- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,843
- 83
I don't know if you read my whole story about what has happened with us this year but we had a very disillusioning fall season. We had already been in travel for a year but our 8U travel coach was the same coach my DD had since 6U rec. There wasn't any drama, we were (and still are) friends, it was lovely. But we (including the kid) wanted to play a higher level of competition, where she would be challenged. We are both fairly savvy types. I swear I was born cynical. But we definitely feel like we got a massive bait and switch. I'm sure if you asked the coach what happened, you'd hear we are crazy, team hopping psychos (some random person on a message board accused me of this already, because she got the "true scoop" from the coach,haha). Only in reality you couldn't meet 2 more loyal people than we are. I think there is definitely some team hopping that is just a grass is greener kind of thing, but not all of it. Since we left more has gone down (not involving us) that has let us know we ABSOLUTELY made the right decision getting away when we did.
I can't imagine that colleges will only look at the top 3 teams in any given state. I'm sure those teams get more attention, or more easily, but they'd be stupid not to consider girls from other teams. There's one big 3 org around here that we will probably never play for, no matter how awesome my kid plays. I'm sure there are plenty of parents who have amazing softball players who just don't want to deal with the nonsense that sometimes comes along with those big A organizations. Maybe I'm wrong, mine is only 9 and we're mostly concerned with her having fun and gaining skill. We'll think about college down the road. It seems like there is a lot of work that goes into getting into a college program that the kid and parents have to do outside of the team anyway. Do the work, make the contacts, get in front of the right people. I may be way off, who knows. I'll think about all that later (lalalala holding my ears).
When we left our team, we got a lot of interest from other teams (pitcher, they seem very in demand) and talked to a lot of coaches. I was really amazed at how many of them were willing to talk badly about other coaches or teams. It's one thing from parents; I kind of appreciate getting input from parents on various teams or coaches. One thing that helped us choose our current team was how highly the parents on the team seem to regard the coach. And if I heard from several parents very negative things about a coach I'd want to take that into consideration, at least investigate further. But I guess I expected a little more reserve from fellow coaches who may not really know the entire story of any given situation. It left a bad taste in my mouth for several teams we had been previously considering, that they were so willing to talk badly about a fellow coach to a virtual stranger.
Overall, I REFUSE to be a sneaky or deceitful person to gain some advantage in a sport. I will not do it. I will not compromise on what I believe is the right thing in order to theoretically advance my daughter's softball "career" (it feels so stupid even typing that about a 9 year old). You be YOU, be a good person and good parent, do what's best for your daughter and always make sure it stays FUN. Maybe she'll play in college or maybe not but like you said, she's in 6th grade! She should be having fun and not thinking about college or scholarships or drama. They play because they love the game. If they aren't having fun, when they hit their teenage rebellious stage they'll just quit anyway. So keep it fun, I say
I can't imagine that colleges will only look at the top 3 teams in any given state. I'm sure those teams get more attention, or more easily, but they'd be stupid not to consider girls from other teams. There's one big 3 org around here that we will probably never play for, no matter how awesome my kid plays. I'm sure there are plenty of parents who have amazing softball players who just don't want to deal with the nonsense that sometimes comes along with those big A organizations. Maybe I'm wrong, mine is only 9 and we're mostly concerned with her having fun and gaining skill. We'll think about college down the road. It seems like there is a lot of work that goes into getting into a college program that the kid and parents have to do outside of the team anyway. Do the work, make the contacts, get in front of the right people. I may be way off, who knows. I'll think about all that later (lalalala holding my ears).
When we left our team, we got a lot of interest from other teams (pitcher, they seem very in demand) and talked to a lot of coaches. I was really amazed at how many of them were willing to talk badly about other coaches or teams. It's one thing from parents; I kind of appreciate getting input from parents on various teams or coaches. One thing that helped us choose our current team was how highly the parents on the team seem to regard the coach. And if I heard from several parents very negative things about a coach I'd want to take that into consideration, at least investigate further. But I guess I expected a little more reserve from fellow coaches who may not really know the entire story of any given situation. It left a bad taste in my mouth for several teams we had been previously considering, that they were so willing to talk badly about a fellow coach to a virtual stranger.
Overall, I REFUSE to be a sneaky or deceitful person to gain some advantage in a sport. I will not do it. I will not compromise on what I believe is the right thing in order to theoretically advance my daughter's softball "career" (it feels so stupid even typing that about a 9 year old). You be YOU, be a good person and good parent, do what's best for your daughter and always make sure it stays FUN. Maybe she'll play in college or maybe not but like you said, she's in 6th grade! She should be having fun and not thinking about college or scholarships or drama. They play because they love the game. If they aren't having fun, when they hit their teenage rebellious stage they'll just quit anyway. So keep it fun, I say