Primus- Helpful Post

[Ex Primus Dad]

I have thought long and hard about posting, hoping something constructive would pop up in regards to the Primus Organization as opposed to a juvenile first post by Nacho2 and then even more sophomoric responses. If Nacho would not seem to have an axe to grind I think it is a valid question that I would like to provide my 2 cents to those considering this organization. My quick advice, look elsewhere. There are a lot of other organizations that you can spend your hard earned money for a trusting organization. My family and daughter made a mistake playing for the 12U “Blue” team which should have been labeled the B team. Let me preface by saying I have been involved in high school and college sports for the majority of my adult life but this was our first jump into travel ball with my oldest child. What a mistake we made by being too trusting and naïve which is why I decided to post. Now I know many Primus defenders may jump all over me, but in my conscious I wanted to give others my family’s experience to share with other “newbie’s” to the travel world.

First of all what Primus has going for them is a great facility that sells itself and a great instructor operating there in Frank Rizzo. After that it all goes downhill. The problem is that Coach Rizzo does not do anything for Primus but private lessons which is extra to the $200 team fee we were already paying. This number at 12U and 14U is expected to be $250 next season. That in my opinion is a ridiculous amount of money for a 12U team. Maybe others have that type of $$$ to drop around monthly for softball, but not the majority of the people I have talked to or compared with other organizations. When you ask what you get for that money that is the next problem, you do not get an answer from them. Again this was our first run at travel ball, but after talking to others we learned that most teams have a budget and this is shared with families on the team. Not at Primus. I can tell you where it did not go…playing games. Our 12U Blue team played in approximately 20 games from January till we ended in June. By comparison the 12U “White” team from Primus played in over 60 in the same time frame. How about dirt practices? We had about 5 the entire season, with the majority of practices being held indoors at their facility which is great for fundamentals but not for situational drills or outfield at all. Primus feels this is enough, but I can tell you that with girls this age they need to be on the field. Experience bad hops, work on running the bases, playing long toss, etc.

How about coaching? When we first started we knew we were a group of rec girls making the jump with a rec father coach. I was ok with it then and am still ok with it. Our coach Jeff was a great guy. The downside, he was given little to no guidance from the organization that approached him to coach the team. He did not know about scheduling friendlies, tournaments, etc. He was also promised a great deal of help from the “experienced” Primus staff and given next to nothing. I observed this to be true with the 12U “White” team who also had “dad” coaches but they seemed to be a well oiled machine compared to our 12U team whether it be coaching, practicing, or scheduling. They started slowly but in the end I think they finished 2nd in a few TCS tournaments and did well in the World Series. I heard they were promised a lot and most promises fell short but that is for one of their families to weigh in on. I have heard that they are leaving the Primus Organization as a team unfortunately. Makes me wonder when a team leaves together and sticks together what happened to make them leave considering how well I thought they were doing. Players leave teams all the time due to coaching conflicts, playing time, etc, but it is rare when an entire team leaves together. I did know at the facility their coaches were not reimbursed for 4+ weeks for friendlies and tournaments since Primus controls all the team’s money. That alone would frustrate me, but then again as I type more and more, I can see a lot of frustrations for those involved.

Lastly they sold our families on great clinics and classes. This started well but seemed to turn disastrous. They have a great schedule of fielding class and condition classes when not cancelled. These classes run by age group with random instructors of who knows what background, but my gripe is that often they would combine 8U, 10U, and 12U girls varying in skill from Rec to travel players. You can see the problem here. A 12U travel player probably should not be throwing a ball to an 8U Rec player. Does not take a rocket scientist to figure that one out, but yet it goes on. How about hitting classes? Nope. Pitching clinics? Nope. Those are all extra money. You can see your $200 per month team now costing you close to $400-$500 per month if your daughter is a pitcher taking lessons and wants hitting lessons as well. Yet they do not see anything wrong with this as it is travel ball. Yes I see this, but at 12U, my daughter is a long ways away from getting a scholarship and if I pay that much from 12U-18U I might as well save the money, start a college fund, and not even worry about the scholarship!

