This is going to be kind of long, because it's all kind of raw. So I hope you'll bear with me.
My DD is a rising junior. She's played since she was 8, she's played comp ball the last two seasons. All of that was targeted to playing for the high school team, though she's loved her comp (and to a degree, her rec) softball time.
She's not a great player, but she does hit for power. She's the fourth best pitcher on a pretty loaded pitching class. She spent the last two years on JV as was the starting pitcher there -- she's the starter for her comp team. Not great, but adequate. She practices, she takes lessons, she tries, but some kids don't have it, and she's one of them. Like I said, though, she works hard, is a good teammate, all that stuff.
Our varsity team is made up of girls the coach has known since they were 10, mostly. All of them DD's age, all of them played comp just about that time. They are nice girls but they are small and thin and fast. My daughter is not -- she's not fat, but she's 5-9 and solid. A little slow. They had a hole at first base this year, and my DD wanted to go for it. But her limited comp team either needed her to pitch or needed her to rest, so she didn't get any playing time at first. But she worked on her own, and she still hits well. But she hits for power, and the coach likes teams that are built for speed. (there are going to be real issues with that this year. They've got a new artificial turf field that is slow, and because of misplanned construction, the center field fence is 183 feet. You going to have to be able to hit for power to keep up because the ball is going to leave the park. But I digress).
So she -- i was going to say we, but she can drive now -- went to tryouts this week. According to people who saw, she hit the ball as well as anyone. But at first she bobbled a couple. So the coach told her that she was going to swing to varsity, but she needed her to pitch JV because they really had no one else and work on her 1B skills. She was upset, but she handled it okay. A few tears. They still have a hole at 1.
Yesterday, they handed out uniforms. And while other girls -- including a couple of freshmen and my DD's best friend, who is fast but can't hit at all or throw -- were told they were swinging down from varsity, my DD was given a JV uniform and told she swung up. She's devastated, because she feels as though these other girls have passed her. and she's humiliated because she feels as though the other girls in her class will be mocking her, or even think less of her because she's not even varsity this year. She's not considered varsity because she's swinging up instead of swinging down. She'll get a letter (she got one last year for filling in in a game or two) but she's not really part of the team. I'm just feeling terrible because this game that I encouraged and I've enjoyed with her is breaking her heart. it's making her feel bad.
And, it's unfair. She earned her spot. No one outplayed her at 1, she just wasn't perfect. She's not the type of player the coach likes -- she likes them thin and quick -- but she's a good player. At comp tryouts she got multiple offers. She's a junior who's done her time at JV, and all of it. I'm pretty good friends with the team mom, so I called her just to find out, and she lied about DD's performance at 1 in tryouts. Said DD dropped everything thrown at her, and her JV coach said that wasn't the case. And the coach didnt' even bother to tell her the details -- she let the team mom do it while handing out unis.
So now I don't know what to do. Her JV coach is livid, but she's a pal and the head coach hates her anyway (she might be getting fired Monday. Weird way to start a season). Team mom says she should talk to the head coach, but the last time a girl asked a question like that of this head coach she, as one of three seniors, was not allowed to play senior day. I told DD that if she wants to quit and wait until comp season starts, I'm cool with that. But she won't. She's not a quitter. But she's heartbroken and ashamed and humiliated, and i wondered if anyone had any advice. For me or her. Because I want to bring down holy hell on all of it, but I know I shouldn't. So if anyone's got ideas, please let me know. And thanks for letting me vent. Been a bad couple of days.
My DD is a rising junior. She's played since she was 8, she's played comp ball the last two seasons. All of that was targeted to playing for the high school team, though she's loved her comp (and to a degree, her rec) softball time.
She's not a great player, but she does hit for power. She's the fourth best pitcher on a pretty loaded pitching class. She spent the last two years on JV as was the starting pitcher there -- she's the starter for her comp team. Not great, but adequate. She practices, she takes lessons, she tries, but some kids don't have it, and she's one of them. Like I said, though, she works hard, is a good teammate, all that stuff.
Our varsity team is made up of girls the coach has known since they were 10, mostly. All of them DD's age, all of them played comp just about that time. They are nice girls but they are small and thin and fast. My daughter is not -- she's not fat, but she's 5-9 and solid. A little slow. They had a hole at first base this year, and my DD wanted to go for it. But her limited comp team either needed her to pitch or needed her to rest, so she didn't get any playing time at first. But she worked on her own, and she still hits well. But she hits for power, and the coach likes teams that are built for speed. (there are going to be real issues with that this year. They've got a new artificial turf field that is slow, and because of misplanned construction, the center field fence is 183 feet. You going to have to be able to hit for power to keep up because the ball is going to leave the park. But I digress).
So she -- i was going to say we, but she can drive now -- went to tryouts this week. According to people who saw, she hit the ball as well as anyone. But at first she bobbled a couple. So the coach told her that she was going to swing to varsity, but she needed her to pitch JV because they really had no one else and work on her 1B skills. She was upset, but she handled it okay. A few tears. They still have a hole at 1.
Yesterday, they handed out uniforms. And while other girls -- including a couple of freshmen and my DD's best friend, who is fast but can't hit at all or throw -- were told they were swinging down from varsity, my DD was given a JV uniform and told she swung up. She's devastated, because she feels as though these other girls have passed her. and she's humiliated because she feels as though the other girls in her class will be mocking her, or even think less of her because she's not even varsity this year. She's not considered varsity because she's swinging up instead of swinging down. She'll get a letter (she got one last year for filling in in a game or two) but she's not really part of the team. I'm just feeling terrible because this game that I encouraged and I've enjoyed with her is breaking her heart. it's making her feel bad.
And, it's unfair. She earned her spot. No one outplayed her at 1, she just wasn't perfect. She's not the type of player the coach likes -- she likes them thin and quick -- but she's a good player. At comp tryouts she got multiple offers. She's a junior who's done her time at JV, and all of it. I'm pretty good friends with the team mom, so I called her just to find out, and she lied about DD's performance at 1 in tryouts. Said DD dropped everything thrown at her, and her JV coach said that wasn't the case. And the coach didnt' even bother to tell her the details -- she let the team mom do it while handing out unis.
So now I don't know what to do. Her JV coach is livid, but she's a pal and the head coach hates her anyway (she might be getting fired Monday. Weird way to start a season). Team mom says she should talk to the head coach, but the last time a girl asked a question like that of this head coach she, as one of three seniors, was not allowed to play senior day. I told DD that if she wants to quit and wait until comp season starts, I'm cool with that. But she won't. She's not a quitter. But she's heartbroken and ashamed and humiliated, and i wondered if anyone had any advice. For me or her. Because I want to bring down holy hell on all of it, but I know I shouldn't. So if anyone's got ideas, please let me know. And thanks for letting me vent. Been a bad couple of days.