Is it right....

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No, it's none of his or her business. Unless you signed a contract when you joined the team stating you would not.

 

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Well, we had a travel coach around here tell that to some girls last year.

 

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Yep, and there are a lot of high school coaches like me that wonder why these travel ball kids don't come back the following year any better then they were the year before......

I heard this one over the weekend :lmao:

 

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Could not disagree more. I have never had a coach ask me about a players HS play or stats. Besides a few open dates in the spring college coaches don't even go watch HS games. Trust me - at the recruitable tournaments a bad attitude player won't play for a showcase team. It looks bad for the rest of the players. And I doubt a quality team would accept a player like you described.

Now with that said, a travel coach should NEVER tell a player not to play on her HS team. Just as a HS coach should NEVER tell a player which travel team to play for.

Not only is it wrong. It' stupid. College Coach would always want to know/see how a kid does in their school program as much and sometiimes more then travel. There are all kinds os superstars out there and have the worst attitude in the world. That **** doesn't hold up in High School. Always a red flag when sally all star in Travel is sitting the bench or better yet didn't make the HS Team because nobody wants her on the team.

 

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I coach in both travel and school. I HOPE all of the travel players love the game so much that they would leap at the opportunity to play more games in the Spring. Being a pitcher's parent, it is an opportunity to face well over 100 batters before the tournament season even starts! I say the coach should encourage their participation and should not discourage it except in extreme cases. Parents of travel players should be versed enough to handle the possible conflicts with a school coach that may be trying to get their DD to do something different from their travel/specialty coaches have them working on.

 

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Teach the player to smile and nod......

I coach in both travel and school. I HOPE all of the travel players love the game so much that they would leap at the opportunity to play more games in the Spring. Being a pitcher's parent, it is an opportunity to face well over 100 batters before the tournament season even starts! I say the coach should encourage their participation and should not discourage it except in extreme cases. Parents of travel players should be versed enough to handle the possible conflicts with a school coach that may be trying to get their DD to do something different from their travel/specialty coaches have them working on.

 

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To me there is something special about putting on your school colors and playing in front of the hometown fans and with your friends.

 

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Our JH program is sanctioned, and played 18 games last year. Some of the competition was good, some was awful. At first I was opposed to my daughter playing, but agreed. For 2 years I got to watch her play every inning of every game with a smile on her face. The most important thing wasn't winning, it was bonding with her friends and having fun above all else. I saw a group of girls improve together as a team, and the stronger girls pick up and help the weaker players. All in all, she grew as person. How can anyone find fault in that.

 

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Playing middle school ball allows kids to represent their school and play with friends that may not be at the same level as DD. DD may not be a "standout" on her travel team but may be the stud on the middle school team. I believe in building confidence in players and this is a great oppotunity for that as well. Yes, Middle school ball "may" not even come close to DD current travel team, (all though last year there was one 7th grade team that had 10 travel players on it) but she will still be practicing and getting playing ball. To tell a player not to play is selfish on the part of the coach and I would question reasoning for it.

 

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I feel if they play school ball it will improve them no matter how good or bad the team is in school. First they can help coach the other players. "You are only as strong as your weakest link." Second, sitting a few games and not playing helps them appreciate the time they do play. Plus some get to see the game from another position that they normally don't play. Finallly, they can set goals, our jr. high team keep school records, they set goals last year and reached most of them. By setting these goals it still challenged them while they where on this team. Setting more than 12 new records as a team and as individuals. Plus they made some great friends who they will now play with in High school. It's nothing but a win situiation. Even if the school team is horrible some thing good can alway come from it!!

 

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Agree that a travel ball coach has no right to ask their players not to play school/CYO ball, regardless of level. A lot of good can come out of school ball and it can be a very unique experience different than travel ball. I will stop short though of agreeing that it will improve their skills regardless of the competition and the coaching ... it occasionally can be a detriment, but probably still worth it in terms of the experience and their growth as young ladies.

