Sam wrote:The OP talked about a kid leaving for a "better opportunity." A kid who played all the time and whose parents had never complained.
This isn't a business...nobody makes money volunteering to coach your kid. This is a travel coach's second job and it takes about 40 hours a week to do it. The language you reference states minimum requirements for each TEAM MEMBER and informs you that your precious DD will always be competing for her position and PT. Its part of organized competitive sports. I guess you can go from team to team if you don't like it...but here's the rub...coaches talk...and I'll bet theres a lot less coaches where you are than there are out here....after a while, you run out of teams...then what do you do? Start your own team? Well what happens when the only players that will play for you have parents exactly like you? Change sports?
Everybody wants to do what is best for their DD...thats why you should know the team and coach BEFORE you have your DD try out in the first place. Once you commit to a team, show your DD what integrity means and live up to your commitment. After the season, make the change. Otherwise, you'll next find yourself up at the HS every week complaining about a teacher, wanting to change teachers, then changing schools, etc. It won't end. Sometimes what is best for your DD is making her actually have to deal with adversity.
Okay ... So lets say for the sake of argument ... Your DD's are asked to join a team ... it seems like a great opportunity for them ... they go to the tryouts, like the players, like the Coaches and the Coaches like them ... all goes well the first year ... one DD struggles at the dish early on but then comes around late in the season while the other leads the team in batting from the first tourny on ... Next year comes ... early scrimmages show that both DD's bats are hot ... but you start to notice some political manuevering happening and realize that the travel team you are associated with has become a way for a HS Team to stay together through the year ... and your DD's don't go to that school ... 3 Tournys into the year the DD who led the team in batting the previous year has gotten 5 at bats and the one who is competing with the Coachs DD for a position has 6 at bats ... is 4 for 6 while the Coaches DD is 0 fer the year so far ... etc etc etc blaa blaa blaa ( it goes way deeper than that but you get the point ) ... no hard feelings, but sometimes you need to know when to cut and run ... I'm just sayin' ...