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I have heard of a age group in a well known organization telling two players from the team last year that they want them to return for the summer of 2009. One girl was even told by the head coach " You don't need to go to any other tryouts". The other girl was told that you can put all your eggs in one basket. To me this means he wants them back. One week later the girl that was told to "not tryout for any other teams" received a call telling her that she would not be back because one of the assistant coaches would leave with his daughter if she came back. The other girl was told that she was number 11 but the head coach would have to convince the assistant coach to have her back. The girl that was going to be 11 was told 2 weeks ago that she would be getting a call. That call has never came. Neither girl tried out for any other teams because of what the head coach had told them. Both girls are scrambling to try to find a team. I know some of you are thinking why not tryout out even though you were told this. I guess these two girls wanted to return and took the coach at his word.

The head coach wants both girls back but an assistant does not. Who has the final say in this?

Is this common practice to tell girls that you want them back and then decide not to have them back and to give them no logical explanation?

It has also been the assistant coach posting on this site for positions that these two girls play. Why would the assistant post if the head coach wants them back?

How many coaches invite a player back for the next year and then change their position?

How many coaches go into tryouts knowing who they would like back and look for specific players to fill specific positions?

Any insight would be great.

 

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It sounds to me that, even there may be a few buckets of them around the field, Head Coach doesn't have any balls.

Either for 1.) Not being up front with the girls in question.
or 2.) for not reminding his assisatant who runs the team.

You wouldn't want to play for this type of management anyhow.

Live and learn, I guess.

 

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Only wish we had public floggings for butt holes that would treat kids that way. Hope they see your post and realize what scum they are. Just my opinion but I don't want to be too harsh.

 

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As reported is definately wrong. Seems to be more problems than just those surronding these two players and may end up being a blessing.

 

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What problem does the assistant coach have with these two young athletes anyway? It sounds to me like maybe they were better than his own and he was worried about her playing time! JMHO

 

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Get rid of the asistant coach and send the head coach for some Testosterone injections. LoL

 

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Head of the org. should show some b's. This will definatly hurt their reputation and their chances to field the best possible team.

 

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Is the assistant going to threaten to take his game ball home everytime something comes up? Let him go is what I'd say. Someone else can be had with less headaches....

Head coach needs to step up and be just that. "Two oars going in the wrong direction just makes a boat go in big circles and nowhere fast....."

 

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Wow, either our kids play for the same organization or there are more idiot coaches out there than I imagined. My DD went through a very similar scenario.

 

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You should send the "head Coach" a gift basket with all of the above "gift" suggestions. He just saved you from a very bad choice of teams. Be happy you got out now.

 

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Sounds like this organization is going to go down hill fast with that kind of **** going on internally. Head coach means just that, grow some balls or give the head coach job to someone who has them.

 

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Situation is completely unacceptable. Sounds like a blessing in disguise. Be thankful you found out now. There is still time to find the right organization.

 

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What are these balls you speak of and how does one go about growing some?

Sincerely,
Rated “G” (or at least PG) postings

 

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What are these balls you speak of and how does one go about growing some?

Sincerely,
Rated ?G? (or at least PG) postings

I believe these are what they're talking about, jc---and I believe they grow naturally on fir trees.

 

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There are many great coaches, players and families in and around the game of softball. That being said - I have found there to be more frauds, want to be's, self proclaimed gurus in softball than any sport I have ever been affiliated with. I have met alot of dudes that somehow got to be a softball coach and outside of playing slo pitch softball (maybe) never played ball in their life. At best a year or two of baseball.

These dudes turn out to be the ones that mouth off and do stuff like what is described here. Anyone that wears a coaches hat should know that you play win or lose with the team you have. When it is over you figure your roster based on what you have witnessed in the season.
Your try outs must be as fair as possible otherwise you have given away your respect and open the door for issues like this. If an assistant coach told me that they would leave if a girl came back I would tell him to hit the road even if I planned on getting rid of the girl he complained about. The assistants actions shows conditional commitment which is typical of a loser and will only cause you future problems.

