by justagame » Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:38 pm
I ran across this post and just had to tell our "team jumping" story.
1st year- 10UA, team 2hrs away, no problems
2nd year- 12UA, same organization, no problems.
3rd year-14UB, team closer to home (30 min away), no problems but coach only wanted to play "B" even tho he had the talent on team to play "A"
4th year-14UA, no problems, 1hr away, but at end of season, DD was only one that didnt HAVE to move up and the new coach wanted her to stay @14U and help his 12's moving up(most only had played one year).
5th year- 14UA, better coaching, professional hitting instructor and former college coaches, again 2hrs away, no problems
6th year- 16UA, old team stayed 14U(only a few had to move up), found new team (3hrs away)w/a coach that thot he knew everything (he didnt) and while at a tournament out west, decided to call a "team meeting" (no parents allowed) and proceeded to give the girls a "sex talk" (only one girl returned the next year and she had to play for him in HS)
7th year-18UA, good team, decent coaches, closer to home; however, DD outplayed the Assistant coach's daughter at both positions she played, so guess what-----
8th year- 18UG, team 3hrs away, started out really well, fell apart first of season, and never got it together. Bright side, daughter got a scholarship to a college we didnt know existed, and is having a ball. Down side, coach decided against using college players anywhere but pitcher or catcher, so she was done.
2008 will be our 9th summer of travel ball and she is playing w/her friends on a closer team (coach has watched her play HS and travel for last 4 yrs, couldnt wait to have her on his team) and is going out having FUN and enjoying her final summer. We would not trade MOST of the experiences for anything.
Not once did DD quit a team before the season was over. We have always told our kids if they start it, they finish it.
We only had one coach ask about the #s of teams, and once I explained it as above, he still asked her to come to tryout, and it was a GOLD coach (and not the one she played for).
There are lots of reasons players change teams, some good and some bad. But coaches, please listen to the reasons before deciding the player isnt for you just because they have been on multiple teams.