10 REASONS NOT TO PLAY HS BALL

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My highschool softball dreams were crushed last year. ?I did not enjoy it, it was basicly nothing but constant heck for me. ?It ruined not only my softball spirits, but also my softball skill. ?So here are my reasons why not to play highschool softball. ?Please, feel free to comment or critize on this post and list your own reasons why or why not to play. ?Remember, these are my personal opinions, nothing personal to any highschool player and/or coach out there!

1) I'd rather take private leasons all highschool season (I know you can do both!). ?I'd want to be at the top of my game rather than deprecisating myself for a whole season.

2) Scouts look at you more during travel, so why not be the best during travel (again-relating to the private lessons).

3) ?Your hs couch doesn't know crap about softball~ ?(I'm not bash ing ALL ?hs coaches!!! ?My coach JUST decided to start coaching fp softball last season! ?I know some hs coaches are outstanding such as my own travel ball coach. ?Those hs play ers are very lucky!)

4) ?When you try to explain something to your hs coach, he laughs in your face and critizes you and then goes and makes jokes about it to the other girls and coaches.

5) ?Your coach tells you everything you're doing is wrong, you're wrong, and he's right (of course he's right! ?He's been coaching for oh so long). ?It's worked for you for 10 odd years, you've been 1st string catcher for 3 years, and 2 time MVP. ?But... he's right.

6) ?Your hs coach tells you what you think and feel (emotionally and physically) is incorrect and stupid.

7) ?The hs coach, because he's been coaching fp and hs ball for SO long, knows EVERYTHING!!! ?He doesn't care about quest, statisics, and/or facts. ?His way is right because he said so.

8.) Your hs coach points you out from the whole team to say something about your "incorrect, stupid" ways of playing. ?It's fine to do that, don't get me wrong. ?But when he starts mocking you and laughing because you're getting mad/very embarrassed, that's just crossing the line!

9) ?Travel ball is better, more fun, and a heck of a lot more competitive (on most levels!) so why not put all focus on that?

*And last but not least and certainly no less important*

10) ?You go into your highschool season knowing you're a good player and better than what the coach makes you out to be, but you leave your hs season convinced you're a horrible player and don't deserve to be on a any team- hs OR travel.

This post is not intended to bash or offend any player and/or any coach of the hs and/or travel league. ?These reasons are MY personal reasons reflected towards ONE particular person and no one else. ?

 

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Wow, did you talk to your parents about this coach? If so why and how were you able to stick it out ? It's too bad that your season went so wrong. My oldest DD had a bad experience last year, we decided to stick it out, but she decided not to play this past year. It was heart breaking for us as parents, but we let her make the decision. Best of Luck, just do what is in your heart. B's Dad

 

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Luck
Unfortunately it sounds like you had a truly difficult and unrewarding High School experience. Since I am not familiar with your situation, I won't try to comment on specific issues. What I would encourage you to keep in mind is that there is something to learn from every situation, EVEN IF it is only to help you modify your own behavior because of the impact you may have on others. Most of us have had a boss that knew less then we did, they were still the boss. I would be willing to bet that there are players out here from good summer programs that went to college, and had to make changes in their game. In the short time I have been involved in this game hitting philosophies have changed and evolved, from "it's not baseball" to at least the idea there are "many similarities". Your summer coach may be 100% right, and HS 100% wrong, but maybe not.

 

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Providing everything you say is true, that coach should not be coaching. ? ?Those types of actions are beyond softball to how you treat a human being, ?and that sure as heck isn't the right way. ? ?Everybody deserves to be treated with respect no matter if they are the worst player or the best player on the team. ? I have seen the same types of behavior by coaches for travel teams both baseball and fastpitch. ? ?I hope you get a new coach and have a better hs season this coming year. ?Bs_Dad is right, ?I would let my parents know about this abusive behavior.

 

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WishforLuck,

So sorry to hear you had such a difficult H.S. experience. Coaches like that have no business coaching, and unfortunately, if that type of abuse continues on and on, you start to believe it, even though you know in your heart that it is not true.

If that coach is returning to the H.S., I would not put yourself through that again. Go to the clinics, or get some lessons, or find a league of other players who are not playing H.S. ball. Do something you would enjoy to help keep you active and improving your game.

However, if the coach is not returning, please be open enough to give the team and the new coach a try. With the right coaching, H.S. ball can be very rewarding and fun!!!

Good luck to you!

