- May 26, 2021
- 56
- 18
She is
Travel ball with no Sundays?
- Thread starter bjenkins24
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
- Feb 7, 2014
- 553
- 43
Pitchers have different rules.... the better she is the more you can dictate. Good luck !
Rec or town ball is probably your best option. When I was a coach, I would not take a player who could not make any weekend day with regularity, regardless of the reason. It wasn't personal, but I felt it wasn't fair to the other girls who were always there.
Most town teams play mid-week leagues, so I would say that's your best option.
Most town teams play mid-week leagues, so I would say that's your best option.
Being a pitcher (a good one anyway) changes things a bit. There would be teams happy to add a good pitcher to help them in pool play on Sat in order to be in a better position for bracket play on Sunday. However, as has been stated, it will limit her opportunities. I'm assuming the reason for not playing on Sunday is faith related, and it can be a difficult decision. Most teams play a fall and summer season, with anywhere from 6 to 8 tournaments in each season on average (some will play a few more). Obviously, you'd want to find a team that practices on Saturdays, and you may be able to find a team that plays some one day tournaments on Saturdays only, which would mean not missing as much church. We struggled a bit with it, but ultimately decided that we would miss some church in order to allow dd to play. We explained to her that we didn't view softball as more important, but that softball was only available for a limited period of time and that our faith wasn't limited to the church building. For a time a local church in the same denomination held Saturday services and we attended them.
Alternatively, as a pitcher she may be able to find plenty of opportunities as a pick-up player with various teams on Saturdays only. Most areas have Facebook groups where teams make posts looking for players. We went for about 6 months with our dd (who pitched) only playing as a pick-up player and could have played almost every weekend if we wanted to.
Nobody asked this, so I will.
We're all assuming this is for religious reasons. Is the issue potentially missing a church service, or is the issue participating on Sundays, a more -- pardon my word choice because I don't mean this negatively -- "extreme" interpretation of how one should approach the Sabbath?
If the issue is simply being able to attend a service, I think you can mostly make it work. Other towns have churches. There are travel teams that make religion something of a focus, and perhaps they even have team-based activities you'd like.
If the issue is that you just can't/won't participate on a Sunday, then as others have said, it's going to be difficult to find a team, but it's worth trying. Just be open and honest with teams about your availability.
We're all assuming this is for religious reasons. Is the issue potentially missing a church service, or is the issue participating on Sundays, a more -- pardon my word choice because I don't mean this negatively -- "extreme" interpretation of how one should approach the Sabbath?
If the issue is simply being able to attend a service, I think you can mostly make it work. Other towns have churches. There are travel teams that make religion something of a focus, and perhaps they even have team-based activities you'd like.
If the issue is that you just can't/won't participate on a Sunday, then as others have said, it's going to be difficult to find a team, but it's worth trying. Just be open and honest with teams about your availability.
- Jan 22, 2011
- 1,633
- 113
With online services these days, it's possible to time shift services to later times and watch as a family together. One of the positive things from Covid is almost every church now has services online. We changed to a church that had Saturday and Sunday evening services available after several years of not making church from Memorial Day to August 1st. Youth group activities usually take place in evenings or during week. Not suggesting you pick a church solely because of youth group and service times, but you could look around.
The parents of a very good lefty pitcher didn't let her play All-Stars until 2nd year 10's because of the Sunday conflict. She is 1st year 14's now and her parents have kept her on a team that plays all but one tournament a summer within a 90-minute drive of home. I told them if she was working on her pitching skills, it probably wouldn't hurt to keep her on a team with that schedule through the end of 1st year 14u's, but with her talent she needs to at least try fall ball this fall with a higher-level team. Another very good hitter years ago didn't do All-Stars until 1st year 12's.
I know teams that are desperate for pitching help for the weeklong tournaments, and only a few teams make it to play on Sunday. Picking up with one of those teams would be a good option.
I admire your commitment to the Sabbath and hope you can work something out to have her face higher level competition.
I wonder what they do in Utah about Sunday tournament games.
I still get some ribbing that my first practice as a coach was the Saturday of Easter weekend, when the league was off for spring break.
