Earning circle time?

[Momo'sDad]

I think any coach who refuses to pitch any girl who is practicing should not call themselves a coach. It's pure and simple parent ball. They might stink when you throw them in to pitch and might pitch walks or get shelled all over the part. But that's how girls learn to pitch. By having those bad innings. If you 'protect' them from it, or not let them even try, then why the bloody heck are you coaching? Winning U10's is not an accomplishment. It means you cherry picked the best players of that age and generally did not do your job in teaching the 'lesser players' how to play.

I despise the thought of travel ball for 8 and 9 year old's. This is exactly the situation you get. Little girls not pitching because they're 'not good enough' or haven't 'earned' their way into the position. They will NEVER earn it because they will never be given the chance!

Different programs are trying to achieve different goals. There are coaches who want their DDs to get plenty of innings, so that's one of their primary reasons for coaching. I know that you are a coach, but if you were also a parent, it is possible you would understand more about what drives that dynamic. There's nothing at all wrong with someone coaching a team to ensure their DD gets circle time.

If parents choose TB for their players, then depending on where they live, they're accepting the fact that those will be competitive teams. A majority of 9-10yo softball players are ideal participants in rec ball. There are also those who are eager to get started in competitive ball, but once that choice is made, then the fairness you're talking about is not always a part of the equation.

I currently coach a rec team, but it is competitive rec. The players compete for positions and for innings. During the regular season, I have some flexibility and can attempt to balance innings played in the field. I can also use innings to attempt to develop a #3 pitcher. But a lot of coaches are going to play their best players and sub as little as possible. When we get to the closing tournament, we'll be playing to win, too, but I want other players getting game experience for when their team needs them. Just by being a part of the team this fall, these players are getting a lot more comprehensive instruction than they will on most of their spring teams.

When it comes to pitching, though, not every pitcher is as game ready as mom and dad thinks they are. As a competitive coach, trust me, if your DD is ready to pitch, I'm getting her into the game, but don't expect for her to be sent out there solely on the basis of she really wants to pitch.

 

[undergroundga]

I'm beginning to think the only way my dd is ever gonna get a chance to pitch is to coach a team.
I understand what you mean that some girls are not as ready as mom and dad think. But how do you know if you don't give them a chance. I would imagine that you would check her out at practices. Dd seems to me that she is ready to pitch in a game, but coaches don't know that because all they ever let pitch(even at practice) are the same two girls. They continue to walk the bases loaded and countless runs. Our fall ball team has yet to even be in a game. I have seen both girls standing on the mound crying, just about everygame. I'm not saying that dd is better but she could atleast let her try. She has begged the coach to let her tryand she just walks off from her with no answer.(HC's dd isn't a pitcher, 2 of her ac are)
Maybe tb will be different, but both of the coaches dd are pitchers(like most coaches he is still looking for that #1). I would be happy for her just to be a #3. We haven't played yet so I don't know if she'll get a chance or not. HC knows she can pitch. I know some of you will ask, "why put her on a team that already has 2 pitchers?" Choices are slim in our neck of the woods and it seems like at every tryout we went to half the girls tried out for pitcher(there were only 3 teams.) I hate to start looking next season, but truth is she might have to wait. We keep telling her just to be patient and work hard her time will come. she does and it will.
I hate for it to come to e having to coach.

 

[RookKev]

Don't let it be a choice.

Look, as much as I want my daughter to be the next thing...she isn't that right now. I like to use the words size and weight as potential reasons (excuses) that she isn' the ace. But let's face it, you either can pitch and show it, or you can't. I have had to have conversations with dd that look, if you want to pitch, then don't let them have a choice. Make it blatantly obvious you are THE PITCHER. You don't decide that by throwing during fall ball, or during any season. This is a decision you make in the off season. When tryouts or practice starts up and you show up, the coach says whoa...where'd did that come from? At that point, you remove the excuses. If it is game experience, then that can be argued...assuming you are given a tryout. Put a radar on her and the other pitchers. Have a pitch chart that accurately counts balls and strikes. Finally have pitches to locations called for. These are all easily trackable and identifiable stats, and will reveal very quickly if your daughter will get circle time.

After the tryouts, and it should be obvious who is the strongest pitcher, just by the stats... you should know quickly about your daughters chances.

 

[tomzpc]

I've coached rec (LL) ball for the past few years. If I spend some time with a girl who wants to pitch before or after a practice or game, AND she is making a serious effort on her own time, then I will guarantee that player circle time in games.

