Whats more important? Winning or playing time....

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Coaches should absolutely be honest with players and their parents up front re: coaching philosophies (e.g., does he/she play to win on Sundays, how many players they are keeping, schedule and end of season objectives, etc.) and playing time and possible positions. Of course, things can change ... sometimes players are better or worse than they looked in tryouts, they improve a lot over the offseason, etc. Some organizations are known for making promises that they can't keep ... e.g., telling 3-4 pitchers that they should each get 50% of the pitching time. And they are perfectly OK with letting the "strong survive" while keeping these players away from the competition. These other players either end up staying on the team unhappy or having to go find another option later. I personally couldn't live with myself if I did this, but some others have no issue with it because they're in it only to win it.

There's a team for everyone out there, and the hardest job for a parent is probably being unbiased about their daughter's ability and finding a team where the other girls have a similar skill level, and where they buy into the coach's philosophies.

 

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CoachMurph- recruiting trumps winning, hmmmmmm interesting. In every tournament or just showcases?

 

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CoachMurph- recruiting trumps winning, hmmmmmm interesting. In every tournament or just showcases?

I agree with Murph for 16u and up. If you have kids being recruited you'll win your share.

 

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I tend to agree but know some coaches that don't. I call it the W bug. These coaches tend to go for the win,no matter what. Seen them play injured players, sit good players 5 strait games, all just for the win. It did work out in both situations, for the most part. Later effects of further injury, players quiting, or possible better record for using fresh players are yet to be seen or in the past. After all it's just a game, isn't it?

 

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Changeupmom ... I don't really see it being a function of the tourney, but of the situation ... if I know that a college coach is specifically watching my 16-U or 18-U player, then I am going to play her where the coach wants to see her or where my player wants to be showcased, and not worry about winning. Unfortunately, I have been to my share of "showcases" where there wasn't an actual college coach to be found, at least near our field. In those and all other cases, I am playing to win. I have also had college coaches tell me ... you play her where you want/need to play her.

 

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That makes a little more sense coachjwb. Everyone needs to be flexible to situations, coaches, players and parents. 16 and 18us need to learn to adapt to every situation too and respect the coaches call, good or bad. The case of using the injured player for the win, when other options are possible? The horse that got us here doesn't need to be permanently injured. Not a risk worth taking? All in all, it is just a game, and there will be plenty more in all our futures. One tournament shouldnt influence the future college player that much?

 

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I love this debate.

College coaches are not recruiting 10U or 12U players. They usually only recruit 14U players that are a star on a 16 or 18U team. And then mostly pitchers.

I ask this question to people all the time. Do you think you can get a better read on a 14 year old or a 17/18 year old on how good they will be at 19? It just is sooo illogical.

At 10U and 12U you need to play. And you need to be on a team that competes at the same level your skill is at.

I will say that as soon as your DD is close to being good enough they should be on a team that plays at the "A" level for your State or Region. Completely different game and teaches the girls what it means to compete. Wait too long and they may not learn how important hard work is to be the best. They need to learn failure at a young age and how to work through it. The later they learn it the higher chance they have of not embracing the challenge.

 

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I tell people all the time one of the hardest things for a parent to do is let their kid fail, but sometimes its the most important thing. Maybe their wouldn't be so much drama in the world if more people would embrace this concept.

 

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I tell people all the time one of the hardest things for a parent to do is let their kid fail, but sometimes its the most important thing. Maybe their wouldn't be so much drama in the world if more people would embrace this concept.

I personally would never set my kids up to fail. I would set them up to be challenged but not to fail. Maybe this may be just semantic but letting kids fail at young age can be detrimental in my opinion.

 

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not set them up, just let natural consequences happen. Funny example. My 16 yr old son and his friend found a car to buy, on the internet, out of state. His plan: leave early, drive two states away, in the winter and both drive home. Recipe for disaster Yes. We decided to let him go on the condition he went to school on Monday. They over slept, ran in to snow in the mountains and ate chinese food at a truck stop. To top it off the car wasn't the one on the net, his had major damage. They showed up back home, tired, sick and no car, about 5am Monday morning. I said have fun at school. Lesson learned. I knew it would fail from the beginning, but I think he learned more this way. If I would of said no from the beginning, no lesson learned.

