Coaches wanting to play injured players?

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According to wgman21, the daughter insisted on playing and her father shut her down. I know my DD will deny she is injured, say and it doesn't hurt and is fine, and do whatever it takes to get to play whatever sport she is involved in at the moment. It is usually when she tries to play that we recognize that she needs to stop. She is not going to take herself out of the game or admit to any pain.

 

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Our catcher was injured on a slide into second a several weeks back, she couldn't finish out that game but insisted the next day on playing (she's tuff as nails) Coaches weren't crazy about the idea but they let her play. They put her in left field and my dd caught her very first game. First time up to bat she got a nasty inside pitch and had to jump back on both feet and that was it for two weeks. She clearly needed to heal and although my dd's only experience with catching was with our pitcher at her weekly lessons, she continued to catch until this young lady could heal. It's all a part of the game!! My dd wasn't crazy about having to be behind the plate for two weeks and obviously our catcher wasn't crazy about being out but at the end of the day atleast she was able to get healed up so she could finish out the season.

 

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regardless, i know lots of parents that are from the old school, they dont see a bone or blood and they slap their glove on the DD's lap and say play...i also have played with doctor's DD's who can analyze every scrape and give it a name, and hypochondriac parents that surround their DD is a bubble any time they sneeze..there's always that story of the workhorse who broke down before college, but there are hundreds of stories otherwise...unless there is an x-ray and diagnosis, clearly debatable

 

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It is ultimately up to the parents not the coach on the health of their DD. In this case the coach was the parent and sometimes the expectations can be a bit much for a coaches daughter however; we all must keep in mind the parents are the ones ultimately responsible for their child.
Mine suffered a slightly torn ligament in her ankle playing football at softball camp several weeks ago. (Long story)
I took her to our orthopedic and he said "no pitching/catching but; fitted her with a brace and said third and first is ok" as long as she can handle the discomfort with Adville or Tylenol.
I let her play and she has been doing "ok" however; all kids are different and if I noticed a lower level of play or anything out of the ordinary I would have her sitting next to me instead of risking long-term injury.
If a coach ever suggested otherwise I would look for another coach.

 

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just curious....what age group?

This is 12U, and powerlesshitter has it backwords, DD is pressuring me to play.

 

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Whatever Ringer! You have to many injured players to bench anyone. Maybe you should sleep with your stealth tonight. LMAO

Another ....UH OH....

 

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I've been doing this a long time and this situation really is not that complicated. Every coach's responsibility starts with the safety and well being of the player regardless of the player's or parent's opinion. An observant coach can see whether a player is performing at their normal level. When that level deminishes and an injury is apparent and identified, the player sits. I AM THE ADULT IN CHARGE, I need to stand up and make the correct decision for the well being of the player. It has nothing to do with the outcome of a game or tournament. That's just the way it's going to be. Any coach and parent or coach/parent who plays it any other way is simply feeding their own needs. Kids get hurt, and that may change the outcome of a game, so what, there's always other players and more games to play.

 

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Thunder, I could not have put it any better. We are talking 12U, right? What can she possibly gain by playing with a broken tail bone? I understand completely that you want to instill some "toughness" in the girls, but playing with a broken bone goes beyond crazy. Speaking from experience, the moments of pleasure playing are not worth the long term risks. I was a very good baseball pitcher who was basically abused abck before there were innings limits. I took the ball whenever I was asked, just popped advil to get through the pain. It was great to compete and win games, but when I started college by getting shut down for two months and essentially getting to play only two out of my four years, I realized it just was not worth it.

Those who never have been in this situation may not understand. Those who care more about winning than what it may do to their players will never understand. Fortunately for those I coach, I understand and work everyday on developing girls at different positions so we have depth in case of an injury. After all, it is what coaching is all about isn't it? Or are there too many who just recruit talent and don't teach the skills of the game?

 

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I know a college coach who doesn't believe in injuries. If a trainer will not allow a player to play, he yells at the trainers. There were two players in need of surgery that played injured this past spring, and one hurt her ankle (swollen and black and blue) on a slide at home.