I don't coach travel ball, but if I did then I would not let a girl pitch in a game until I thought that she was at least getting close to game ability. Two different things really. My daughter just made a U12 travel ball team this fall, that is practicing now for the 2012 spring season. She has not been guaranteed pitching time even though she was a close-to dominant pitcher this year in U10 rec, and I have no problem with that. Travel ball is a different animal than rec ball. If a rec ball coach is coaching like it's a travel ball team, then that's a problem.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I have to agree with RookKev, especially where the fall season is concerned. It's competitive, which allows players and their families to get a taste of softball beyond rec without it being a full-time TB commitment. The fall season is only 12-13 weeks from start of the first practices to the closing tournament. In that short amount of time, a player can go from not being looked at to becoming a starting pitcher, but it takes a lot of work and probably means showing up before practice or staying later to show what she can do.

 

[undergroundga]

As usual our area is different. Our sesaon is only 8 weeks, counting practice. Only one town even does it so girls from all over are playing. It is more like an extension of summer season. A couple of the teams are stacked with tb players, several of them are in 12u this season, which I think is a waste. Our dd is playing up to get her ready for 10u, which is a challenge for her.
I really shouldn't have such sour grapes about dd not pitching in fall ball. Dd is 8 playing with a bunch of 9s and 10s. She is the starting ss and then moves to second(which is funny cause she never played second, I keep having to tell her where to play). I will quit whinning about her not getting to pitch. Her time will come.

 

[quincy]

We might be lucky but our Family has a few choices of which Team DD plays for. Like your DD, she is good enough to play up a division but obviously does not have to. There is at least 2 choices right there.

Is circle time important? Is playing with friends important? Is the best coaching important? Is the being competitive important? Someone available to get DD to practice? There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and answered, and then pick the best fit.

DD moved up to 12U this Fall, she is still eligible for 10U come spring. If she stayed in 10U she would never leave the circle. Sure she would like to pitch just is not her #1 priority.

 

[chinamigarden]

As usual our area is different. Our sesaon is only 8 weeks, counting practice. Only one town even does it so girls from all over are playing. It is more like an extension of summer season. A couple of the teams are stacked with tb players, several of them are in 12u this season, which I think is a waste. Our dd is playing up to get her ready for 10u, which is a challenge for her.
I really shouldn't have such sour grapes about dd not pitching in fall ball. Dd is 8 playing with a bunch of 9s and 10s. She is the starting ss and then moves to second(which is funny cause she never played second, I keep having to tell her where to play). I will quit whinning about her not getting to pitch. Her time will come.

Thats another issue, in Rec when a kid is playing above her age. Sometimes she has to take a back seat so the older kids can develop in order to be ready when they are aged up. It may not seem fair, but when your kid has 3 years to develop, and the other kids have 1 sometimes the right thing is to give those older kids a chance, even if they may not be better. As they get older and move on to travel and HS ball, then the best one should be pitching. But in the younger ages, and in Rec it should ba about developing kids and sometimes that means someone elses kid gets developed first.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Even though the rules allow for it, you won't find too many current TB players playing on rec teams here. There are plenty of girls you might describe as 'TB ready', but there's no shortage of reasons why they choose rec, all-stars, and competitive rec instead of playing 10u TB.

If I've got a player that's playing catch with her mom in the backyard 3 days a week outside of practice during the season, that's great, and she should keep up the work, but parents have to understand that pitchers aren't created during 1 season of work. The 2 pitchers on our team are the girls who've been working at it consistently for longer than the others who want to pitch.

Chinamigarden, you're right about the girls playing up. I'm in an area where many parents race their kids to 10u as quickly as they can and much faster than they should. I think almost 20% of the division this year were playing up. Some were younger siblings, but the majority did it because their parents didn't like 8u, and part of the problem was that so many of the good but not really great players are always taken out of 8u early by mom and dad.

It's always the parents' choice, but I'm pretty frank when the conversation comes up and my opinion is asked. I've got 4 2003s on my fall roster who want to continue playing up in spring 2012, but of the 4, only 1 is ready. I'll do my best with all of them this season, but on a roster this large, there's only so much that can be done. If a player isn't that interested in being out there, it's not fair to the rest of the players who do to devote too much time and energy trying to make softball more interesting than picking clover.

 

[chinamigarden]

During my DDs second 12u season there was a girl who tried out for the 12u team who was 10u eliglble. She was good enough to make the team as an outfielder, and could hit the ball. But she was a pitcher and she was not going to get much circle time. She would have started the season as the #4, and frankly #3 wasn't going to get much pitching time. My dd was the clear #1 (I was not on the coaching staff of this team) and the clear #2 was the head coaches daughter. So there was not a lot of circle time left over. The HC talked to the parents and told them that the best thing for their kid development wise, was to stay at 10u and pitch as that teams #1, she would get a ton of circle time and would probably bat #3. He also offered to let the girl come to his heated pole barn when he had the pitchers and catchers from his team working out in winter. The folks got mad, went to another organization, they were told the dd would pitch a lot. She hasn't pitched since. She was going to be a good pitcher, but because the folks wanted to be able to say how she was playing up, they stunted her development.

Playing up for the sake of playing up doesn't do much.