Help me out about parents/players that jump teams

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Oh my!! And I thought our season was bad with non-committed players!! What bothers me the most, is that there are 16U girls who are playing their final year at 16U that can now not attend a nationals because of them!!

They should be able to get a release to play Nationals with another team.
 
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If their season is over after this weekend, they do not need a release as they will not be participating in championship play. They will need a player pick up form that can be downloaded from the respective web sites.
 
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They should be able to get a release to play Nationals with another team.

It's okay! Our team is still playing with some pick up players. We decided to go to a showcase instead of nationals anyway. I think it will be better all around for the remaining players and the pick up players.
 
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I have seen kids this year be on 3 different teams. (not subbing) For these situations it is the parents. I bet you when the daughter opens up her closet she has 6 uniforms over the past 2 years. It is sad and I feel for the kids.

I generally look at parents more that the player at tryouts. You will always have 1 or 2 "situations" throughout the year. Just need to communicate the best you can throughout the season.
 
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I really like this post and you pretty much nailed it.

I have to say, I am a little disturbed at the idea of "blackballing" players and don't understand what the purpose of such an act would be. Obviously, it would never come to fruition, but I cannot imagine as an adult, being SO angry at a teenage girl for moving on from my team that I would wish her to not be able to play anymore. This is only a moment in time in these young ladies lives and they deserve to be happy. For every boo hoo story a coach has about a player jumping ship, there is another side of the story as to why the player chose to go in another direction. I suppose there are exceptions where a player is truly just a team jumper. It seems some coaches take it way too personally when a player leaves. Why not cut your losses, wish her well and move on?



If a player is told by a coach that she is being brought on to play position 'x' and all of a sudden is playing position 'Y'....then a conversation is in order....if coach explains how he is going to work DD in to position 'x'to and you agree....but over the next six months your DD only gets 5 innings in 25 games at the position she was brought on to play AND she happens to be good at it...why would you waste an entire summer NOT playing that position? This game is played to develop young ladies for bigger things but they only have a limited number of years to play it...they won't be 13 forever...just my opinion.
 
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I have seen kids this year be on 3 different teams. (not subbing) For these situations it is the parents. I bet you when the daughter opens up her closet she has 6 uniforms over the past 2 years. It is sad and I feel for the kids.

I generally look at parents more that the player at tryouts. You will always have 1 or 2 "situations" throughout the year. Just need to communicate the best you can throughout the season.

Actually this is pretty simple. Prescribe to the principle that when you join a team it is a one season commitment for both the coach and the player. If the team dissolves mid season (barring injuries, etc.), then someone didn't follow that principle - period.

The big red flag is nearly always "helicopter parents" who are afraid of letting their daughter fail. Their kids never do any wrong, and they will tell you so. You can easily pick these parents out at 10u tryouts yelling commands to their kids on the sidelines, while the parents who "get it" are far off from the sidelines not saying a word until a tryout is over. For some unknown reason, these yelling parents don't understand that coaches simply don't have the time to deal with overbearing parents AND try to coach a youth softball team.

It is a shame that the kids in youth sports are the ones who get punished for their own parent's actions. I advise paying very close attention to OTHER parents at a tryout. While the coaches are observing the kids on the field, YOU should be observing the other parents. How are they handling themselves? Are they pacing around and looking nervous? Are they "command yellers"? Just remember these are the people you'll be spending your summer with, so be selective. If you are one of those standing on the sidelines yelling at your daughter, stop and think long and hard about what you are doing. Sometimes a good long look in the mirror is in order.
 
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My DD was the #1 pitcher on her team. She was a 5th year 10u player. Had every right to have the weight of her team on her shoulders. I told the head coach that that we didn't want her to pitch 90% of the time... she had pitched 24 games in 23 days as a 9u player to follow it up with 19 games in 17 day in 2011. WE HAD TO HAVE A SECOND AND THIRD PITCHER!...We moved her up to 12u, understanding that she would sacrifice pitching time for a chance to learn a position. She earned a spot at third, batting 4 hole on a 12u team, and earned a pitching spot as the #2 pitcher. and still had to justify why she was where she was...To the parents. I don't know where you just tip you hat to a player and say you are what you are. Not trying to justify...but feel like it was referenced in this thread.


It sounds like you should of moved to 14u team or consider moving to the west coast or the south where her talents would be appreciated. I'm just guessing here,but i think you were on a really bad team or you were the coach of your DD. Hard to believe there was not a 12 year old who could not play third better then a 10 year old. Since she was second pitcher she must of pitched at least 2 complete games every weekend, how was her stamina? Was she just as strong on the 4th inning as the first? As you can probably tell,I'm a parent that does not have a DD but a girl that has to earn a spot . If shes that good, why isn't she playing for the Lazers or another quality origination. When you decide to coach a team the best interest of all the girls should be first not the agendas of the coaches and their DD. I would be the first in line to congratulate her if she was that good, sounds like the parents didn't agree with you. I will be looking for Ohio Attack this summer.
 
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Everyone is looking at the player/parents for reasons for jumping ship. What a bout an organization that insists that you commit in early July for the following season?

The premise is they would take the top four off of our current team (1st year 14U, combine them with 5 or 6 that could still play 14U next season from the second year, very successful, team and pick up one or two at tryouts. The stipulation was that the only way to assure this team can combine is if everyone commits now and those who would not commit could not be guaranteed a spot. This seemed like a great idea and everyone supposedly was on board and next season was set so there was no need for tryouts for any of the girls.

