YOU MAKE THE CALL...

[coachadub]

Fellow bucketeers, I need your input/advice. Below is what has transpired thus far this Fall season.

1. Within the first month, two assistant coaches leave the team. Neither has a daughter on the team. The reasons for their departure given by the HC are contradicted by the assistants with an email sent to all the parents. Parents request a meeting to "clear the air", but it is never granted. Still a mystery...??
2. Within the next week, it is discovered that we had lost a player. Apparently, she had left the team. No formal announcement is made. The reasons for her departure given by the HC (only after multiple inquiries by some parents) are again contradicted by one of the former assistant coaches. Still a mystery...??
3. Within the next few days, one of our top players leaves the team. Her parents are unhappy with her playing time so far this Fall. She joins another team within the same geographic area.
4. Within another week, another one of our top players leaves the team. She joins another team within the same geographic area (but different from the player above). The reasons for her departure given by the HC are again contradicted by one of the former assistant coaches. Still a mystery...??
5. Most recently, a player is removed from the team because her dad was critical of game coaching decisions and the "rumored" changes coming in the Spring. No conversation with the parent. Just player removal. No formal announcement has yet been made by the HC.

Thus, the need for your input/advice. Should the current players/parents keep playing for this team or put on their respective tryout cleats and find a new home?

YOU MAKE THE CALL...

[onlooker]

................

[superfan]

First of all, there are two sides to every story and each side thinks their truth is reality. Perhaps you should stop listening to heresay?!?

Secondly, if your daughter is learning at practice, seeing the field during games, and having fun then I would focus on that and ignore the rest.

That being said, it is my personal experience that teams with a high turnover rate are the wrong teams!!!

[AlwaysImprove]

Man I miss 12u. I used to get calls that sounded just like coachadub. I would tell the wife "It seems we have fallen into some survivor episode with this new softball team."

It will all be fine. Teams will come and teams will go. The girls that are in the sport long time, their parents rarely get mixed up in these largely artificial dramatic episodes. They work on their game. When a coach is not working out, they work on their kid getting better about working with difficult people. It comes time to leave, they leave.

When you get to 18gold, all you have is the head coach, and you 100% want it that way. Having coaches actually listen to parents generally sucks as an approach to running a team.

Most teams are composed of 3 very opposing groups. Group A have studs for kids, top 3 or 4 on the team. Group B, 3 to 4 kids that have a lot to offer but need to work on things, are small for their age but have a lot of skill, they are in the middle. Group C are the bottom of the team.

Each of these three groups have very different goals, very different ideas on how the team should run. Usually the fight is between the different parental groups, and the coach is in the middle.

[SoftballSoccerDad]

It's none of the other parents business why players leave unless they wish to share that information. The coach should not have answered the parents regardless of what they felt entitled to. Three players leaving and then a fourth player being removed means a lot more playing time for everyone else.

[artomatic]

Here's what I take from your post:

1) You have alot of parents that are sideline assassins.
2) alot of energy is being wasted on drama.
3) Like Always improve said, at the older age groups, on the upper teams, the coaches don't discuss the inner workings with the parents.
4) The former assistant coaches you mention seem to have alot of influence on the parents.

That's 4 strikes.....usually it's three strikes and youre out...sounds like this team is headed in the wrong direction.

[Imperial SB Dad]

Three players leaving and then a fourth player being removed means a lot more playing time for everyone else.

Too true. Hopefully the ones that left were the sideline assassins mentioned by Art.

[DBM]

Parents= special needs babies that require constant attention, confirmation, assurance and sunshine!

Always some jackass that knows better, always a better way to practice, always a better line up than the currant one, always a better player for any given position......like I said... special needs babies.

Sounds like some parents needed to be cut.... or, there is something going on by design, that you are not privy to!

THANK GOD my kid is in a very good org, where things are done right, and you keep your FN trap shut or move on!

Just sayin

[K2Cobra]

You are free to ask everyone questions, the coach, the parents that left, whomever. Whether they answer your questions is another thing. If the coach refuses to discuss things with the parents that pay the bills and transport the players, well you'll have to judge.

In the end, are you satisfied with your daughter's progress as a player on this team? Players and coaches come and go, sometimes for good reasons, or personal reasons, or bad reasons.

Spring tryouts begin soon.

[Sid Barrett]

In my experiences, when a certain individual or individuals leave a team, the team can often function more efficeintly and with less drama. These individuals could be players, parents, coaches (or co-workers if its in the "real world"). Give it some time. With all of the changes your DD's team has experienced, maybe things will change for the better. If there are still problems...spring tryouts are 8 weeks away. JMO.