Priorities

[Joe]

As far as getting out of the stands, I'm done with that.

Then there's no other choice but to STFU

say cheese

[SnocatzDad]

I've been coaching for about 7 years, 3 years in Rec and 4 years in travel progressing like many dad/coaches along with my daughter who has 3 more years in her.

I see the game differently every year. I go to some coaches clinics to learn and also help out at other coaches clinics mentoring beginning coaches that have less experience than me. I do this because I had mentors that helped me tremendously and I want to pay that forward. I know things this year that I didn't know last year and I am confident that I will learn things this year that will help me be a better coach next year.

If I could go back in time and coach that first team with what I know now I could have done better by those kids, but it takes time to learn and I didn't have 7 years of prep time to coach that first team and there wasn't a line of qualified people begging for the job, like it is for most dad/coaches it was trial by fire and I was the only one willing to step up and do the job.

rhpft,

Do you see the game the same way now as you did 9 years ago? I think if your honest with yourself the answer will be no. Your able to observe flaws that to you are blatant, but to a beginning coach might be fuzzy and a lower priority than other fundamental problems a player might have. Coaching expereince needs to be earned somewhere, playing experience is helpful but not a guarantee of coaching acumen. Someone that played at a high level in college might know what proper fundamentals are and be able to demostrate them, but be clueless on how to teach someone how to execute those fundamentals or might see that there is something wrong with a students execution, but not have the experience to diagnose or correct. It sounds like you were fortunate enough to get hooked up with some of the top coaching in your state, be glad that you were, others weren't so fortunate and most of the time it's not from a lack of effort or desire, but there are always going to be coaches out there at different points on the ladder of experience and until this sport starts making players rich the number of highly qualified coaches willing to work with completely unexperienced players and teach them rock solid fundamentals right away will always be limited.

[DDSBMOM]

rhpft - You sound like a disgruntled father, maybe your dd tried out for this team, or others like it and didn't make the cut? Trashing teams that your dd is not on, makes me really feel sorry for the team that she is on, or feel sorry for the players, parents and coaches, I am sure you find fault with every single one of them too. I am sure these elite teams are probably glad you are not on their team.

[Skarp]

I am not a frequent poster, but I check out this board once in a while to see what the "experts" are saying. I have pretty much been at softball tournaments as either a coach or parent almost every weekend available for tournaments for the past 9 years as my daughter has been playing select ball since she was 6 years old. I have been at local and national tournaments from ASA to USFA to AFA to USSSA, to NSA, to name a few. I see alot of comments/complaints about yelling coaches, poor umpires, bad parents, girls with bad attitudes, girls with good attitudes, sandbagging, daddy ball, select vs. rec, stealing signs, etc., etc., etc. But I think I can safely say that I have never seen too many topics associated with just bad softball. I see it week in and week out. Girls that are now playing 14U or 16U that have been taught absolutely nothing as it relates to fundamentals. I see girls who don't know the proper way to field a ground ball or fly ball, don't know where to throw the ball in situations, poor baserunning, poor base coverage (if there's not a safety base, these girls don't have a clue how cover 1st base), no do-or-die in the outfield, players standing in the baselines, baserunners running around those players, etc., etc., etc. I could go on, but I'm sure I've bored all of you "experts" at this point. My daughter loves the game, I love watching her play, and she and I will continue to be out there each and every weekend. But thank god, for the sake of the game, that I only have 4 more years to watch this brutality of a great sport! I think the straw that finally broke the camel's back for me was watching the 14U team of this new "elite" fastpitch organization in Central Texas this past weekend. This new organization is supposed to be run by a group of women who once played for that college in Texas' capital city that has the largest athletic budget in the country. Because they played there, these women are supposed to "really know the game", and have all the college contacts a kid or parent could want or need if they want to play at the next level. For all the hype that this organization has created, you would think that at the 14U level, their first baseman could at least be taught how to cover first base, and based on the game situation, that the infield might make some adjustments, or at least be coached to make adjustments. That however, was not the case as I witnessed the coach of this elite organization sitting on the brick wall backstop at the facility where this team was playing and watching the game like a spectator. I feel sorry for those paying parents that got sold that bill of goods. Their kids aren't learning anything! But then again, I see this brualization of this game each and every weekend whether it's an independent or a club team. What a shame and a waste of money! Sorry to interrupt, but now y'all can get back to holding hands and singing Kum Ba Ya!

