Is high school ball benefical

"Now that"s Real" and also a wonderful country song!

Enjoyed read, thanks!

 

You are absolutely correct!

You are absolutely right! My DD played rec, travel and school ball. Each is important in the development of the person and their skills. Your DD will gain from each what she puts into it. None are perfect, coaches are good and bad...but it teaches them maturity and how to put the "team" first, above themselves.

 

Losing didn't stop any of the kids from playing, but they were frustrated and unhappy for four months...some in the last semester of their senior year in high school which should be a good time. There was much more contributing to the unhappiness besides losing, losing was just the icing on the cake. A math teacher/coach who knows nothing about softball blaming the girls for every loss was probably the main reason they were unhappy. With all his smarts he doesn't have the common sense to know that you play like you practice. If I've learned anything from this thread it would be that there are some people that are satisfied with losing which is hard for me to understand because I never liked to lose and neither of my kids like to lose which I don't think is a bad thing. Again, I will say evaluate your particular situation and what you want out of it. There is no right or wrong answer here. Each individual is different. Riding the bus and getting out of school early is enough for some and for others it is not.

 

Justsoftball said it all. I will add that I coached rec ball in my community this summer. I know many of you folks don't put much stock in rec ball but in our area that is all we have after school ball. We have a few lower level TB teams but they are glorified "Daddy ball" but that is another story for another time. My point is that even though we won our league, then allstars won district, state and advanced to world series the high lite of the year was watching a young lady that had never played before. She was 16 and many felt wasting her time because the other girls were far too advanced. She came every day and was like a sponge. She loved every single thing we taught her and you would see her over to the side working on her swing and then ask a coach "is this the way I am suppose to do this". And then in our next to the last regular season game with the conference championship on the line she gets her first ever clean base hit. Some of the girls saw her at first and thought she was hurt, nope those were tears of joy. She felt like she had finally helped her team. My girls made more of her hit than us winning the league. HS, rec or TB this is what the game is about to me.

 

At least one poster on here I know him and his DDs personally. Trust me, they hate losing. But losing or winning is not their primary focus. Their primary focus is playing and working to be the best they can be; regardless of the final score.

One DD's HS team never won their conference title. They usually ended up in the bottom half of the conference. That didn't prevent them from trying to win. It certainly didn't make them losers! I've never once heard her make excuses for not winning a game. Never once have I heard her criticize her coaches. There's no doubt in my mind she wants to win--but she doesn't become a loser when she doesn't win.

Does she have the right attitude? She now plays D1 with the highest or near highest batting average on her team. She's one of the Most Spirited kids I know; and has an award to prove it! Her great character will last long past the game of softball! She's a winner--immune to losing!

If the problems at your school are as bad as you say then I agree something should be done. But to cast a shadow over all of HS softball is not the answer. There is power in numbers. Form a committee of players and parents and bring the issue to the attention of someone who can make changes if needed.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. As they say.

 

What don't you understand about EVALUATE YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION? I have said that in every post I have made. It is pretty simple to see that I am NOT saying all High School programs are the same. If your high school program is bad, there is a potential that you will have a looooong four months, if the program is good you will probably have a very good experience. Again, Every situation and individual is different. Please don't put words in my mouth. Also many parents have expressed their concerns and the school policy is if anyone "in House" wants the coaching job they get it and if you have a pulse you are qualified

They also say, if it ain't about winning, why do they keep score.

 

You're right, you have been talking about just your situation. My bad.

My recommendation is that you forget softball.

 

There's always a chance to learn and lead

The bottom line is that the impact the experience has on your child is largely a function of attitude and perception. I served a committee on school redistricting back in the early '90's. We had public hearings in which 7 year olds were in tears while stating that changing schools would virtually ruin their lives. . . . Pure BS created by the parents who told the kid this. My DD went to three different schools the first 4 years. With each change we emphasized the positive . . . making new friends while keep the old ones. She emerged a stronger person who, by the third grade, was very confident and independent. Point is playing for a bad team or coach is not the end of the world, especially for a good player. No reason to tough it out, try to lead by positive example knowing travel ball is not far away.