This is not what I signed up for. Is it time to leave?

[WWolff]

This is not what I signed up for. Is it time to leave? Written By Chez Sievers

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Oh, the conundrum of switching teams. This question tends to come up frequently on the message boards. Almost every parent and player has been faced with this burning question. Is there really a right answer? Every family has a different situation and a different set of variables to work with. We thought the coaching would be better. My daughter isn't getting better. We pay all this money but there are no college coaches at our games. Here are some questions you should sit down as a family and discuss to make the best possible decision.

1) What's important to you and your daughter ? This question is usually the driving force in your decision-making. The answers will vary. Rank these 9 choices by level of importance and then rate your team. You can always add another category to fit your needs. You can then use this list to measure where your current team ranks and others rank.

A. Competitiveness/Winning Record
B. Playing Time
C. Exposure
D. Coaching
E. Friendship
F. Distance
G. Values
H. Cost
I. Communication
J. Level of Enjoyment

2) Have you communicated with your coaches about your concerns ? If not, do this as soon as possible.

3) Is my daughter being challenged in a way that develops her skills, resiliency, and competitiveness ?

4. Will my daughter's performance and development grow or decline over time if we stayed on this team? If the answer is decline, then it?is probably time to find a better fit. Taking an objective look at your current situation is essential to making a well thought decision rather than an impulsive decision. Changing teams means disrupting their learning path. With young girls growing and changing every minute, this decision deserves good attention. What if my daughter is on a decent team and has the opportunity to play for a well-known team that gets more college exposure and college scholarships ? That all depends on what's important to you? It's a hard decision for the family. Here's my point of view: If your daughter is playing for a college scholarship, then she needs to go to the well-known team. But the next question is ? Will she play ? Where does she rank on the depth chart ? If she's the third string position player, your daughter might not see playing time for a while or she may have to learn a position where she could be a #1 or #2 position player. If your daughter loves her experience and is getting quality instruction, guidance, and is being actively recruited, then you might want to stay. Overall, what's important to you and your daughter will drive the decision you make. If you're still stumped, send me an email and I'll help you and your family find the best solution.




Well what does this have to do with college recruiting ? Everything !

What I take from Chez's article is that it is so important to make the right choice for your daughter before you get to this situation. If your daughter truly is playing because she want's to play at the highest level and get a athletic college scholarship. Do your research before hand. Do not just listen to what friends, players and travel coaches are saying look into it. Don't listen to rumors and hearsay. Here are a few things you can look into.

1) How many kids have they actually had in the last couple years that verballed as part of there organization or team ?
Some great sources.
a) www.Goldfastpitch.com
b) Ask college coaches about there reputation


2) Do they play in True Showcase tournaments, and play on the right fields ?
You can look into this:
a) Some National examples: IDT, DeMarini Chicago, Team NJ, Diamond 9, DeMarini O'Fallon, just to name some of the big ones.
b) Some fairly local examples: Stingrays, Fall Brawl, Top 50 Indy.

3) Do they have a relationship with the college coaches ?
a) If you want to play D1 make sure the coach and or recruiting coordinator has a relationship with those type of schools.
b) Same goes for D2 and some extent D3

These are just of the few things you need to know up front. So do your research.
Good Luck
Warren

 

[coachjwb]

This is great food for thought for sure. One of the key assumptions noted here is whether your DD truly wants to get a college scholarship. My experience has been that most girls playing travel ball when they're ages 10-13 want to do that, and of course their parents like that thought as well, and do everything they can to help facilitate it. The thing is that when girls get to be 14-16, that's not always the case any more. Some decide they have other interests, some realize that their skills and/or desire aren't what it takes to get there, some decide they just like playing for fun and don't want all of the travel and extra workouts, and others realize it's been their parents' goal and not theirs all along.

Some of the grumbling parents do about their DD's travel teams/coaches is "misplaced" because they haven't confronted the real issue and the possibility that their DD actually has different goals. Make sure you spend quality time discussing with your DD from time to time what she really wants, and whether what you're signed up for is what she's signed up for.