Poor Coaching at the 10u/12u Travel Level?

[Imperial SB Dad]

Where is Skarp when we need him?

Artomatic has been around take his advice. Sure he was blunt straight forward and honest, but his advice is very sound.

Good luck in your softball journey and relax a bit. It is a looooooong road.

[Biggest fan bar none]

it is pizz azz coaching when the girl makes 5 errors in her infield spot.then the coach dosent either bench her or swap her out with the new girl that also can play that spot. atleast the newer kid woulda tried very hard had she been given the chance. then the benched or swapped out kid would have a lil thinking time to what she just did, [5 errors], some of you people here might have alot of years under your belts with travel ball and wrie even better then me--but i think that california sun has eaten some of your brains or your sitten on them ,

[wichita]

Hey Everyone,

Pretty new here, but there's a topic I definitely had to bring up so I can get everyone else's take on it.

So the past few friendlies my DD has been in with the teams she's played/been with I have been seeing a lot of infield favoritism like we saw a lot of in rec ball. It only looks like favoritism to me because my DD and her friend both who is in the same situation have primary positions in the infield(DD-MINF, friend-C/IF). The coaching staffs they have both been a part of have had their core group of girls (Which just so happen to be their daughters) who are not AWFUL at their positions, but are not (In my extremely unbiased opinion) on the same level of aggression as my DD and her Friend are in the infield. The thing is that my DD and her friend are probably 2 of the fastest girls on the team, so they are both very reliable outfielders.

The problem I have is not that I want my DD and her friend as the starting Infielder/Catcher every single game, but my fear is that come tournament time, they both will be underdeveloped in their primary positions and thus errors will more likely to occur in the positions they are most confident in, just because friendly after friendly they are locked up in the outfield.

I understand Daddy-ball is a virus in the softball world. You didn't get picked as the the All-star coach, so now you take your DD and start the same favoritism crap on other girls, etc. But in my opinion when a rec-ball coach decides to go travel there is a BIG change that needs to be made personally. Every girl should be getting reps at every position, not just your daughter, 3 games in a row, 4-5 innings straight. I had the pleasure of seeing this years Corona Angels 01 team and they seem to do exactly that. Girls were swapping in and out of different positions and everyone looked like they had been getting reps there and were confident in what they were doing.

So is GREAT coaching really only going to be found on the top 10u teams? That is extremely unfortunate, because we all know how exclusive those teams are to already developed girls, not much room for the strong, but still developing ones. So it would be foolish to think that my DD can make those teams as of right now but I'm sure it will definitely happen down the road.

All in all what I am trying to get at is that the Travel 10u/12u level IS NOT a D1 association. Stop trying to envision the infield/outfield/battery that will win you games in Friendlies. And STOP treating the Outfield as a place to just throw your new players into, so you daughters will be covered when ball after ball is going through their legs.

So 10u/12u coaches I have some questions for you...
- Are you making your daughter better by having her believe Daddy will keep her in a secure spot on the infield she doesn't have to actually work for?

- Do you think you can keep girls on the 10u level team all the way to 18GOLD if they aren't even given a chance to play at where they want to get better at?

- Don't you think after 5 errors in a row, it might be time to swap out your 2nd basemen? (lol ok maybe that was a bit personal)

- Are you really developing the girls to be as well-rounded as they can be, or are you looking to win for the sake of bragging rights?


REALLY THINK ABOUT IT!

comments?

I wouldn't necessarily call this a coaching problem as much as a daddy ball problem and from what ive seen it isn't just at the 10U/12U but also at the 14U/16U level as well . I mean why is it that alot of coaches that have their daughters play for them is either a ss or a pitcher ....really?.... We have no bad a** outfielders or catchers that are coaches daughters? Now before I get all those haters out there bashing the last couple sentences I said alot i didn't say all coaches .....some coaches have daughters that are bad a** players and deserve that spot but for every one of those kids theres 3 kids that are playing behind the coaches daughter that are better players. I know of one coach that takes his daughter to every tryout he can and his daughter is never picked up so he goes and coaches a team just so his daughter can pitch in "A-ball" and the poor girl just isnt A-ball material but if theres a big game or a one and done game on Sun. shes going to be the starting pitcher without question .... Now lets ask the question do these girls gain confidence getting shelled or walking 5 in a row or would it be better to go down to b- ball and grow as a pitcher and gain confidence and refine her skills before going the A-ball route?
Wow I guess that was a bit of a rant lol.

[Sftbll4ever]

Can a Dad or Mom coach with a DD on the team be impartial?

My DD has had two coaches that were not Daddy Ball coaches in her career. BTW, she has only been in 4 orgs in the last 8 years of travel. She had a 12u coach that had a DD on the team and he never made it about her. Then again in 16u. For the last 3 years of 18u/Gold, she has played with one coach who's DD was her 14u coach. No kid on the team, just does it to help out the girls.

It's a process and you have to be patient and do your homework. They are out there for each skill level.

[Thisgunnahurt]

the bottom line is you must continue to work with your daughter during the week in get her ready for the next level. She is still young, and there is some bad coaching out there.

[victorydad]

The best thing is to go with it and have your DD master the outfield and get her a fielding coach so she improves her game and stays sharp.Look at it as an opportunity to play another position. This will make her such a more rounded player than perhaps the coaches daughter and other players. Also try and find a team where a coach does not have a daughter on the team.They are out there. Many great coaches have their kid's playing for them but it's too bad that your daughter got stuck with one of the bad ones. Stick it out and teach her not to quit until the season is over. Then move on ,but carefully select her next team and see how she will fit in. Good luck in your travel ball journey.

[handsinsidetheball]

[quote And very important thing for you to know. Most of the Coaches/Managers all talk to each other. Softball is a very small community and you really do not want to be the problem parent. If your not happy with her play time keep quiet. Work with her and she will eventually earn her spot.[/quote]

This is great advice. TAKE IT!!

Why get so worked up over a 10U team? Save that energy, you will need it if you are truely in this for the long hall. Focus your energies on her development through private lessons and or/instruction away from the 10U games. Allow the games to do just that, provide game experience. Don't allow yourself to get overconcerned with the current situation, if your not happy, come fall, move on. Focus on her development, i.e. mechanics, approach, etc..and avoid getting labeled as "those parents". Once labeled (either deserving or not), very difficult to fix.

[joaquinjunior]

This is great advice. Thank you, handsinsidetheball. God bless

[8u/10udad]

Both of DD's experienced the same issue that yours did this past year. However, they ended up excelling in the secondary position because they wanted to help the team win. It does get frustrating when the player in your DD's position is consistenly yelled at to do this do that, but, she is always playing that position. Just relax and have fun. The time will go by fast and before you know it, you will be wishing for those 10u/12u games again.

[Gaphitter14]

I say you roll with it for now and instead of wasting energy on trying to get a position she might not get an opportunity for on that team. Stay the full practice and dont treat them like a babysitting time(not saying you do) and watch the drills done on the postion you want her to play and work on them during the week with your daughter.
In travelball you can treat the outfield as second rate position or your team will not go far. As they get older. And stronger the ball will go to the outfield more than you think.
Good luck hope she gets the opportunity