I'm sorry, could you please repeat that? I lost track of where I was (or what you were even talking about) after the 45th line or so.

[etx bd]

Thanks for your opinions on my rant. As far as getting out of the stands, I'm done with that. I did it for 5 years, and I've had it with the whining from parents and organization directors on how strict I was for the fundamentals vs. winning a piece of gold plastic.

No solutions - just more rant. In Texas we call that all hat and no cattle - maybe you should go back east. With apologies to my eastern friends.

[Underdog]

I am not a frequent poster, but I check out this board once in a while to see what the "experts" are saying. I have pretty much been at softball tournaments as either a coach or parent almost every weekend available for tournaments for the past 9 years as my daughter has been playing select ball since she was 6 years old. I have been at local and national tournaments from ASA to USFA to AFA to USSSA, to NSA, to name a few. I see alot of comments/complaints about yelling coaches, poor umpires, bad parents, girls with bad attitudes, girls with good attitudes, sandbagging, daddy ball, select vs. rec, stealing signs, etc., etc., etc. But I think I can safely say that I have never seen too many topics associated with just bad softball. I see it week in and week out. Girls that are now playing 14U or 16U that have been taught absolutely nothing as it relates to fundamentals. I see girls who don't know the proper way to field a ground ball or fly ball, don't know where to throw the ball in situations, poor baserunning, poor base coverage (if there's not a safety base, these girls don't have a clue how cover 1st base), no do-or-die in the outfield, players standing in the baselines, baserunners running around those players, etc., etc., etc. I could go on, but I'm sure I've bored all of you "experts" at this point. My daughter loves the game, I love watching her play, and she and I will continue to be out there each and every weekend. But thank god, for the sake of the game, that I only have 4 more years to watch this brutality of a great sport! I think the straw that finally broke the camel's back for me was watching the 14U team of this new "elite" fastpitch organization in Central Texas this past weekend. This new organization is supposed to be run by a group of women who once played for that college in Texas' capital city that has the largest athletic budget in the country. Because they played there, these women are supposed to "really know the game", and have all the college contacts a kid or parent could want or need if they want to play at the next level. For all the hype that this organization has created, you would think that at the 14U level, their first baseman could at least be taught how to cover first base, and based on the game situation, that the infield might make some adjustments, or at least be coached to make adjustments. That however, was not the case as I witnessed the coach of this elite organization sitting on the brick wall backstop at the facility where this team was playing and watching the game like a spectator. I feel sorry for those paying parents that got sold that bill of goods. Their kids aren't learning anything! But then again, I see this brualization of this game each and every weekend whether it's an independent or a club team. What a shame and a waste of money! Sorry to interrupt, but now y'all can get back to holding hands and singing Kum Ba Ya!

I'm sorry, could you please repeat that? I lost track of where I was (or what you were even talking about) after the 45th line or so.

Is that a run on paragraph ?

[SoftballG]

Seriously if your kid is a stud why oh why do you even care about another team that has nothing to do with you? Please move along and let the girls play, not everyone is as fortunate as you to have the best talent in the area since age 6/ playing 10u @ 8 and Gold @ 12....

[Coach11]

Any possibility of being taken seriously was lost early on when you said "my daughter has been playing select ball since she was 6 years old" .

[centexfastpitch]

He lost all credibility with me when he said other states have 8U teams and tournaments. I have coached 8U for the last two years in the Central Texas area and it is alive and well.

RHPFT,
If you were such a great fundamental's coach you would still be coaching. I find it hard to believe you are such a believer in girls fastpitch softball yet took such time to tear down a first year organization. It takes years to build an organization, not months.

The 14U team from this organization did not go to Ronnie Mac last year, the 16U did attend RM. There are about 3 or 4 organizations that attend RM each year from Central Texas so to have another organization that is committed to a high level of softball is a good thing for all our girls in this area.

[doittoit]

As far as getting out of the stands, I'm done with that.

Then there's no other choice but to STFU

say cheese

a-hole Joe strikes again, different thread..
say cheese