8U Playing Time

[tim_s]

run, don't walk, away from this team

 

[dothekindthing]

I am totally with @Sonerai on this. I recommend 8U/10U Allstars in the summer while doing Rec league in season. Also, playing other sports during those seasons as well. TB at the younger ages are a recipe for burnout for families and the kids, not to mention inexperienced coaches that think they are coaching an 18U Gold team.

I remember parents on DD's 18U team were burned out and they were ready for it to be over. These were families started young and only did softball. DD played all of the in season sports into HS. She would say, I can't wait for Softball to start up. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

The thinks they are coaching 18u is exactly where we are.

Lots of loudly yelling at girls but the instruction is always “figure it out” “fix it” “do it again and you are going to run” with very little actual instruction.

The practices consist of two coaches daughters and two other infielders taking infield while they use all of the other girls for baserunning for 20-30 minutes at a time. Just constantly running the bases from home and getting in line and doing it again. 90 plus degree weather. We sat thru 47 minutes (yes we timed it) of the coach hitting ground balls to her daughter and the other coaches daughter while they flipped the ball to each other from 2nd and SS and made two girls be the pitcher who would then sprint to home to back up the girls throws from second to home. The pitchers finally got tired of just sprinting back and forth and started snagging some of the hits to 2nd and SS and the coach said to stop trying to catch the balls and to let them go thru. prior to this those two girls (coaches kids) were playing first and third and our defensive strategy was built around them for those positions…we spent practices where infield would field a ball and regardless of where any runners were the girls were instructed to always throw to first and then first would throw to third. The coaches would tell the infield to always throw to first so a baserunner would run to second or third in front of the fielder…force outs on bases….throw to first!!!! We could not understand it until they moved their daughters to 2nd and SS and the focus became getting these outs at 2nd only. If the outfield isn’t running the bases they are playing left or right field and sprinting to back up throws to third and first only. Right field is told to run in and back up throws from left field to second base instead of the first base player. The head coach has done zero work with outfield…often giving that to assistant who throws tennis balls in the air and the girls catch them with barehands…this is done in the corner of the outfield (not even in actual positions)- no work on throwing in runner situations, etc.

 

[tim_s]

i will say at 8u and even 10u, focusing on getting the out at first, especially early in the year, isn't a bad philosophy.......always teaching ball/base/backup, get the out at first, eventually leading into the lead runner, etc when they are ready........plenty of 10u games are lost simply because teams can't get out of an inning and give away too many outs......for the average 10u team, if one simply takes care of plays at 1st, they might give up a run or two, but usually won't give up 6, in an inning.....too much throwing the ball around before everyone is ready can get ugly

that being said, you're coaches here are transparent.......they have no clue what they are doing, and exist only to prop their own kids up.......run away, find a better team.....i guarantee your experience will be better, and your DD will develop into a better player

 

[chinamigarden]

well directly correlated with attendance anyway.

i'd add that anyone that that wanted to catch or pitch or play a specific position got at least a few chances to do so.

Yes if a kid missed 3 games their plate appearances would be less then the kid who was at every game.

 

[dothekindthing]

i will say at 8u and even 10u, focusing on getting the out at first, especially early in the year, isn't a bad philosophy.......always teaching ball/base/backup, get the out at first, eventually leading into the lead runner, etc when they are ready........plenty of 10u games are lost simply because teams can't get out of an inning and give away too many outs......for the average 10u team, if one simply takes care of plays at 1st, they might give up a run or two, but usually won't give up 6, in an inning.....too much throwing the ball around before everyone is ready can get ugly

that being said, you're coaches here are transparent.......they have no clue what they are doing, and exist only to prop their own kids up.......run away, find a better team.....i guarantee your experience will be better, and your DD will develop into a better player

appreciate these thoughts! We kept thinking maybe there is some reason for this…I can see the logic if the girls provided infield spots could consistently make solid throws to first and first could consistently catch the ball. Unfortunately this is not where we are…and I’d like to say that it is not any of the girl’s fault at this point. Nobody (esp me) wants or expects the girls to be perfect. softball logic is at least half of it sure but then you also have to look at your team and see what you have…what are these girls strengths…do I have great arms, do I have fast girls, do I have “smart” girls that can understand plays and runners, etc and try to showcase the strengths and build the weak parts…There is no actual coaching or leadership happening and it is very much just show what you already know which would be perfect for a group of 18 year old girls but these girls really need reps and instruction to IMPROVE!!! When the entire strategy shifted based on where the coaches put their kids we started to understand what we were dealing with. At tournaments even the coach will say “daughter one and daughter two” play towards the middle, back up, play in, shift left etc based on where the hitter previously went…another parent this past weekend offered the suggestion that the parents should play a drinking game and drink every time the coach says “daughter one and daughter two” names

I think I knew and felt that so much was wrong but with it being our first year and my girl really enjoying the sport and wanting to be a travel player it makes it hurt to know we need to be off this team!

 

[Coach Gold]

Can any other 8u softball coaches or parents with experience shed some light on this for me…A first year 8u team with a lot of drama- head coach and assistant coach were two of the only three players removed from a team playing last year and went on to form their own team. The team has lost the “manager” and another assistant coach to drama now. Some of the drama has been financials. $325 player fee per kid (12 kids). $3900 total We were given a jersey, hoodie, socks, belt, helmet. We started week one with a calendar fundraiser $5940 total and are expected to now complete calendar payments two weeks early in order to run two more fundraisers before the end of October. Played in two tournaments with a 1-6 record. When the team lost it was usually by 10 plus runs. Sometimes more than 15. Head coach has 12 girls on the team and continues to only sit three girls out in a rotation. Several girls on the team even with deplorable attitudes noticed by parents at tournament games have never set out. Some of these girls who play and play strike out two times in the same game…coach pitch (5 pitches/3 strikes) yet this last tournament the head coach chose to not let one girl play in the field the entire game, one girl to not get to hit the entire game, and one girl to not get to hit or play the field the entire game. All three girls are on par with the other kids on the team. One girl hit 2-2 and then was not allowed to hit in the lineup though we can hit everyone. Another girl had the most consistent solid hit in a prior game driving in three RBIs and going 2 for 3 and she did not get to hit or play the field. These three girls have good attitudes and can certainly hold their own with other girls getting much more playing time. The girls are playing about 3-4 innings each out of 14 innings. This has stayed consistent for two tournaments now and these 3 girls are crying in the dugout and/or leaving the tournament crying. Is there anyway this is justified?