 

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I agree that at the 10u-12u age group it is very important to teach the game at such a high level. I also think that as a coach you owe it to the girls to put them in the best position to win. All kids should play during poll play but there comes a point that you must play your top 9. On Sundays there may be a point where little Sally needs to be a team player and cheer her team on. Her role in that game may be to sit the bench in case of injury or sub and be ready to go in at any time. You carry 11 girls but typically only play 9 in elimination play. If the game warrants it then sub in all bench players. This doesn't all ways happen unfortunately.

 

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My dd, who is now 16, told me she wants to win. She wants to be a big contributor to winning, but whatever it takes. I remember my playing days in HS and had a similiar discussion in class one day (history class teacher was head football coach). We all agreed we'd rather continute to being on a winner, not matter what the contribution, than be an all-star on a losing team.

 

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My dd, who is now 16, told me she wants to win. She wants to be a big contributor to winning, but whatever it takes. I remember my playing days in HS and had a similiar discussion in class one day (history class teacher was head football coach). We all agreed we'd rather continute to being on a winner, not matter what the contribution, than be an all-star on a losing team.

everyone would agree. Winning makes everything fun, everyone gets along. But, question was if I read it right since I had trouble understanding original post was playing issues. Would your DD and her parents be OK with NOT playing any innings? Not single pitch? Not single plays?

 

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While I was looking for players for my 12u team, I was in a contest with another team over the same player. I didnt get the player and after talking to the coach that did, his comment was ' I didnt really need her, just didnt want to have to play against her!' I ask, what kind of BS is that? LOL. I guess from reading all these posts that there are some real cut throat coaches and parents out there at every age group that are just about winning.

 

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Billy ... there are definitely coaches out there like that, though they are in the minority. While I said in my earlier post that I knew some coaches did what you say this one did, most of them would not admit it. If one did to me, I'd first give them a piece of my mind and then make sure the parents of the girl this happened to found out what the coach said. That may sound like sour grapes, but if you're truly in it for the girls, you don't let them get used like that by jerks.

 

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coaches like that should announce it so when they face teams with ethics they know how to play them, oh, they usually do with their actions, comments, and strategy. SMH...

 

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As a coach I would like to win also. But not at the expense of these young ladies playing the game. There isn't anything that can be done about it. Some of these coaches are in very classy organizations. Can't believe they would stand for this happening to kids with their name on the front of those shirts.

 

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Billy ... I don't know how long you've been around travel fastpitch, and won't go into any details about specific teams or anything on here, but the classiness of a team is all about the coach and not about the name of the organization. Over the last 25+ years of coaching youth sports, I have coached against many classy and jerk coaches from the same organization. Some organizations are good at selecting high-character coaches, some will take pretty much anyone who comes along, and others want coaches who will win whether they are classy or not.

 

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Billy ... I don't know how long you've been around travel fastpitch, and won't go into any details about specific teams or anything on here, but the classiness of a team is all about the coach and not about the name of the organization. Over the last 25+ years of coaching youth sports, I have coached against many classy and jerk coaches from the same organization. Some organizations are good at selecting high-character coaches, some will take pretty much anyone who comes along, and others want coaches who will win whether they are classy or not.

So true, so true...

 

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Billy ... I don't know how long you've been around travel fastpitch, and won't go into any details about specific teams or anything on here, but the classiness of a team is all about the coach and not about the name of the organization. Over the last 25+ years of coaching youth sports, I have coached against many classy and jerk coaches from the same organization. Some organizations are good at selecting high-character coaches, some will take pretty much anyone who comes along, and others want coaches who will win whether they are classy or not.

getting or picking coaches sometimes is as hard as players or worse. Ours are with us a year to year deal. And then we part ways if they don't fit unless the you know what hits the fan. Currently, we are in a good cycle of great people helping run our teams. When you feild more calls from "their" team than your own... there's a sign that just keeps on blinking in your face. Live and learn for the most part is hard to swallow sometimes. Like at tryouts... we check out the parents.... now we ask the potential new coach's neighbors at the coach before bringing them on. LOL