Multi-Sport HS players going the way of the dinosaurs

[sr_design]

We just finished up our Winter season this past Sunday and plan on running some Sunday workouts later in the spring to prepare our team for summer. A friend of one of our players came out as a fill in for the day and asked if she could work out with our team this spring as her 16u team is going dark.

The request seemed a little odd since she has no plans to leave her current team but I agreed and asked her where she was playing HS ball this spring. Her HS has a successful D1 softball program with a well known coach in the travel circuit. She told me that she had been playing another sport and that the coach, with the support of the AD, said that he wasn't accepting anyone that hadn't been working out full time with the softball team from the start of the school year. Apparently it's either all softball or nothing.

I assume the CIF ruling that removed the "not allowed to associate outside of the sports season" rule a couple of years ago also allows coaches to dictate these kind of terms. Is this becoming more typical in HS softball and other sports? Since when did these coaches start owning these kids the whole school year? It just doesn't seem right to me.

[sr_design]

I know girls that play multiple sports, even ones that play for the well known "crazy" coaches. I would venture a guess that the flexibility of the HS coach is directly proportional to the level of the player and his need for that position on his team.

Spazsdad: I understand what you mean by level of player and team need. I wonder if the coach would hold to his requirement if the player happened to be a dominant pitcher?

My comment goes specifically to the notion that if a player doesn't show up in September then she is automatically disqualified from playing. It seems to me to be more a failure of CIF and the power it has given to coaches. We all want to win but do we really need 6 months (Sept-Jan) of additional practice/games put in place by the coach/AD to prepare for games in Mar-May? That is detrimental to the "student/athlete". If a football program runs spring practices then should a kid playing baseball be kept off of the football team?

[ontheblack]

I know girls that play multiple sports, even ones that play for the well known "crazy" coaches. I would venture a guess that the flexibility of the HS coach is directly proportional to the level of the player and his need for that position on his team.

Spazsdad: I understand what you mean by level of player and team need. I wonder if the coach would hold to his requirement if the player happened to be a dominant pitcher?

My comment goes specifically to the notion that if a player doesn't show up in September then she is automatically disqualified from playing. It seems to me to be more a failure of CIF and the power it has given to coaches. We all want to win but do we really need 6 months (Sept-Jan) of additional practice/games put in place by the coach/AD to prepare for games in Mar-May? That is detrimental to the "student/athlete". If a football program runs spring practices then should a kid playing baseball be kept off of the football team?

In San Diego HS is not allowed to practice outside of the season, but we have still seen a dramatic decrease in the number of multisport athletes due to the nearly 9 month schedule of club sports.

[Pale Rider]

Mine loves basketball, but its not her strongest sport...She doesnt want to risk an injury playing bball...she even quit roller skating after a fall required an xray...eats, breathes, sleeps softball...

[sr_design]

If you were to take HS team player exclusivity to the next level, would some HS coaches force the player to choose between travel ball in the summer/fall or playing exclusively for the High School team year round. At that point would the HS team become involved in showcasing or would high school games take on dual roles as showcases?

If the player is dissatisfied with her travel team she can move on, not so easy with HS. Admittedly all of this is a huge stretch at this point in time but...

[ontheblack]

If you were to take HS team player exclusivity to the next level, would some HS coaches force the player to choose between travel ball in the summer/fall or playing exclusively for the High School team year round. At that point would the HS team become involved in showcasing or would high school games take on dual roles as showcases?

If the player is dissatisfied with her travel team she can move on, not so easy with HS. Admittedly all of this is a huge stretch at this point in time but...

Tony Rico would never allow this to happen.

[PDad]

If you were to take HS team player exclusivity to the next level, would some HS coaches force the player to choose between travel ball in the summer/fall or playing exclusively for the High School team year round. At that point would the HS team become involved in showcasing or would high school games take on dual roles as showcases?

If the player is dissatisfied with her travel team she can move on, not so easy with HS. Admittedly all of this is a huge stretch at this point in time but...

One of the main reasons behind the old association rule was to prevent HS coaches from using their position to strong arm their players outside of the HS season. That only works in sports where the HS season leads to the next level and I don't see that happening in softball. Softball players that are serious about playing at the next level will ditch the HS program if push comes to shove.

There is a HS coach around us that typically produces very strong softball teams. He demands his HS workouts take precedence over TB. He also coaches elite HS-age travel teams, so that is a mitigating factor. To my knowledge, very few of his HS players have been on his travel teams.

[mr softball]

if a high school team played out side the season of sport they would be considered a travel or club team playing

[fastpitchdad05]

If you were to take HS team player exclusivity to the next level, would some HS coaches force the player to choose between travel ball in the summer/fall or playing exclusively for the High School team year round. At that point would the HS team become involved in showcasing or would high school games take on dual roles as showcases?

If the player is dissatisfied with her travel team she can move on, not so easy with HS. Admittedly all of this is a huge stretch at this point in time but...

One of the main reasons behind the old association rule was to prevent HS coaches from using their position to strong arm their players outside of the HS season. That only works in sports where the HS season leads to the next level and I don't see that happening in softball. Softball players that are serious about playing at the next level will ditch the HS program if push comes to shove.

There is a HS coach around us that typically produces very strong softball teams. He demands his HS workouts take precedence over TB. He also coaches elite HS-age travel teams, so that is a mitigating factor. To my knowledge, very few of his HS players have been on his travel teams.

As usual PDad is spot on.

This is so true...we have already discussed the possibility of a transfer or simply not playing HS if it becomes necessary.

That said, despite our objections about our coach (all kept in house at this point) I don't see this happening as DD is learning a lesson on how to deal with adversity and push through it.

Moving or quitting is definitely not our first choice.

[slapperdad]

DD had two college coaches show up to watch her play Basketball, one multiple times. Their reasoning is they want athletes and competitors. I had one coach tell me he goes to a lot of Volleyball tournaments. (He lives in a VB hotbed)
I'll take the multi-sport player everyday.