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Ok Norcal, I have a question.....

by rbi » Fri Oct 31, 2014 11:13 am

Not pointing at any org or team just have a few opinions on somewhat this topic and maybe a little OT. Tryouts have been getting pushed up to the point now that they overlap seasons, its almost comical. How the hell is a kid going to tryout when she is still playing for another team. What you supposed to tell your current team, "hey im going to tryout for XXX this weekend but, i will still be at the Nationals next weekend, wtf who does that and have a clear head. Even better yet is the family who has that "secret" private tryout, thinking nobody is going to find out, news flash softball is a very small world....

I just wish kids were given a little more time off and not feel like they were falling behind the "Jones" family if they took a few weeks off between seasons, especially the 10's,12's, and even 14's. I understand if your older, you should be working on your craft and training in gym pretty much year round to be a skilled player. Keeping in mind listening to your body and have proper training in gym, and really just being smart and leading a balanced HS life....We took time off from the game itself but,, did the gym thing relentlessly, hit til we had blisters on blisters, rested the arm a lot, and we let her be a teenager and be with her friends, kept her hungry.....

Lastly, i like the idea of teams at least up here in NorCal who play alot of friendlies during the Fall against the better teams, especially the youngsters, and even the 18s. No need to be traveling to LA but once or twice in Fall. if your a top team going to play in a local tourney and kill people does you zero good other than telling your friends and coworkers you scored 36 runs and gave up 3. Much better off finding three other quality teams and rotating hosting friendlies and get some work in. Yes it gets a little repetitive but there are lots of things you can do to make it competitive during the friendly. Example, put runners on 2nd and 3rd and have no outs and squeeze the hell of each other, even if they know its coming they still have to make the play, it helps both off and def a lot. Part of mental game is teaching the kids to have that will to compete, of which i dont see enough of. Far too many kids going thru the motions.. With that being said, orgs should be able to keep costs down for the Fall, and they should NOT be gouging parents for one or two LA trips and 4 friendlies.
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by onlooker » Fri Oct 31, 2014 11:51 am

Thanks RBI !! best post I've seen in year(s) on Nor Cal board. You nailed our problem up here. As an example, and for reference.....Check out the friendlies board. 336 Topics in heybuckets history for So Cal.... yet 0 in Nor Cal. ZERO!!!

I might add that in addition to the few and far between useful friendlies up here, we don't understand what they are truly for. First and foremost it is a practice/training/educational experience we seem to shy away from for some odd reason.
In addition, we think it is a fundraiser! LMAO! that is a by-product of hosting a friendly, not the mission statement.
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by izicsz » Fri Oct 31, 2014 12:34 pm

rbi wrote:Not pointing at any org or team just have a few opinions on somewhat this topic and maybe a little OT. Tryouts have been getting pushed up to the point now that they overlap seasons, its almost comical. How the hell is a kid going to tryout when she is still playing for another team. What you supposed to tell your current team, "hey im going to tryout for XXX this weekend but, i will still be at the Nationals next weekend, wtf who does that and have a clear head. Even better yet is the family who has that "secret" private tryout, thinking nobody is going to find out, news flash softball is a very small world....

I just wish kids were given a little more time off and not feel like they were falling behind the "Jones" family if they took a few weeks off between seasons, especially the 10's,12's, and even 14's. I understand if your older, you should be working on your craft and training in gym pretty much year round to be a skilled player. Keeping in mind listening to your body and have proper training in gym, and really just being smart and leading a balanced HS life....We took time off from the game itself but,, did the gym thing relentlessly, hit til we had blisters on blisters, rested the arm a lot, and we let her be a teenager and be with her friends, kept her hungry.....

Lastly, i like the idea of teams at least up here in NorCal who play alot of friendlies during the Fall against the better teams, especially the youngsters, and even the 18s. No need to be traveling to LA but once or twice in Fall. if your a top team going to play in a local tourney and kill people does you zero good other than telling your friends and coworkers you scored 36 runs and gave up 3. Much better off finding three other quality teams and rotating hosting friendlies and get some work in. Yes it gets a little repetitive but there are lots of things you can do to make it competitive during the friendly. Example, put runners on 2nd and 3rd and have no outs and squeeze the hell of each other, even if they know its coming they still have to make the play, it helps both off and def a lot. Part of mental game is teaching the kids to have that will to compete, of which i dont see enough of. Far too many kids going thru the motions.. With that being said, orgs should be able to keep costs down for the Fall, and they should NOT be gouging parents for one or two LA trips and 4 friendlies.


