School ball and not playing for attending a funeral

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Nov 18, 2013
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This is what my thought process would of been, but pretty strange she left her off the line-up card. In 12u one fall ball tournament my DD was there Saturday, but couldn't make Sunday until the championship game. She texted the coach when she knew she could make the championship game that she had no expectation of playing, but in case she was needed, put her on the line-up card. Turned out she was needed to courtesy run for the pitcher.

Technically the coach in HS could add her to the line-up with just a warning, but still.

2019 NFHS softball rule 3-1 ART. 3 . . . The team's lineup card shall include first initial and last name, jersey number, position and batting order of each starting player and shall include each eligible substitute. Lineups become official after they have been exchanged, verified and then accepted by the plate umpire during the pregame conference.

PENALTY: After the lineup card has been submitted to and verified by the umpire and a change is subsequently made to a player/substitute name or number, or if a player/substitute is added to the lineup card, the umpire shall issue a team warning to the head coach of the team involved. Any further changes made to a player/substitute name or number results in the head coach being restricted to the dugout/bench area for the remainder of the game.



2019 NFHS Softball Case Book 3.1.3 Situation: The visiting team’s head coach submits and verifies a lineup card with No. 4, L. Brown listed eighth in the batting order and playing first base. However, L. Brown is actually wearing uniform No. 21. After reaching base in the top of the third inning, the home coach appeals to the umpire that L. Brown is batting out of order. RULING: L. Brown is the correct batter but is in violation of the rule that requires a player’s name and shirt number be correct on the lineup card. A team warning is issued to the visiting head coach, the error is corrected on the lineup card and play is resumed. Any subsequent name or number correction (including adding a substitute) to the lineup card will result in the visiting head coach being restricted to the team dugout/bench area for the remainder of the game.

I agree leaving her off the lineup card was harsh. Even if rewarding other players coach needs to take injuries, pinch runners etc into account.
 
Jun 8, 2016
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Was there a stated policy about this sort of thing? If so, while harsh, a rule is rule. Sometimes making the right decision in life requires sacrifice..
 
May 20, 2015
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I always chuckle over the hypocrisy of attendance in public K-12 schools. One of my DD missed a little over a week of school and the school system sends a threatening letter. So we asked the administration "What are the consequences?" The response was "Nothing."

The reality of public K-12 schools is that in a lot of states funding is based on your kids butt being in the chair. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EDUCATION. The school is a business and they need to make money to stay in business.

All that being said a funeral sounds like a very logical reason to miss any event in life.

yeah, that's not really true
 
Jan 25, 2022
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I can't help to wonder if her parents know she has been skipping out of practices. If she is too tired to practice, she needs more sleep or to see a doctor. Aren't most HS practices right after school and relatively short? Maybe she joined the team just to get out of gym class???

It's middle school, and we generally start at 5:30. All practices and games are communicated via TeamReach. They definitely know.

The three of us (coaches) were actually discussing this earlier. Stomach virus, Covid, lack of transportation, then just flat out saying she was tired, then missed two games this week. She was at pictures yesterday and said monday she had the stomach virus again and tuesday she didnt have transportation. She rode to Friday's game with daughter and I, and we'd have been happy to take her again. They only live a mile from us. At this point I think her mom is complicit. She's actually the one that would normally let me know if the kid was gonna miss, and she hasnt done that recently. We've cut her a bit of slack so far because she's one of those kids who probably has a story, if you know what I mean. It's seems too many of them do, unfortunately.

Anyway, we'll only have 11 tonight so she'll probably have to play JV, but she's not starting.
 
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Apr 20, 2018
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SoCal
It's middle school, and we generally start at 5:30.

The three of us (coaches) were actually discussing this earlier. Stomach virus, Covid, lack of transportation, then just flat out saying she was tired, then missed two games this week. She was at pictures yesterday and said monday she had the stomach virus again and tuesday she didnt have transportation. She rode to Friday's game with daughter and I, and we'd have been happy to take her again. They only live a mile from us. At this point I think her mom is complicit. She's actually the one that would normally let me know if the kid was gonna miss, and she hasnt done that recently. We've cut her a bit of slack so far because she's one of those kids who probably has a story, if you know what I mean. It's seems to many of them do, unfortunately.

Anyway, we'll only have 11 tonight so she'll probably have to play JV, but she's not starting.
Probably would get better attendance if practice was right after school. You have a JV and a Varsity team at a middle school?
 
Jan 25, 2022
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Probably would get better attendance if practice was right after school. You have a JV and a Varsity team at a middle school?
We share a field with the high school team, and they own the after-school slot. We'll generally take that slot if they're playing away, though. Standard middle school dates in this area (probably the whole state) are a varsity and JV game with a 20 minute break between. Basically most teams just let their previous game subs play the whole JV game. For us, that's swapping a max of four because we only have 13 on the roster. We lost one to injury. Last year we had 21 to start the season and it was unmanageable.
 
May 10, 2021
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While a funeral is an obvious excused reason to miss practice I don't have an issue with the playing time.

I am in the minority opinion but I don't think the coach is doing anything wrong.

There are all kinds of reasons to miss practice these days: a family trip planned 2 years ago, my grandparents are in town and I haven't seen them in forever, a Church service during the week, whatever. The player has a choice to make. That's life.

We can't have it all.....especially to the detriment of others.
 
Jul 5, 2016
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This is the first time I have seen the death of somebody you care about put on the same level as "There are all kinds of reasons to miss practice these days: a family trip planned 2 years ago, my grandparents are in town and I haven't seen them in forever, a Church service during the week, whatever. The player has a choice to make. That's life."
 
Jun 1, 2015
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If it were up to me (just personally), start the kid OR sub them in as soon as possible. Some things in life are more important than a softball game. Provided advanced notice was given (as soon as possible just for knowledge), then I as a coach can't say I wasn't warned ahead of time. I prefer a lot of compromise in these situations: If the parent was willing to let me know in advance, I am willing to say, "Hey, thanks for letting me know. Team policy says I can't start her because she is missing the practice before a game, but I will include her as my first substitute so she does get playing time" and I HOLD MYSELF TO THAT so as to not be called a liar. Then the onus is on me to follow through. If the girl lied about a funeral being held, then that's a whole different kettle of fish to deal with.
 
May 11, 2014
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This is the first time I have seen the death of somebody you care about put on the same level as "There are all kinds of reasons to miss practice these days: a family trip planned 2 years ago, my grandparents are in town and I haven't seen them in forever, a Church service during the week, whatever. The player has a choice to make. That's life."
Not mine.
 
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