Who is the best club coach in North Texas?

[TEXASGLORY]

I think my vote for top coach in North Texas goes to all the men and women that are out there working with the young ladies, getting them prepared for a tourney this week or for college in the future who do so because they love the game. I am not a fan of coaches being paid to coach at the club level. Having been around softball in NT for the past 12 years, I haven't seen a coach yet that I would pay to coach my kid. I think we have good coaches in the area and seem to be getting better every year.

I think a major area for coaching to improve in Texas is having coaches continue to coach after their kids have gone to college. I would love to see it get to the point where all coaches are non parents. It was great this summer seeing Phillip McCloud and Dave Parsonage (Amanda is out for the summer with an injury) traveling with club teams and working with young ladies in an effort to get them ready for college. I am sure there are others, these are two that are close to me that I appreciate for doing what they do.

[MHO]

.With all the personal expenses at a all time high that it takes to just get to a local tournament let alone a out of town tournament how does anyone expect a non parent coach not getting reimbursed. A lot of coaches which have daughters on their teams are already expecting these costs but a non parent coach should not have to go broke in order to do what he loves.
Select Baseball, Select Hockey, Select Volleyball, Select Soccer clubs (the major ones) in our area most have non parent coaches which do receive some sort compensation for their time and training.
Texas Glory I'm glad everything worked out for you and your daughters but you have to admit their are a lot more Daddies that do it for selfish reasons rather than the right reasons.
I personally would rather have my daughter coached by well trained non parent coaches that is not out $4.00 a gallon in gas to drive to McKinney to coach my DD.
Coach Baker with the Avengers is one that I would pay to coach my DD. She has forgotten more about softball than some people will ever know. I would think that every practice would be like a softball camp and if you look at it that way it is well worth the money….
Believe me not saying that there isn’t Dads out there that can’t get it done but I would rather have professionals coaching a team, by saying this my expectations are high. Its just not dear old sue’s dad doing his best.

[Lori]

are you sure?

Avengers (baker) cant seem to win a thing this year..sad to see

[TEXASGLORY]

HMO, I have no problem in paying a coaches expenses, a non parent coach should expect this from the team. We have paid non parent coaches expense for a number of years. It is the parent coaches that should not be getting paid.

Lori, one thing to remember. You can have Mike Candrea as your coach, but without talent your not going to win very many games.

[Lori]

avengrs baker was tearing them up last year, now suddenly they are weak. i know they have shifted some players, like most "big" organizations do, and it has made them weak weak weak!!

bad move travelers, bad move!!

[Fusion Gold]

Coach Baker is not given enough authority within that team to bring in the players that she wants, its not always about having the best talent, it takes the right combination of talent and coaching to achieve success. With all of that being said, I feel confident that the players that are playing for her, even if they aren't winning tournaments, they are learning more about the game and becoming better players.

I think club coaches should be compensated for all of the sacrifices, time, money that they put into it. I started coaching many years ago, helping my sister's team before I had any kids of my own. Once my daughter was old enough I started coaching her, but as she hit the age of around 12 or 13 she didn't want to play anymore, but there was no way that I was going to stop coaching. It is my passion and something that I absolutely love, more than many coaches who coach their daughter’s teams. I have spent more money coaching over the years then I can ever expect to get back, and I think that there are a small group of people out there that love softball as much as I do, and we (Texas Fusion) want to help provide them an avenue to be able to coach and give back to all of these players without it costing them money. The compensation they receive is very minimal compared to the amount of hours and energy that they put into this game, that is a labor of love. And with us, we hold our coaches accountable, we expect them to run practices a certain way, teach the game a certain way, develop the players and the winning will take care of itself. We expect them to conduct themselves in a positive, courteous manner on and off the field. There are times when emotions get high, but if they are not adhering to our standards, then they are replaced. With parental coaches that would be impossible to do because it affects so many people when you have to make those difficult decisions.

