what to do in corn country

[clayface74]

Here is the situation. My dd tried out for a 12u team. 10 of the 12 that were there were 98 b-days. It is a start up and honestly not somewhere she will be playing. She was offered a spot and she does not want to be in this situation. I know most of the people in the organization and do not want to offend them. I think they have a good thing going but it is just not a good fit for my dd. How do we turn this down and still keep a good relationship for the future? This is her first try out season and she does not want to get going in the wrong direction..what to do?

[Hawk17]

Be honest as tactfully as you can. Unfortunately, no one likes the word " no" so expect some negative feelings.

[Dropn N]

Eat corn!

[clayface74]

I honestly thought it would be something more. I was under the understanding that the contact was to be the coach and that is not the case. My daughter plays with a competitive rec all star team now, but wants more. She had never been to a tryout away from the locals so I thought this would be a safe bet for a good work out before she went to the tryout for the team she wants to play for. Me and her talked about it and she does not feel comfortable playing on an 11u team. (which this appears to be) The other team is holding their try out next sunday and that is the only other team she wants to be on. If she does not make that team we have the locals to fall back on...arrghh

[Tucson]

Howabout - "Hi, this is Clayface. We really liked the tryout the other night, but DD has one more tryout coming up with a team a little older than yours. When do you need to know her decision?"

Be ware that there have been a lot of friendships lost over softball.

[clayface74]

Howabout - "Hi, this is Clayface. We really liked the tryout the other night, but DD has one more tryout coming up with a team a little older than yours. When do you need to know her decision?"

Be ware that there have been a lot of friendships lost over softball.

Thats pretty much the direction I was thinking. Honest and straight forward.
On the friendship front ....I am prolly in a s#@t storm of lost relationships over me going in the direction I feel benifits my daughters future the most.

[BBRB]

To avoid hurt feelings, it is better to keep it about age. ie: You think it is better for her to be with girls the same birth year so she won't be out on her on next year looking for a new team.

[Tucson]

Clayface, Donnie S. has experience in what you are going to do (move on). IM him. Amy

[DonnieS]

Clayface, Donnie S. has experience in what you are going to do (move on). IM him. Amy

Clayface, like Tucson says, been there, done that. The important thing to do in what I understand of your situation is just move on - and when people make their comments to you - and they will - just smile and say 'just trying to do what we think is best '. Things you will hear are "Oh, you think your daughters are better than everyone else " and "Oh, they think we arent good enough ", and "If we keep the local girls together, we can do xxxx." Not true - most of the time, once in a while, there will be a town where the water has something in it, where they generate a bunch of studs, very rare, but it could happen.

Remember - come high school, you will be on the same team, and high school has the potential for being a lot of fun. In our area, its not a big deal as far as 'getting seen' but its important to have the high school team get along. So dont burn bridges - but get your daughter into as high a competition as possible.

[frogs_mom_15]

Well corn don't grow at all on rocky top, but we were in a very similar situation when DD moved from 12's to 14's. Small town middle of nowhere, left to go to the big city and join a team. Got all kinds of remarks, big fish lil pond, lil fish in the ocean kind of thing. It was one of the better decisions we ever made. Well know org. with many college contacts.
Now that they are all in high school, some of those girls are on teams from that same big city. The ones that strive for competition will find it. JMO