Wow - got to see the side of the coach we'd been warned about!

[quincy]

I like the suicide bunt example.

DD has bunted more then anyone else on her teams, not sure why. She can hit.

Guarantee she is pulling back on bad pitch.

You do not even need to practice it, not sure if you can, but just tell her she needs to try to make contact regardless and she will try.

Wonder if they ever explained it to your DD before they yelled at her. I know it has never been explained to DD.

She is supposed to know everything before she shows up.

 

[ANNASDAD]

The case may be different for you guys, I've only ever seen one (1) girl respond positively to beat down coaching. This was in 12U TB, really good team built from nothing! I was the AC, the lovable coach that all the girls liked the most including the HC's DD. That was in 12U, fast forward 4/5 years......these girls are ball players, they know when they make a mistake, they don't need it pounded into their heads or humiliated in front of their peers, parents, or fans in the stands!

When a girl makes a error/mistake while giving me 100%, I let it go, "you'll get the next one!" The girls who makes lazy boneheaded mental errors just might get pulled out of the game (in between innings)! This girl I'm talking about was a phenomenal athlete who played 3B for us, she could get mental on us and occasionally lose it, she was a standout AAU basketball player who was already being invited to college basketball camps at that age. She was built like a linebacker and ran like a deer, in the 2+ years we coached her she never once got threw out stealing, and if she was on she was stealing! The HC was rough on her often, but then she'd just shift into another gear, never phased her!

KPower, I definitely don't have the answer for you, I hope everything works out for you guys! I could tell you what I'd say to her if it happened again.......but I better not!

 

[KPower]

I like the suicide bunt example.

DD has bunted more then anyone else on her teams, not sure why. She can hit.

Guarantee she is pulling back on bad pitch.

You do not even need to practice it, not sure if you can, but just tell her she needs to try to make contact regardless and she will try.

Wonder if they ever explained it to your DD before they yelled at her. I know it has never been explained to DD.

She is supposed to know everything before she shows up.

I honestly don't think she has ever been coached on a suicide squeeze. She bunts all the time and usually can leg it out. She is fast. But I don't know that her TB coaches have ever coached her for the play her HS coach was expecting her to know how to execute. She didn't pull back on the bunt, but she certainly didn't attack it either. She was just kind of frozen. Sigh.

 

[Tatonka]

KPower - have things settled down with Coach yet now that you're halfway through the season? Winning can mask a lot!

 

[KPower]

KPower - have things settled down with Coach yet now that you're halfway through the season? Winning can mask a lot!

Well...do things ever really settle down with this one? LOL!

DD has been told she is not a JV player. She is Varsity only. She played one JV game. She only ran in the first Varsity game but has started Varsity ever since. She bats #2 in the line up. It has been challenging being the only Freshman on Varsity. There are no sophomores, 5 seniors, 5 juniors and DD. The coach is crazy - you always have to expect the unexpected with her. She is unpredictable and at times incredibly irrational. For whatever reason she really likes DD and other than the above mentioned incident has not yelled at DD or singled her out since. The JV coach came to talk to DD the other day and the HC grabbed DD and said - this is "my player...". DD would love to play JV - the JV coach is awesome and all her friends are on JV. It took her a while to gain the respect of the Varsity players - but I think she has finally done that. The coach continues to be MEAN though. Last week a JV player (freshman) who is actually going to be on this coach's club team was playing OF and she misjudged the ball and it dropped. The Coach screamed (for everyone to hear) "you might want to try playing like an athlete once in a while". This poor kid - I mean the freshmen are like deer in headlights...and then to be yelled at like that on top of it. The AC for Varsity is almost as mean. There was a JV girl who they pulled up to run and he told her it took her from June to November to run from 1st to 3rd.

So...all that to say - I don't know if it has gotten better or if we are just becoming immune to it. The girls are made to practice (flipping tires and running) after home games and made to run after away games until JV is done. The coach pulled our AWESOME 3rd baseman the other day because she forgot to run on a dropped 3rd strike. She pulls pitchers after 2 walks, but then she has her favorites who can do no wrong and she plays all the time. I was warned by a couple of the parents that the week between Regionals and State is Hell week and DD will definitely come home crying every night. All I can say is I'm glad the season is only another month...I'm not sure any of us could take much more. I feel sorry for the girls who will be playing with the coach all year. It is going to be hard having NO break from that. I have to wonder if they will give up softball. The parents of the 2 JV girls who will be playing with her think the coach hangs the moon. I'm not sure either of their daughters have relayed things that have happened...

 

[Tatonka]

Well...glad to hear your DD is currently in her favor!

 

[julray]

The fact this coach called a suicide bunt up 13-0 shows what kind of character she is. Coaches who say they are building character and life skills this way(shouting and belittling their players) are only making an excuse for behavior they know is wrong.

 

[#7sDad]

I'm surprised girls even go out for the team. DD's HS coach has challenges getting girls to come out for the program because she works them a little. They were complaining last year because she had a hard week of practices before play-offs... which they didn't look ready for. Now some of them aren't coming out this year because of that. smh.

 

[KPower]

Well...glad to hear your DD is currently in her favor!

Please know being in her good graces (small as they may be) doesn’t make all things better or forgiven. DD still comes home every night with stories of crazy behavior that neither she nor I agree with. The hard part is trying to separate that from the relationship she’s built with the girls and the trust they have put in one another. In a strange twisted way I almost think the coaches behavior makes the girls more cohesive as a team. They support and encourage each other when the yelling starts. They build each other up. It’s like they protect each other from the outbursts. They have an “us” mentality. The dugout is a totally different environment than what you would expect. These girls trust one another and really do work as a team instead of for themselves. Each and every girl can lay down a sacrifice bunt perfectly. No one sulks or cries if they strike out. I really have not seen a team operate this independently from self - ever. It took a while for DD to settle in and find her spot but she is now viewed as one of the team. I still have a hard time listening to the coach and often times want to pull DD from the team - but DD has really come to care for the girls and she could not imagine walking away from them. That is the truly hard part of all of this. There are girls from all different backgrounds on the team - who in other situations might never have even spoken to one another - but here they are one team. And who knows - maybe that was the coach’s goal all along. (But still not saying I support or condone her behavior - just trying to add a little perspective!)


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[Tatonka]

I get it and have watched some of the aspects of team bonding which you are describing here occur. It's crazy at times the perspective we try to take (grasping at straws?) to figure out someone's behavior. Good for the girls on this team, I'm glad they are sticking together and have each others backs!!