I don’t like the statement “doing this simply for the love of the game” – If that’s the case, then why do we pay umpires? Why do we pay out the nose for these college showcases, simply do the math on some of these and it is almost paralyzing. If softball players play simply for the love of the game, then why not give their scholarship money to kids out there that don’t have the talent or the resources to go to school on scholarships? Of course we would never expect something like that to happen, but what is wrong with trying to get the best possible coaches and compensating them for doing EVERYTHING that they do? It is part of our culture, there are thousands of professional coaches and athletes around the globe and most of them do it for the love of the game, not just the money. I think we would all agree that softball is one of the best sports in the world, but in our community and in our sport we are still light years behind so many other sports. There has to be a way to help the game grow, and our philosophy with our program is to find the absolute best coaches that we can find, keep the costs affordable and create a venue to try and make the overall product on the field better if we can. There will be and there has been some resistance because people are naturally resistant to change, but if you ask our players and parents the vast majority are very pleased with the results. We are already starting to see the results at the 14U level; the other age groups will follow very soon. What we are doing is not for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t achieve success and make it work for those that are looking for this type of situation.

Slade Maloney
Texas Fusion

[GTS]

I agree with Fusion Gold.......we compensate our Gold coach. He doesn't have a child in the system. He brings light years of experience to our program. How can one expect for a coach (person) to alot the amount of time, and out of pocket expenses........hotels, food, travel, (the family's) vacation time, to spend on "other peoples children, JUST FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME!

Sure, he loves the game, he practicaly volunteers his time at the local TAPPS HS (6A State Champions), plus coaches our Gold team.........wouldn't have it any other way......by the way my DD is 12 and I coach the 14U team, so I don't have a dog in this hunt! Just seems fair and SMART to find a way to keep those who have the knowledge and the experience in the game, and teaching those who desire to learn more! If for no other reason (the pleayers).....maybe "I" can learn from them, and be the one helping the next generation of players after "my" DD has moved on!

[MHO]

Texas Glory,

I will assure you whoever is getting paid to coach is not making much more than their expenses. They aren’t making enough to retire.

You made a statement that any coach that is getting paid was not good enough to coach your daughters. I think that is what Daddy Ball is all about; building a team around your daughter is a great marketing strategy. But I would rather have my daughter coached by unbiased well trained coaches that do it because they want to be the best.

Have you consider all the money that some of these College Showcases generate and who pockets this money goes in. I know the Elite has a huge cash cow and I think Glory puts on one also.

I don't think paying people for their hard work and sacrifice is too much to ask.

[TEXASGLORY]

MHO, you can pay as much as you can afford and no one will likely turn your cash away. We just always made a policy that we would not allow our coaches to PROFIT from the players on the team or within the club. We had an assistant coach on one of our teams that won AFA Nationals decide to start putting on hitting lessons and "selling his hitting advice" to all comers. We decided to let this coach go and do his own thing but not to be affiliated with our club.

If you know me, you have seen the teams I have built through the years. not one was ever built around my daughter. I could never be accused of playing Daddy Ball with my kid or any of our assistant coaches kids. When I build a team, I build it with the pieces (players) that can fill the positions of the team, marketability has something to do with it as does the family they are coming from. In the end, I have always tried to invite and roster the top athletes that have the same common goals that I have. Naturally, not every top athlete can play on the same team. We had two gold teams for the past two years and EVERY player on both rosters are playing colege ball.

[softballwhatsup]

Kyle's still coaching his girls? His girls went to TX Elite. The only glue that he brings in TX is causing girls to leave and go play on other teams. He tells good stories about what he's done but he's never done anything as good as Flanigan. His own younger daughter plays for Flanigan but he's a "coach" at Glory. Now that's some glue and loyalty. My vote is that he'll try to take a team of girls to Kruzers. See who follows and track their success, or lack of success. He has come and gone off of every team and keeps in touch with the parents that complain. Always a discuss before National's and then really quite after because Flanigan is the only coach in Texas that has brought home the proof.