Blind Parent !!

[JAD]

I don't doubt the original poster's assessment of this player, so this isn't directed at that. ...

But the posts that have followed do remind me that if a parent has a higher opinion of his/her daughter than the coach does, that doesn't mean that the parent is wrong. Coaches (including myself) think their assessment of players is the correct one. If parents disagree, then by definition they are unrealistic from the coach's point of view.

Coaches are certainly not infallible, which is why we have a head coach and three assistant coaches. All four coaches have input into our game plan and strategy. Over the years I have found that if the coaching staffs opinion of a player and the parents opinion of the players ability are dramatically different, the issue is usually resolved by the player moving to another team, which is probably best for everyone involved. We have also learned that it is best to explain to parents and the player up front what our expectations are, and how we see their DD fitting our team. If we see her as a OF and her parents think she should be play SS, we want to work that out BEFORE they join the team!