Sometimes, You’re a Loser by Amanda Scarborough

[wichita]

Many college coaches have lamented the fact that they keep recruiting kids that know how to "show", but have no idea how to compete. I can see how these two topics tie together.

-W

Indeed my DD went to a camp last month and heard the HC say, we get all these kids in a camps and when we recruit these kids we have to teach them how to win/compete (assuming shes was talking about the showcase format)

Also I have seen many HC in travel watch a kid make error after error and all the coaches will do is tell them it's ok and to not worry about it .....and it makes me sick ....first off by leaving the kid out there your telling her it is ok to make errors ....secondly she will never get better because she is still getting to play her spot making the errors so why should she get better .....

My DD played for a coach in 14u's ...he is still the best HC I've ever seen or had the opportunity to know on a personal level in travel ball ...his demeanor was 100% truthful with his kids if you sucked on a play he would tell you just the same as if you made a great play he would let you know with a hug or high five ...this is still the best improved team I've ever seen from the beginning of a season to the end.....still today I see kids that were on that team and they have regressed or got worse since leaving that team and not many have gotten better either. So in a sense he used winning and losing in a play by play and game by game situation.....Some of you might not agree with the way he pulled girls after making one error but believed me it worked....My DD even wrote a paper in high school about him ....the assignment was write a essay of the most influential person you know other than your parents.....he wept when he read the paper......

 

[nanotech14]

I did kind of trail off on the parent/ teacher conf. thing. Okay, when my dd was in 4th grade, at the conf. the teacher told me that dd, didn't seem to talk or want to be friends with this one girl. The teacher wanted dd to become friends with her, because I guess the teacher lives in this utopia, where everyone gets along and we all eat cotton candy and ride unicorns. To me it is the same thing as everyone is a winner. We all don't get along in the real world. Their are people that we just don't like. I have a lot of people that don't like me and I'm fine with that. I won't lose any sleep over that. We always can't win and yes there are losers in this world. We all have to pull up the boot straps sometimes and learn how to win on our own or as a team. But also have to learn how to lose, just as well.

 

[SCDad]

Many college coaches have lamented the fact that they keep recruiting kids that know how to "show", but have no idea how to compete. I can see how these two topics tie together.

-W

We went to a college camp with our HS team last weekend. His remarks were the hardest thing to judge while recruiting Travel Softball is they do not get to see how players respond in the 5th, 6th, and 7th inning. College recruiters like seeing close games without a time limit. Give players a full 3 turns around the line-up an see how players adjust, like the college game.

This same coach regularly comes to our HS games.

 

[Cannonball]

I did kind of trail off on the parent/ teacher conf. thing. Okay, when my dd was in 4th grade, at the conf. the teacher told me that dd, didn't seem to talk or want to be friends with this one girl. The teacher wanted dd to become friends with her, because I guess the teacher lives in this utopia, where everyone gets along and we all eat cotton candy and ride unicorns. To me it is the same thing as everyone is a winner. We all don't get along in the real world. Their are people that we just don't like. I have a lot of people that don't like me and I'm fine with that. I won't lose any sleep over that. We always can't win and yes there are losers in this world. We all have to pull up the boot straps sometimes and learn how to win on our own or as a team. But also have to learn how to lose, just as well.

That is a classic!

 

[CoreSoftball20]

Also I have seen many HC in travel watch a kid make error after error and all the coaches will do is tell them it's ok and to not worry about it .....and it makes me sick ....first off by leaving the kid out there your telling her it is ok to make errors ....secondly she will never get better because she is still getting to play her spot making the errors so why should she get better .....

Maybe they are teaching the kid she has to stick to it and get the job done and be there for the team. That she isnt going to get the easy way out and be lifted when things are tough and have another player pick you up when you make an error. That you have to pull crap together and get your head straight and bounce back and make the plays because down the road, you are going to be depended on. How can you learn that if every time you screw up, you get taken out and get to relax the rest of the game.

 

[Doug Romrell]

The teacher wanted dd to become friends with her, because I guess the teacher lives in this utopia, where everyone gets along and we all eat cotton candy and ride unicorns.

....and sit in a circle around a campfire holding hands singing kumbaya.

 

[Scorekeeper]

Scorekeeper, where have you been? Most sports don't even keep score until a older age. Little league is a prefect example. When was the last time you have had to sit in a parent, teacher conf.? It is the same crap, at least in my area. Kids all get awards for doing something if they can't find anything that a student did well, they make something up. When I was in school, if you had bad grades or were a little jerk. You didn't get anything, but a smack on the rearend from someone, now you get a award.

Judging by what you’ve written, I believe you’ve missed my point. I don’t care how much you believe it, there’s no way ALL people do anything the same way, let alone have the same philosophies and beliefs about anything. I grew up in the late ‘40’s and early ‘50’s, and I assure you, not every kid who got bad grades or was a jerk got a smack on the rear end or anywhere else. And no matter what you believe, not all jerks or kids who get bad grades are rewarded today.

 

[Scorekeeper]

…Some of you might not agree with the way he pulled girls after making one error but believed me it worked…

I’ve been trying to picture any sports team where players were benched after one error, dropped ball, missed shot, or any other failure, and I just can’t do it. Did that coach also yank players for striking out or not getting a hit? After all, those are failures just like making an error. Sooner or later the entire team is gonna be on the bench, because if the players are allowed to reenter, why take them out in the 1st place other than to embarrass them.

Our HC is criticized by some parents because he’ll pull a player who’s made the same kind of error more than twice in a game, saying he’s not giving the player a chance to learn. I think its safe to say if he or any local coach yanked a player for making one error, there’d be some kind of uproar.

I just thought of a coach at the 12U rec level doing that, and I think there’d be times when as many as 5 players would be pulled in the same inning. On a team with only 12 players, that would mean a lot of forfeits.

 

[Scorekeeper]

For those who believe there’s too much getting something for nothing in this country, what do you think about inheriting great wealth? Should a wealthy person’s child be given even more advantages than having access to the best schools and medical treatment?

 

[Doug Romrell]

For those who believe there’s too much getting something for nothing in this country, what do you think about inheriting great wealth? Should a wealthy person’s child be given even more advantages than having access to the best schools and medical treatment?

Gonna try to turn this into class warfare, aye? The ole get-even-with-em mindset?