One of them needing surgery had her scholarship taken away until he knew the results of the surgery. This is after she played an entire season injured and played part of the previous season injured. She now has no scholarship and does not get to play her senior year.

 

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Our DD has been limited this year. During HS conditioning, she complained of knee pain. She was sent to the trainer daily for ice, but she still participated in all activities.
One day, after a very long run (2-3 miles) she apparently was in tears (but still going) and an assistant coach basically told her to knock it off, she couldn't be in that much pain (they thought she was mad about the running apparently).
Around that same time, they were doing wall sits, when they were yelling at her to go lower, she told them she was in pain and couldn't go down any further. An assistant coach came over and physically pushed her down further (she was already at nearly 90%).
We took her to the doc, got an MRI and she had a severely torn meniscus that required surgery before the start of the school ball season.

Lessons learned...1)Listen to the kid - I know that mine only complains when she is really hurting. As parents - we should have gotten her checked sooner and not relied on the school trainer. 2) Coaches need to know their players and their personal limitations. You can't cookie cutter the kids and expect them to all be able to perform the same. You have to have some allowances. 3)Parents/coaches need to talk. If a parent believes their child is being pushed too far and is dealing with an injury, they need to be able to discuss this with the coach without fear of repurcussions - otherwise you have kids who won't tell parents about injuries because they don't want to lose playing time. Coaches need to be approachable.

Sorry for the rant, but other than that, my DD's season went well. She really liked her coach (not the same as the ones mentioned above) and after her surgery, they worked with her to get her back in the lineup and she played a decent amout for the last 3 weeks of the HS season.

 

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crm, good story..i'd like to also mention the one girl on the team that is perpetually sick/hurt/crying/complaining..when she gets hurt, how should a coach approach them? **** it up or bench her? get a doctors note or deal with it and move on? and what of the girls on the team? do they think, "geez, i'm sore too, but i'm running sprints and making diving catches!" or do they sympathize depending on who it is..dealing with girls, they are all sympathetic one minute, stabbing u in the back the next

 

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crm, good story..i'd like to also mention the one girl on the team that is perpetually sick/hurt/crying/complaining..when she gets hurt, how should a coach approach them? **** it up or bench her? get a doctors note or deal with it and move on? and what of the girls on the team? do they think, "geez, i'm sore too, but i'm running sprints and making diving catches!" or do they sympathize depending on who it is..dealing with girls, they are all sympathetic one minute, stabbing u in the back the next

My daugther is one of those girls who cries wolf -- she gets a splinter and screams like a two-year old when i remove it. I started just dismissing her complaints. Back when she was in rec ball, she popped a ligament in her arm out of place. She told me it hurt to move (she had been irritated about something else so i just told her to go bat). I continued on telling her that if it hurt that bad then she had better only swing once and make it count. She did and got a home-run but after she got home and was crying about her arm, I felt really guilty! I think she learned not to cry wolf so bad and I learned to pay more attention when she says she is hurt.

 

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statman,
On DD's school team, there weren't any whiners. If they complained, it was serious - usually ended up at the dr., on crutches, in braces on something was splinted (fingers). However, on our summer team that my spouse coaches, he has discussed the difference between hurting and being injured. If you're hurting, aching, sore, you are going to be expected to play as everybody has aches and pains - especially by game 3 or 4 in a single day. However, if they feel it's a true injury, he will discuss it with the parents and go from there. It also has to be taken into consideration if a player is on any regular prescription medication that can make them more susceptible to feeling ill - some meds make kids more intolerant of the heat and they will just need to take a break and sit a game.
Fastpitchersmom -
Don't feel bad - I know a case where a girls hand got in front of her glove before the ball got there and she took a hard shot to the hand. She complained a little but the parents basically told her to get over it and play. They took her for an x-ray after the game and found out that she had a broken bone in her hand.

 

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Sounds like this is a personal issue between the coach and his DD, and should remain there. Thread closed.