Again, I know I will be criticized for my post, but I know when my wife and I looked for a travel ball team, we used this website. I am hoping that I can provided help to others as I wish would have been provided by me. We were not disgruntled by the team, coach, or other parents as my daughter played all the time and loved he teammates, but rather what I saw as the fundamentals misgivings with the Primus Organization. $200+ is a lot, just know what you are or are not going to be getting for your money. If you don’t expect to be treated as a valued member by ownership, but rather as a payday for them, then this is the place for you.

[4girlsmom]

Who is in charge of the Primus organization?

[doubleD34]

We are part of the Primus family and to this point we have been very happy with our experience. Yes 200.00 a month for dues seem high but when you have the use of the facility and the training that my daughter gets is way better then paying dues for just dirt practice. I understand that everyone is entitled to there opinion and it's all good. I am just saying that our experience has been a good one. Just always know that no matter where you go your dues will be somewhere between 125-200 plus as far as I know that no club offers free pitching and hitting lessons. The good thing about Primus is that they do have catchers training for no extra charge and that works for me.... Good luck with you next travel team.

[Safebyahare]

Dear Ex Primus dad,
1. Change your logon name.
2. Read the unwritten rules of Heybucket. You may find these on fastpitch discussion at top of forum in classics.

Both of these are important. There are still parents and players still with this team/org.
I do understand what you are trying to accomplish, however you could have posed your question without using names.!
You also have the free will to walk away.
Now $200 a month is steep, $100 to $125 with fundraising is more reasonable.
For your future,,,try looking up a team off the PGF Nationals qualified list. The team you put your dd on should have a goal.

Better yet delete this thread, and start from scratch.
You can be better than that.

[Luther]

I think your post was informative and well written.

There are always people who will not agree with you but it should not stop you from putting the information out there.

In reference to dues; $200 is very steep ESPECIALLY at 12u.

When my DD was in 12's our dues were $75 per month.

[watchtonsofsoftball]

No need to delete your thread. You stayed on point and from here parents can make their own decision. Nobody on here has the right to tell you how to post. I thought for a newbie it was fine. At 12u every parent has had their panties in a bunch at one point or another. Your learning! And trust me , more mistakes are coming!
Here is a couple points to think about it. Treat this sport like a business, cause if you don't, you will be in for a ride. 90% of parents out there don't, and that's why the drama, etc. Not saying its the right mentality but in this day and age, in this sport, its the only way to go.
One of your last paragraphs you mentioned just saving the money instead of worrying about the scholarship. Honestly the scholarship is easily obtainable with hard work but the stress and traveling, drama, and dealing with all the other softball knuckleheads will have you scratching your head at times. Don't think twice , pick up and move to another team and work on finding the right fit! It may take a while.

[PDad]

One of your last paragraphs you mentioned just saving the money instead of worrying about the scholarship. Honestly the scholarship is easily obtainable with hard work but the stress and traveling, drama, and dealing with all the other softball knuckleheads will have you scratching your head at times.

Athletics scholarships are easy for some, but not for most... It's far easier to get academic money with less effort.

Parents should not consider money spent on softball as an investment for college. Save enough money to at least be able to afford a local state school. Scholarships should just be a means to a better education than you'd get without them.

[LaderaDD96]

[Luther]

Our team gets unlimited EM for FAR LESS than what is mentioned above....

[americandad]

When you start up with a team, they should have a budget and schedule so you what your getting for your money.The thing that would piss me off much more as parent would be this and should be more of a hot topic.Your team qualifies for a national tournament.Your coach picks up three pick up playerss.They never pay team fees.The coach sits the kids that got the team there.He plays the new kids the whole tournament.They never even practiced with the team.The team then goes out in two straight games.Original players never even played.What did those kids get for their money? ,