RBI,

You are absolutely spot on! I could not have described what my DD and I are currently going through any better!! It has been very difficult to navigate from still playing for a team in the fall and trying to help her decide what to do for the long term. I am hopeful that she can make a good team that is local and has a vision for the future. Her current team is a relatively new organization that is struggling to attract not just good players, but players period. I would not be looking for another team if I thought that this would be the best team/organization for her. I still hold out hope to find an organization that she can stick with and play for many seasons. I have been very clear about what we are looking for in an organization and have been forthright to everyone involved about what our current plans are, which includes trying out for other teams. Honestly, it sucks to have to tell other parents and coaches on her current team that, yes, she is trying out for another team(s). However, like you said, softball is a very small world! I would rather be truthful about it than not. Just not the most pleasurable experience when having to deal with the feedback from her current team!!
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by rbi » Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:16 pm

izicsz wrote:
rbi wrote:Not pointing at any org or team just have a few opinions on somewhat this topic and maybe a little OT. Tryouts have been getting pushed up to the point now that they overlap seasons, its almost comical. How the hell is a kid going to tryout when she is still playing for another team. What you supposed to tell your current team, "hey im going to tryout for XXX this weekend but, i will still be at the Nationals next weekend, wtf who does that and have a clear head. Even better yet is the family who has that "secret" private tryout, thinking nobody is going to find out, news flash softball is a very small world....

I just wish kids were given a little more time off and not feel like they were falling behind the "Jones" family if they took a few weeks off between seasons, especially the 10's,12's, and even 14's. I understand if your older, you should be working on your craft and training in gym pretty much year round to be a skilled player. Keeping in mind listening to your body and have proper training in gym, and really just being smart and leading a balanced HS life....We took time off from the game itself but,, did the gym thing relentlessly, hit til we had blisters on blisters, rested the arm a lot, and we let her be a teenager and be with her friends, kept her hungry.....

Lastly, i like the idea of teams at least up here in NorCal who play alot of friendlies during the Fall against the better teams, especially the youngsters, and even the 18s. No need to be traveling to LA but once or twice in Fall. if your a top team going to play in a local tourney and kill people does you zero good other than telling your friends and coworkers you scored 36 runs and gave up 3. Much better off finding three other quality teams and rotating hosting friendlies and get some work in. Yes it gets a little repetitive but there are lots of things you can do to make it competitive during the friendly. Example, put runners on 2nd and 3rd and have no outs and squeeze the hell of each other, even if they know its coming they still have to make the play, it helps both off and def a lot. Part of mental game is teaching the kids to have that will to compete, of which i dont see enough of. Far too many kids going thru the motions.. With that being said, orgs should be able to keep costs down for the Fall, and they should NOT be gouging parents for one or two LA trips and 4 friendlies.


RBI,

You are absolutely spot on! I could not have described what my DD and I are currently going through any better!! It has been very difficult to navigate from still playing for a team in the fall and trying to help her decide what to do for the long term. I am hopeful that she can make a good team that is local and has a vision for the future. Her current team is a relatively new organization that is struggling to attract not just good players, but players period. I would not be looking for another team if I thought that this would be the best team/organization for her. I still hold out hope to find an organization that she can stick with and play for many seasons. I have been very clear about what we are looking for in an organization and have been forthright to everyone involved about what our current plans are, which includes trying out for other teams. Honestly, it sucks to have to tell other parents and coaches on her current team that, yes, she is trying out for another team(s). However, like you said, softball is a very small world! I would rather be truthful about it than not. Just not the most pleasurable experience when having to deal with the feedback from her current team!!



Probably best option in your situation would have been, ride the Fall out, keep the negative thoughts in your house, and when its over move on with a handshake. ANY team that wants you to tryout before your current team has completed the season is not a team i want my kid on. Now if your doing this on your own, probably not a good idea, causes way to much drama and it really is disrespect to the current team/staff. Now if you have not tried out and its just conversation between you and current coach, then its really not a big deal. Bottom line is you commit to a s**t show, you live and learn, and ride the season out, it teachs commitment and it teachs parents to do their homework. I get parents ask me all the time, "where should we go", i tell them get out and watch the teams your interested in either practice and/or play a couple games. Observe the talent level, observe the coaching staff, game team chemistry/attitude, the parents, the practice's, and make a family decision is this where we want to be for the next 4-5 months....

footnote; now if there is something going on with team other than what you described maybe i might change my thought process but as described, you eat this one sorry....
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by rbi » Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:41 pm

onlooker wrote:Thanks RBI !! best post I've seen in year(s) on Nor Cal board. You nailed our problem up here. As an example, and for reference.....Check out the friendlies board. 336 Topics in heybuckets history for So Cal.... yet 0 in Nor Cal. ZERO!!!

I might add that in addition to the few and far between useful friendlies up here, we don't understand what they are truly for. First and foremost it is a practice/training/educational experience we seem to shy away from for some odd reason.
In addition, we think it is a fundraiser! LMAO! that is a by-product of hosting a friendly, not the mission statement.



