule. As a coach you have an obligation to all of the girls on the team. (This differs from the parents who are ususally concerned only with their DD) I'm sure some of the girls on your team have given up/missed other activities because of their commitment to the team. I know I've told my DD more than once that she couldn't attend a sleep over because she had to be up early for practice the next morning. I'm sure she's a nice kid but her mom and dad need to know that your team is not a third or fourth option of her laundry list of activities.
Hope this helps.