 

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OK I'll be the fly in the ointment here. Last year we had a 12u team with mostly 7th graders, and a couple of 6th graders. Some went to schools with a softball team that was sanctioned, some club, and still others went to schools that offered nothing. Our team had an on line discussion weighing the pros and cons and what it would mean to the team if some of the kids played on sanctioned team. The parents on our team voted unanimously to forego school ball last year and stay together with travel. I can honestly say I didn't exert any undue influence in the outcome of the vote but I was happy with the outcome and I think our team benefitted by not sidelining the kids who didn't have a school option. I did get falsely accused on facebook by a former player (who was disgruntled) of not allowing one of her middle school classmates to participate. This year with almost all our kids being "seniors" (8th grade) in middle school, most will be playing with their school team. I am looking forward to watching some games as a parent and letting someone else take the reins for awhile!

 

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The fact that playing sanctioned ball was brought up to the team, and then the pros and cons discussed, and then a vote was taken could be viewed as coercive in nature - whether you meant it that way or not. I'm sure the parents of kids who were eligible to play sanctioned ball got nervous as to whether their kids playing time would be affected.

What did your team of 12 years olds have to show for the season of "staying together" and practicing? Do trophies outweigh the sense of pride/freindship that girls can gain by playing for the school. Point to those 10u and 12u trophies in a few years and see if your dd can even remember when she got them....most kids only remember the trophies they got for winning nationals- JUST my 2 cents

In our case with the relationship we have with our parents I would have known if anyone had felt this way. That fact was I was getting a lot of questions from the families of the kids who didn't have a school option so we had to know what everyone's intent was. In today's player market, not many travel coaches are in a position to threaten playing time (at least I wasn't), just glad to have good players. 9 out of 10 of our players returned this year and the one who didn't was one who's school doesn't have middle school ball. That's ok I've been called an Antichrist before I'm sure it won't be the last time before I'm done.

 

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Tony ... I think the approach you took makes sense and was fair ... especially at the age level of the girls we are talking about here. I would agree more with jennatyui and have an issue with it if it were at the high school level though.

Having played you guys fairly early in the summer season, I think the results showed. We had not practiced together much at that point due to other various spring commitments by our coaches and players, and you were a much more polished team at that point ... and actually probably for the entire summer for that matter.

 

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Tony ... I think the approach you took makes sense and was fair ... especially at the age level of the girls we are talking about here. I would agree more with jennatyui and have an issue with it if it were at the high school level though.

Having played you guys fairly early in the summer season, I think the results showed. We had not practiced together much at that point due to other various spring commitments by our coaches and players, and you were a much more polished team at that point ... and actually probably for the entire summer for that matter.

Thanks. I think the idea that a coach can't even have the conversation with the team is off base especially when you have a mix of kids who have the option with kids who don't. How else are you going to plan your season and budget for it? There is a lot that a 12u team can do in the months of March, April, and May. For kids who don't have a school option, that can also be a factor in deciding what travel team to play for.

In our case most of the eligible kids didn't have much interest in playing on the school team as 7th graders. As 8th graders it seems they do.

 

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Same here Buckeye Heat 97. I do not tell them one way or the other. I will say that if their school ball is sanctioned I would prefer they did not but that is their decision, not mine. If they want to play with their friends that is fine. You are only a kid once. I just wish some of the parents would realize that they are only a kid once as well.

great point about some parents!

 

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PLAY SCHOOL BALL The positives far out number the negatives! Your only a kid once

 

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What if the travel/select team your dd is on will possibly be playing 100 games or more during the season? There's always a chance the kid could burn out from too much ball. Personally I want my dd to play school, but will leave the decision up to her.

 

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What if the travel/select team your dd is on will possibly be playing 100 games or more during the season? There's always a chance the kid could burn out from too much ball. Personally I want my dd to play school, but will leave the decision up to her.

Always wondered if the talk about burnout in Cali. where they play twice as many games as us.

 

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Always wondered if the talk about burnout in Cali. where they play twice as many games as us.

Good point. Those girls are a little more "conditioned" for that of play I'm sure. I don't mean physical condition, but they've always played year round so to them its a way of life.