IMO, i just think a lot of us get caught up in the "W", and forget what we really need to do, and that is to develop and improve as a team. If that means we lost a friendly because we couldnt get a bunt down for 3 straight innings then so be it, we need to do a better job then. If we loose because we needed to see Suzy pitch against a top team, so be it... etc etc etc... And the situations that the coachs put in play, are huge! You cant replace live situations and sometimes we need to not get caught up in "W", and focus on the "D" word, develop! Bottom line is you have what 1:20 in a friendly, make the most of it, get the kids to compete and throw the scorebook out the window. Hosting friendlies, is very simple, get a quality field, host team handles it all, food, prep work, umpires, schedule. You do it once, and your golden for next three!
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by izicsz » Fri Oct 31, 2014 10:04 pm

rbi wrote:Probably best option in your situation would have been, ride the Fall out, keep the negative thoughts in your house, and when its over move on with a handshake. ANY team that wants you to tryout before your current team has completed the season is not a team i want my kid on. Now if your doing this on your own, probably not a good idea, causes way to much drama and it really is disrespect to the current team/staff. Now if you have not tried out and its just conversation between you and current coach, then its really not a big deal. Bottom line is you commit to a s**t show, you live and learn, and ride the season out, it teachs commitment and it teachs parents to do their homework. I get parents ask me all the time, "where should we go", i tell them get out and watch the teams your interested in either practice and/or play a couple games. Observe the talent level, observe the coaching staff, game team chemistry/attitude, the parents, the practice's, and make a family decision is this where we want to be for the next 4-5 months....

footnote; now if there is something going on with team other than what you described maybe i might change my thought process but as described, you eat this one sorry....


RBI,

I totally agree with what you have said thus far. I normally would have played out the full season/commitment with my DD's current team without any issues whatsoever. That is what we have done every season thus far in our travel ball journey. However, just about every organization this year with a 12U team in the area is having tryouts in the month of November. Most by November 15th! Her current team is playing 2 more tournaments through November 22/23. Like I stated earlier, most organizations in previous years waited until the first and second week of December. With the likelihood of her current team not able to draw enough players to make a full roster, I am really in a rough spot. Damned if I do, Damned if I don't!!
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by PDad » Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:32 am

onlooker wrote:Thanks RBI !! best post I've seen in year(s) on Nor Cal board. You nailed our problem up here. As an example, and for reference.....Check out the friendlies board. 336 Topics in heybuckets history for So Cal.... yet 0 in Nor Cal. ZERO!!!

I might add that in addition to the few and far between useful friendlies up here, we don't understand what they are truly for. First and foremost it is a practice/training/educational experience we seem to shy away from for some odd reason.
In addition, we think it is a fundraiser! LMAO! that is a by-product of hosting a friendly, not the mission statement.

An often overlooked benefit of 1-day friendlies is they allow you to hold a full team practice the other day of the weekend.
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by Hook Slide » Wed Nov 05, 2014 10:12 am

What does your kid want to do?
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by alei » Mon Nov 17, 2014 3:28 pm

RE: Norcal

1. KG 12U moving to USAFastpitch.
One reason for the move is the 02' USAFastpitch manager was not asked back to coach at KG this past 03' Fall (a little too late he should have been ousted in the 10's). I think the guy can be absolutely nuts. For the sake of the girls I hope he learned from it and is not just taking his ball and going home to start his own team and the same antics.

2. Coach P. - great coach, tough (in a positive manner), glad to have him around. He may just be what this area has been lacking. He coaches kids across many teams and they are better for it.

3. Try outs - crazy early. Seemed like KG was trying to ward off the mass exodus. Hopefully we can consolidate some of the talent scattered amongst the many existing and daddy start up teams.

Just my 2 cents..
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by Bookend » Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:07 am

alei wrote:RE: Norcal

1. KG 12U moving to USAFastpitch.
One reason for the move is the 02' USAFastpitch manager was not asked back to coach at KG this past 03' Fall (a little too late he should have been ousted in the 10's). I think the guy can be absolutely nuts. For the sake of the girls I hope he learned from it and is not just taking his ball and going home to start his own team and the same antics.

2. Coach P. - great coach, tough (in a positive manner), glad to have him around. He may just be what this area has been lacking. He coaches kids across many teams and they are better for it.

3. Try outs - crazy early. Seemed like KG was trying to ward off the mass exodus. Hopefully we can consolidate some of the talent scattered amongst the many existing and daddy start up teams.

Just my 2 cents..


If my daughter were still playing 12U, I'd kick the doors down to have Emerling/Bird coach her!
Just my2 cents
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