playing time concern.

daboss

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Goals are good!
Coaches who pay attention to players goals and communicate both individual and team goals are preferred.

Coaches who don't communicate are trying to grow mushrooms in the dark.

And with this, welcome to school ball. lol.

Perhaps welcome to playing sports in general.

I feel like much has been said. I feel like I have much more to share but it's going to be redundant of what's already been shared. However, I will share my family's personal experience with high school ball using my daughter's experience.

As she approached high school age both of us were big fans of the varsity team. We knew a lot of the girls from travel ball. There was no reserve program at our school. We looked at the roster and knew there were only going to be 2 starting positions immediately open when Shelby would be a freshman trying out for the team. 3rd base and a backup pitcher primarily playing first base would graduate. Those 2-3 years leading up to Shelby's freshman year she worked on 3rd base and began taking pitching lessons. By her freshman year, she was a honed & travel ball seasoned 3rd baseman, and capable of throwing strikes with 70% accuracy. I categorized her as a backup pitcher. This with her hitting skills had her batting 5th in the varsity line up as a freshman. She remained in the line up and lettered all 4 years with league, county, and regional honors. She got this recognition after being nominated by opposing coaches, not her own. He didn't like her but couldn't ignore her talents to play her daily.

Point is; we had a plan. Yes, I was involved in the process but I left her to decide if this was what she wanted to do. 3rd base is referred to as the "Suicide Corner" for a reason and if she weren't comfortable playing there daily with girls 4 years older than her during an era when many high school teams resorted to small ball, I would have understood. Fact is, she embraced it and became one of the best 3rd basemen in the entire area. She could catch fly balls too..........

We didn't go into those 4 years of school ball to un-seat an upper class-man but we were fully aware that at any given time her defensive job could be tested. This was before the FLEX player option but to be honest, the only real reason she could have lost her playing time would possibly been her hitting. She struggled with experienced pitching as a freshman yet as hard as the coach tried he couldn't replace her with anyone else in his roster. Yes, he tried.

My final point is to believe you cannot be replaced is beyond naive. When coaches build a team from scratch the positions they should be seeking are; Pitcher, Catcher, 3rd Base, and 1st Base in that order. Some will argue but trust me these positions are golden in fastpitch softball. Except for pitchers, even these positions would need to be hitters. I laugh inside when I hear parents brag of their shortstop daughters because in the big picture, I rank that position 7th in importance when recruiting. This is not baseball.

2-time Olympic medalist Leah Obrien-Amico tells of her illustrious high school and travel ball career as a pitcher before being recruited by the great Mike Candrea at Arizona. As a freshman she found herself in the dugout with 8 other pitchers. Candrea recruited pitchers, then relied on them to play other positions while he sorted out the very best to be his bullpen. She soon learned that simply throwing 62-65 mph fastballs was only average in college and if she wanted to play in the line up she needed to hone her skills for another position. She was left-handed hitter with lightning speed so she went to the outfield where she settled in for the remaining years of her career, earning 2 gold medals along the way.

Off topic a little but word of advice; You want to play D1 college softball, learn to spin the ball around and up & down a telephone poll, run like a deer, consistently drive the ball over the fence, and be top of your class in grades. With all that you'll still need to earn your spot in the line up...........
 

SbSpirit

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Add to any of the comments posted, travel ball is not exempt from the situation.
And not all High School coaches are lousy communicators.
That said,
basically favoritism has no boundaries.
 

MarianneSherman

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Goals are always good and i have always pushed the girls to have small goals and long-term goals. In fact, we would have a grease board in our dugout, and each player would write down individual goals and team's goals for each game. It really worked great. I think a player should play where the TEAM needs her, not where she wants to play. If she only wants to play 3rd and her or her parents throw a hissy fit if she isn't playing 3rd, i don't want that family on my team. You do know what TEAM means right? not being a smart azz... T-OGETHER E-ACH A-CHIEVE M-ORE,More suggestions can be found at AI Mirror APK Premium Unlocked

So to sum it up, yes have goals to play specific positions but if it doesn't work out because of various reasons already listed, you better have a backup plan. and YES i will say again, it is good for players to play various positions. It's a good thing, not a bad thing.

lets say player "A" has played 3rd base all her travelball career.... gets to HS but there is a junior that already plays 3rd and probably will for 2 years.... player "A" doesnt know how to play SS or 2nd or OF because she only played 3rd..... great player, good offensively but only 9 players get to start. Now what? -- IF player "A" was developed during her growing years in travel and her coach played her and taught her to play various positions, she will have a better chance playing varsity or at a college somewhere, ESPECIALLY if she is a great offensive player. (the old saying- if you can hit, they will find a position for you to play). Most elite teams, ALL players have primary and secondary positions... some play 3 or 4 but the minimum they all should be playing at least 2 positions. JMHO from a lot of years coaching. :)
They suggested there should be a grease table in the vault so that each player could write down their individual and team goals for each match. The author believes that players should play where the team needs them, not just where they want to play. They also emphasize the importance of having a backup plan if a player's primary position fails for a variety of reasons. I think playing in many different positions will benefit the players. This gives them more opportunities to contribute to the team, while also making them more versatile and valuable players. Developing players in their adult years with traveling ball and teaching them to play in a variety of positions will give them a better chance to play in another team or at a certain university, especially especially if they are good attacking players.
 

GeoffreyClarke

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It's important to remember that coaches are human and make mistakes, just like everyone else. If you're concerned about the coach's decision, it might be worth having an open and respectful conversation with them to better understand their reasoning. It's also important to approach this conversation with a growth mindset and a willingness to learn and improve.
 

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