Re: How may girls will be without a team come spri
There are some replies here by some very knowledgable and HIGHLY qualified coaches, one of the common threads I am sensing is the frustration in finding players that want to commit to the environment of a serious and dedicated team.
I am not amazed by the issues with 10's/12's/or even 14's, many of these girls that are exceptional athletes are still playing multiple sports, this was a battle we fought for several years until their HS situation made them commit to one sport or another, another of the big problems at these ages is you have a larger number of players that think of themselves as pitchers and despite their ability level (mostly due to having just gotten serious about it recently), their parents are being advised by their pitching instructor and others to play on a team where they will get the ball often.
Add to this dynamic that has been a standard for years the fact that, I am certain there has been a large increase in the total number of teams that consider themselves to be "serious travel teams" and whose aspirations are high, and you must at some point suffer through a period of readjustment, whether that is this year or not I can't say but there are a lot of teams still looking for players, in some cases half a team, for those teams looking for 4 or more players my suggestion is they start looking for a team in a similar situation and let both coaches put their ego to the side and put your players minds at ease, in past years at times we have struggled with filling teams, and as stressful as this is for the coaches, the girls really worry about their team. Fortunately for our teams we always (with the exception of a serious illness one season) have managed to find the talented players that we needed, I have always maintained "god takes care of fools and drunks" and since I qualify on both counts, I have that going for me!! LOL just kidding, I am really not a fool!!! LOL (the fact is I am pretty sure I am not alone here on OFC!!)
In any case I don't mean to make light of what is shaping up to be a serious issue in the upcoming 2008 summer season, and the fact is that while all our teams have 11-12 solid locked in players, I know they are all looking for at least one final piece of the puzzle, as a matter of fact, I have told them that I felt that there would be players available as things shake down, the other point to be made is the question of: Does this serious issue now predict a number of teams folding as the summer season goes on, if teams end up just "filling" their rosters with bodies, what happens when they start losing players to the pressure of a summer of travel ball, lets face it we have all agreed at one time or another it's not a sport, it's a lifestyle, and not every family is suited to that lifestyle.
The only thing I know for sure is that come July (maybe June!!) we will start to see the postings for "new teams" and multiple teams, and we will have to question again at what point are there too many teams.
Not sure there are any answers, everyone with the energy, and the willingness to learn and teach their kids, should have a chance to coach, those are good motives, I sense there are some teams out there, where the motivation and agenda is not quite so noble!