The parents of a very good lefty pitcher didn't let her play All-Stars until 2nd year 10's because of the Sunday conflict. She is 1st year 14's now and her parents have kept her on a team that plays all but one tournament a summer within a 90-minute drive of home. I told them if she was working on her pitching skills, it probably wouldn't hurt to keep her on a team with that schedule through the end of 1st year 14u's, but with her talent she needs to at least try fall ball this fall with a higher-level team. Another very good hitter years ago didn't do All-Stars until 1st year 12's.
I know teams that are desperate for pitching help for the weeklong tournaments, and only a few teams make it to play on Sunday. Picking up with one of those teams would be a good option.
I admire your commitment to the Sabbath and hope you can work something out to have her face higher level competition.
I wonder what they do in Utah about Sunday tournament games.
I still get some ribbing that my first practice as a coach was the Saturday of Easter weekend, when the league was off for spring break.
Move to Utah or Eastern Idaho - tournaments are Friday/Saturday because of the LDS religion being prevalent out here.
We have been in the exact situation. My daughter pitches, and we go to church on Sundays.
We avoided select/tournament ball for a long time. Our boys play select travel soccer at a really high level as well.
Here are the things that we learned that I wish I would have figured out earlier. (1)Teams “pick-up” players for tournaments. We “pick-up,” and let the coaches know that we cannot play Sunday mornings. (2) Some coaches are willing to work with you, and would love for your daughter to be on their roster even if you can’t play Sundays. (3) Most teams don’t play a tournament every weekend. The schedule picks up during the summer months though. (4) Most travel teams in my area (Texas) only practice on weekends to avoid conflicts with high school ball. Some teams play in a select league on weekdays to keep the girls sharp, or girls “pick-up” with teams during the week that allow select players (not high school age). We play primarily “pick-up” ball now that I have figured this out. (5) Most of the coaches that we turned down were willing to work with us. The most common reactions that we would get through the years from tournament/select coaches when we would flat out tell them “no,” because we go to church on Sundays is: “just come work-out with us” or “you could always just pick-up.”
I hope this helps, and way to stick to your convictions!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We avoided select/tournament ball for a long time. Our boys play select travel soccer at a really high level as well.
Here are the things that we learned that I wish I would have figured out earlier. (1)Teams “pick-up” players for tournaments. We “pick-up,” and let the coaches know that we cannot play Sunday mornings. (2) Some coaches are willing to work with you, and would love for your daughter to be on their roster even if you can’t play Sundays. (3) Most teams don’t play a tournament every weekend. The schedule picks up during the summer months though. (4) Most travel teams in my area (Texas) only practice on weekends to avoid conflicts with high school ball. Some teams play in a select league on weekdays to keep the girls sharp, or girls “pick-up” with teams during the week that allow select players (not high school age). We play primarily “pick-up” ball now that I have figured this out. (5) Most of the coaches that we turned down were willing to work with us. The most common reactions that we would get through the years from tournament/select coaches when we would flat out tell them “no,” because we go to church on Sundays is: “just come work-out with us” or “you could always just pick-up.”
I hope this helps, and way to stick to your convictions!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There's a significant difference between "we go to church on Sundays" and "we don't play/practice on Sundays". The former offers the potential for flexibility, the latter pretty much shuts down the possibility of being on most travel teams. DD was on a team that did group prayers before and after every game, and sometimes went to a Sunday service before or between games. However, Sundays is what a travel team works and exists for, and a good one will be playing nearly the entire day.
Everyone has their priorities...that's fine. Yes, you can play on some teams as a part-timer or just a pick-up. DD wasn't a pitcher, but sometimes picked up with teams needing help when her team was off. It's not nearly the same as being a fully invested member, and that is a big part of playing a team sport. You can't be fully involved with travel softball if you can't be fully present. You can dabble in it, but if your DD has goals of playing in college other than at a religious one that aligns with your values, you'll find that lots of college ball also happens on Sundays.
Everyone has their priorities...that's fine. Yes, you can play on some teams as a part-timer or just a pick-up. DD wasn't a pitcher, but sometimes picked up with teams needing help when her team was off. It's not nearly the same as being a fully invested member, and that is a big part of playing a team sport. You can't be fully involved with travel softball if you can't be fully present. You can dabble in it, but if your DD has goals of playing in college other than at a religious one that aligns with your values, you'll find that lots of college ball also happens on Sundays.
Similar threads