All four of our girls committed to this hand-picked team and in the fall when the team finally got together it wasn't anything close to what was promised. In reality instead of a strong second year team, our girls were put onto the 12U team moving into their first year of 14U and no, there were none of the second year girls on the team as promised.

Now, we committed to this team based on the promises made by the organization. We held up our end of the agreement, the organization did not. I realize that when you go to tryouts you don't know who is going to be on your team, and that team may be strong or may not. That being said, had we been given the scenario of our girls playing on the 12U team, we would have gone to tryouts and considered looking for another team.

Needless to say we bailed pretty quickly and gave our reason for leaving as the organizaion misleading us into an early committment. I feel we did the right thing and would do it over again in a heartbeat.
 
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One Issue I have seen, for instance, is where an older girl that is a stud catcher could be #1 catcher on one team, #3 or 4 hitter and the team they left have won tournaments and is very competetive (and gets along fine)...but decides to play on a team that has a suposedly bigger reputation in the state for top players and ends up being an outfielder that plays half the time and is #9 on the batting lineup. "Maybe" catches for 1 inning in a tournament....only to come to find out this top team is not winning any more tournaments than the team where she would have been a standout. Where is the sense in this?? Biggest problem is either ego with the kid or the parents that think becasue their Kid is on "X" team or organization...they have a better shot a getting into college. There may be "some" truth to this line of thought...but have seen a girl go to 4 teams in 4 years becasue they are chasing the "name" only to have their daughter not play her position. How is that good for her??
 
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Had a player quit just because she wanted to play with a friend on another team. That is another reason some players hop from team to team. They nor their parents realize what they do to a team when they jump ship just to chase friends.
 
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It is only called team jumping if you do it during the season.
If you change teams during tryouts its called making a new team............seriously people..........the door swings both ways.
 
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One Issue I have seen, for instance, is where an older girl that is a stud catcher could be #1 catcher on one team, #3 or 4 hitter and the team they left have won tournaments and is very competetive (and gets along fine)...but decides to play on a team that has a suposedly bigger reputation in the state for top players and ends up being an outfielder that plays half the time and is #9 on the batting lineup. "Maybe" catches for 1 inning in a tournament....only to come to find out this top team is not winning any more tournaments than the team where she would have been a standout. Where is the sense in this?? Biggest problem is either ego with the kid or the parents that think becasue their Kid is on "X" team or organization...they have a better shot a getting into college. There may be "some" truth to this line of thought...but have seen a girl go to 4 teams in 4 years becasue they are chasing the "name" only to have their daughter not play her position. How is that good for her??


I agree with you as I have seen the same thing happen. Average player (with a disgruntled parent) leaves previous team "W" and starts on team "X". She plays every inning of every game in her designated position, bats 3rd or 4th in the lineup every game, team has terrific chemistry, gets hardware at every tourney played, leaves at the end of the season to go to "Y" because of their college connections. That season ends and decides it wasn't greener on the other side after all and has now left and is playing for "Z".

Just wondering what college coaches think when they see a girl has played travel ball for let's say 8 years and has played on 6 different teams? I know my first instinct would be that there is either a problem with the player or with the parents and I wouldn't give them a second look. I wouldn't think a college coach would have time or desire to deal with overbearing parents with large egos.

I know of a player in a different sport that played on a team for 2 seasons and never won a single game. That player is now playing in the Big 10 as a starter. In my humble opinion, if you are really that good, you don't have to continue to seek college coaches out. They will find you.
 
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Some may frown or agree with me,but my only commitment is to my family and life goes by so fast and the same with softball. If there is a serious problem I take care of it and if that means jumping ship then so be it. Only done this one time but my dd went from bad sitiuation to a great big smile as she had always done in the past. It was the best move for my dd. There was a lot of problems with this coach and it just kept building. That team stayed together only 1 more year and some parents have aproached me saying that they wished that they had seen what I did earlier and my # 1 advice was and still is to do whats best for your daughter because she is # 1.
 
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I agree with you as I have seen the same thing happen. Average player (with a disgruntled parent) leaves previous team "W" and starts on team "X". She plays every inning of every game in her designated position, bats 3rd or 4th in the lineup every game, team has terrific chemistry, gets hardware at every tourney played, leaves at the end of the season to go to "Y" because of their college connections. That season ends and decides it wasn't greener on the other side after all and has now left and is playing for "Z".


Just wondering what college coaches think when they see a girl has played travel ball for let's say 8 years and has played on 6 different teams? I know my first instinct would be that there is either a problem with the player or with the parents and I wouldn't give them a second look. I wouldn't think a college coach would have time or desire to deal with overbearing parents with large egos.

I know of a player in a different sport that played on a team for 2 seasons and never won a single game. That player is now playing in the Big 10 as a starter. In my humble opinion, if you are really that good, you don't have to continue to seek college coaches out. They will find you.

I don't know but I wouldn't think playing for several different teams would count for much with a college coach. Too many teams don't stay together for reasons outside the kids control. How many teams form at 10u and stay together through 18u and I mean same head coach and core players? I wouldn't think it's a majority of teams. I too would be interested in hearing what college coaches say.
 
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It is only called team jumping if you do it during the season.
If you change teams during tryouts its called making a new team............seriously people..........the door swings both ways.

Im a coach and I agree with that.
 

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