 

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I truly hate to hear about coaches such as you described. Seems that you know what your abilities are, don't let him ruin the sport, or the HS experience for you. Move beyond it and focus on your game, the more you succeed the bigger a@! he looks like.

Just curious, how did your HS team do last year and how many of the girls still want to play?

Good Luck to you!

Doug
Breakers of Rocky River

 

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unfortunately , the school unions have a big part in someone like this getting that position. i was the varsity coach at my dd's h.s. as a parent (played 4 nights myself, coached rec ball for yrs) for 2 yrs that noone wanted the job. and had a good core of younger girls (soph) and even better freshman coming in. well, as soon as we had a winning season, a teacher figured he'd try his hand at coaching (not to mention pad his check) even tho he never set foot on a field before or knew anything about the game. example: his idea of teaching how to play outfield was print off things on the net and pass them out like a english test. i saw this same guy throw up the ball 3 times before getting a dribbler hit to s.s. in practice. anyway, being a member of the teachers union, he had priority over me, and was handed the job, no questions asked. needless to say the program went to hell, half the girls now dont play for school, and i now have my younger daughter thinking about doing the same thing youre talking about doing. school ball is a waste of time under someone like this, you dont learn anything but bad habits. so i definitly feel for you and hope things work out for the best...

 

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WoW ! Where do some of you people live ? Floyd Co. Ky. ??
LoL..I have never heard so many bad things about school ball until the last year or two. If the things you say in the original post are true ?...Then I wonder why your parents let you play the whole season if you were so miserable and distraught.
You could have quit and found a travel team at anytime if you are truly that good. School Unions do have a Seniority rule, but our contract says that The coach has to be ok'd by the Athletic Board, and being friends with board members won't cut it. If the school system you talk about allows this, then I bet Every sport in your district is a mess also. Good luck with your travel ball

 

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im not sure where youre at, but the incident i referred to was in dayton, ohio and there wasnt a athletic board to go thru.

 

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and yes, most dayton public schools athletics are a joke compared to other systems.

 

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Ou812,

Her parents probably felt that it would be an important life lesson. You'll run into jerks the rest of your life, don't let them make you a quitter. I applaud her and her parents for sticking it out. Her parents obviously provided much needed emotional support and now she is stronger for it. It sucks that it ever happened, but as the saying goes "when your handed lemons, make lemonade".

 

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Softball is an afterthought in MANY schools. Quality coaching is not what is looked for, just any taecher who will "take" the job. The coach mentioned above should not coach any sport, for that matter I don't want a person like that teaching my child anything!!!

 

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i had a similar experiance in my hs, so i dind't play. i played travel bell two years, then tried out for a college team, and i still got a scholarship. hs ball is not the end of the world. all you do is take what you learned not to do from that coach, and apply it later on.

ashley

 

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what district are u from ou812

 

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DMc,

Looks like that "teacher" that just took the job didn't do a good job teaching you spelling?

 

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Why is it that I feel like I have heard or read this story 100 times?

 

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Jam,
There is a difference between typos and bad spelling.

I have a BA and a MEd and I am frequently guilty of typos.

 

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Rich
As you are aware you have read this story a hundred times or more. ?Some of the gripes about high school coaches are definetely real, and with all of the high school sports programs there are bound to be some great coaches, many very average coaches and some poor coaches. ?The same goes for travel teams. ?Look at the number of teams that fold, have kids constantly coming and going etc.
There is an excellent article in a recent Readers Digest about the propensity of today's parents trying to make sure their child has the perfect childhood, instead of a good childhood that helps them become responsible adults. ?
Life has setbacks, and times that seem less then fun. ?Some of these will even prove to be crossroads in your life. ?What you do with them will have more of an effect on your life then whether the coach knew the difference between a bunt and a slap. ?

 

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Wow, did you talk to your parents about this coach? If so why and how were you able to stick it out ? It's too bad that your season went so wrong. My oldest DD had a bad experience last year, we decided to stick it out, but she decided not to play this past year. It was heart breaking for us as parents, but we let her make the decision. ? Best of Luck, just do what is in your heart. ?B's Dad

B's dad, do you play high school fastpitch? The 'we' part is the problem, just let the kids play. Some parents need to get their own identity, B's dad, what is that? seriously.

 

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What do yo mean? WE decided as her parents to let her make the decision to stay with the team the rest of the season. If it was mine to make I would have pulled her, but she wanted to stay and not be a quitter. Then let her make her own decision to play or not to play the next year. We loved to watch her play ball, but if she wasn't going to be happy, WHY force her.