THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!!!!

steve77621

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I have been around softball for almost 20 years now and I used to post on here a lot more back in the day. There isn’t much that I haven’t seen or heard about in this sport during that time. There is so much that I see wrong now. From the money grab tournaments, rip off tournaments (that don’t even take place, rain outs that keep 50+ % of the $, stay to play, $10 or $20 per person per day to get in (making softball unaffordable for some families, which is incredibly sad to me), screaming parents and coaches at each other and umpires (It’s no wonder we can’t get umpires or coaches without kids on the team).

I wanted to tell some positive stories. Last weekend my 2nd baseman dove head first after running into shallow right field in foul territory and caught the ball for a second and when she hit the ground, the ball came out of her glove. Because of the rain and the mud she was soaking wet and covered in mud. Not only did the Akron Racers 09 parents and coaches stand, and applaud the effort she gave, but some of them had some towels that they had brought and helped dry her uniform and clean her up. It was absolutely amazing, first class, and exactly what we should see in youth sports.

This weekend in the championship game, I had a girl triple into the gap and slide head first into 3rd base and get a mouthful of dirt and some in her eyes. Before I could even ask her if she was ok, the Lady Rebels 10’ coach was on the field with a bottle of water for her and trying to see if he could help her in anyway. It was really nice to see parents and coaches who realize win or lose that the game is supposed to be about the kids.
 

DanMaz

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hey Steve we go wayyyyy back. I respect you as a coach and I believe the same way goes for you. last year was my last year coaching. Do i miss it? yes. i miss the coaching, the kids, the atmosphere and all the good stuff watching kids learn and grow through the tough through the good and through the bad. you grow from it.... but the stuff you're talking about in the 1st half of your post is exactly what's wrong with the sport today. we used to get a laugh out of the loudest group of parents / teams was always the younger ages and as we approched the complex you could usually hear where the younger ages were playing because the PARENTS were always the loudest. it takes a few years for the PARENTS to settle down and usually by 16u they do. but prior to that can be a circus. not to mention the Biden economy disaster and everything costs so much compared to anytime my DD's were playing. I dont think I could do today what we did back then and travels from Boulder to Atlanta and Tennesse and so on..... and put 2 DD's through it and a son in travel basebal.... in fact i dont know how the hell we did it then.. lol WOW you travel parents are NUTS! lol :rolleyes:
 

Stedman00

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watching and listening to 10u play, it's just amazing the parents. Every play 10+ parents screaming "tag her". and the parents carrying the players stuff (start them early... supervised, but carry their own stuff). And the parents riding the umps on every pitch. BTW - the river is not a strike.

took me about 10 mins to be reminded why i coach 18u and will not go back to those younger ages.
 

steve77621

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Good to hear from you Dan, it’s sad that you’re not coaching anymore. You were definitely one of the good ones. But I completely get why you gave it up, it’s such a business now. If you want to go down south it’s $1200 + to play, plus stay to play, and then either a $400 to $600 team parking fee or $10 to $20 a person per day to get in. It’s insane what this has turned into. I remember my daughter subbing for you in Myrtle Beach and it was free to get in. I miss the good old days.
 

DanMaz

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agree! when i saw a certain Org flat out double fees for gate entry and then demand a player fee to go to "the big guy" from each player in the organization... for what??? its a joke. nothing but a big azz money grab. someone pretends it's for the girls but it's for the wallet not the girls.
you dont have to play on the big name orgs to get into college people. don't believe the D1 hype all or nothing garbage!! there are literally thousands of colleges out there and very beautiful ones you have never even heard of before. D1, D2, D3 it doesn't matter. softball will end.... life goes on... get your education in order and prepare for the real part of life. :)
 

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