If you had to do it all over again....

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Apr 28, 2014
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What would you change?
What worked well? Did your DD get all she could out of the game? What would you share with new parents on this board?
 

Josh Greer

DFP Vendor
Jul 31, 2013
934
93
Central Missouri
Far too much "coaching" when I knew nothing about coaching, both in the cage and on the field. I learned at some point to keep my mouth shut (even though I still struggle) but I wished I would have learned earlier. Be a parent when it's time to parent (which is most of the time). Be a coach only when you have to, or better, let the coaches be coach. Be a part of a program that has resources you can trust. Then always assume the folks you are trusting will do their job so you can parent.
 
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
Personally, I wouldn't change a thing. Everything that happened, both good and bad, was a learning experience in which life lessons could be learned...and I'm not just talking about DD. To wish for something different is futile and diminishes the experience IMO.

My advice to new and future parents? There is so much that it would take a 350 page novel so I will just hit the highlights as far as I'm concerned.

1. Always remember that softball is a game. Games are meant to be fun.
2. Your DD is not playing for the Chicago Bandits and the likelihood of that happening is roughly .1% (1/10th of 1%).
3. Always remember it is your DD's journey. Be there to offer advice and support but leave the majority of the decisions in her hands.
4. Let the coaches coach. If you don't approve, go and become the coach yourself or when your commitment to the team is done, move on to another team with better coaching (there are exceptions to this in certain circumstances IMO). Otherwise, keep your mouth shut. Refer to points 1 & 2 if problems arise.
5. Take lots of video and pictures along the way.
6. This journey is a wild emotional and physical rollercoaster ride...especially when it comes time for college recruiting. Sit back, relax and hang on tight for the ride. When you can't sit back and relax, look back and remember points 1 & 2.
7. Make sure your DD keeps her grades up so she can get the largest amount of Academic monies as possible. Academic monies will be there as long as she maintains her grades where Athletic monies are usually renewed yearly and can change or disappear completely.
8. Make sure to hug your DD at least once every day. The years go by in a blink of the eye and before you know it, she will be off in college.
9. At some point and time, your DD's softball career will end. What she will remember isn't who won or lost those games and tournaments she played. What she will remember is all of the close friends she made along the way and the memories you made as a family together at those tournaments and traveling to and from them.
10. Did I mention take lots of video and pictures?😢
 
Last edited:
Feb 20, 2020
377
63
I would have moved her out of Rec at 12.

I would have found her a better first pitching coach and a better hitting coach. She learned almost everything she knows about hitting at a UF hitting camp she went to as a freshman. If she had known that stuff earlier it would have been impressive.

I think I would have tried to coach her Rec team at coach pitch, or started a TB club back then. I’ve always been involved with the team, but I would like to have seen whether some of my ideas would have played out. And our area needed a TB organization.

And i would have had her write about it more, so she had the memories to pass on.
 
Nov 8, 2020
402
43
Well my kid is 5' 2", 84 lbs and I don't have my weekends free so...


Mines 5-8 and 156 pounds (don't let anyone know I said that or I'm dead) in 10th grade. If she was a cheerleader I would only have to go watch her on Friday nights for about 10 high school football games a year...... except this year where they have been kept out of school for 8 straight months.... then I would have had all my weekends and weeknights free for Glamis, the river, shooting, MX, surfing....
 

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