I think every player should try out.

In theory a coach should be able to identify on the bubble players, talk to them and their parents and explain they need to try out while other players dont and it should work.

Well - If you know and understand people today it just doesnt work. Too many parents believe their kid is great when they arent and you are just opening the door to their underlying belief that there is politics at play. Not only that but if these bubble players make the team their confidence within that team is shot since you have more or less told them they rank at the bottom.

Too many coaches living out some dream and fantasy through coaching softball. Dont ruin it for the kids. Everyone wants to win but do it by personally improving every player you have instead of always looking to replace someone.

Trouble is alot of these guys cant do it by improving their players.

 

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Don't scurry to find a team. You've got all fall and winter. Some teams will probably need some fill-ins for fall and winter ball and this can be used as a try-out. Go to some of the fall tournaments and let it be known that your DD is looking for a team. Coaches are always at tournaments looking for players, so why not players looking for teams. This will also give you a chance to see what the coaches are really like and what the team really needs.

 

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That Guy is my hero!! Couldn't have said it better!!! You know the truth will sting some of those "coaches".

 

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What problem does the assistant coach have with these two young athletes anyway? It sounds to me like maybe they were better than his own and he was worried about her playing time! JMHO

Could it be that the Girl ..while the Coach liked her and she was skilled. had Idiots for Parents ? That is SO Difficult forcoaches...I know I had to tell our Manager (as his asst.manager ) once,,, That we couldn't have a kid back again because her Pops was a Cancer. Seriously. He didn't want to go there . But Once we called him on it he agreed. And I felt Badly for the young lady. But this stuff was Every Game and it was Insane. But Our Skipper was going to bring her back , until we voiced our disapproval. And we had discussions with this Father several times during the year. To No Avail.

 

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I'm sure that in some cases, the parent is the reason some kids are not asked to return. I can't speak for the original poster, but I know in my DDs case, my spouse and I behaved ourselves to a "T". We sat back, watched the game, cheered for the entire team (even when our DD was on the bench) and NEVER spoke in a negative way about the coach to any other parent or our DD. We didn't want to be "those" parents. If we had something that we didn't understand/agree with, we discussed it between the 2 of us and if we felt the need, my spouse would contact the coach at some point during the week. I believe this happened only 1 time the entire summer and the coach agreed with us and admitted that he had been wrong, but had been feeling pressured by another parent to play their child. Keep in mind, we were not addressing playing time, we were addressing a strategy issue (see topic on how many pitchers to use during a game).
As far as my kid goes, anybody that has ever coached her (including her coach this past season) will say that as far as attitude goes, they wished they could have 12 of her on their team. She's always positive, upbeat and if not in the game, she's the loudest one cheering them on from the bench. She's not a stud player - just a good kid who gives 100% all the time and loves the game....and she's pretty decent on the diamond.
The organization that my DD played for last year has a pretty good reputation and we were very happy when she made the team last year. She really enjoyed herself, she liked her coach, and the other girls were great. She was really looking forward to playing with them next year, but thanks to the politics within the organization and the need to put the kids of friends on the team regardless of ability, those hopes were squashed (she was told at the tryout that there MIGHT not be a place for her this year).
The sad thing is, the coach doesn't have the guts to call and give her a definite yes/no (we know others who tried out who have been called). He's just leaving her hanging with a little shred of hope even though we know it's a NO.
My request to coaches is this.....grow a pair and be honest and upfront with your players. If you know they aren't going to be welcomed back the following season - tell them before they waste their weekend at your tryout when they could be going somewhere else where they may be wanted. Don't be cowards and sit back and just hope they don't show up so you don't have to deal with it.

Sorry for my rant...Can you tell I just hate it when the so-called adults screw over the kids.

 

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I almost fogot...ThatGuy hit the nail on the head. We can only hope that these types of coaches/assistants, organization directors, see themselves in this thread.

In our DD's case, we didn't have to "assume" politics were involved - we were given the details.