Is high school ball benefical

*Ninety-nine percent of those who blast coaches would not be successful coaches!

*Non-scientific survey.

 

100% agree!

 

Sounds like you need to step up and coach the high school team. You might be the only one you like.

 

I don't call myself a coach, but those that do need to step up and BE ONE! I also don't call a teacher who has decided he would like to try his hand at coaching when his daughter reaches the ninth grade a coach either. Give the players a fighting chance to win, know the rules, don't tell a high school girl not to swing until she gets a called strike, don't have practices that consist of the coach hitting the ball to one girl while the rest stand around and watch then blame the girls when they can't produce in a game, at least know the basics. The talent is not there to win all the games, but give the girls the knowledge and tools to win the ones they can. If the school can hire qualified coaches to coach football and basketball then they should man up and hire a real coach to coach softball!

 

If the only qualification is to be able to sit in the dugout during the game and eat moon pies then I would be just as good a coach as the one we have.

 

How long has this coach been there?

I don't know if it's the same coach but I remember a coach being criticized last year that I saw coaching in the State Games and their team did fairly well. Is that the same one?

If the coach is as bad as you say I will agree with you that they should make an effort to improve. I also believe there should be more qualifications than just being a faculty member.

How are you trying to help? Have you spoken with the coach? Is anyone trying to help the girls outside of the HS environment? Is the only instruction coming from the inexperienced HS coach? How many kids on the team play softball outside of HS?

 

Coach has been there three years and has never coached the state games to my knowledge. He told the parents in a meeting not to approach him that he would talk to the players only...no parents. He doesn't approve of girls working with anyone other than him and assistant during "his season". About 5 of the girls play on various travel teams in the summer. He has a huge ego and a dislike for travel teams period. He told the girls to forget travel ball during his season, he was the coach and would do things his way.

 

Tater, I've got to give you props for standing tall in what you beleive is right. I can't speak for everybody on TBR, but I can tell you this.....I agree with a large part of what you are saying.
It does suck to lose.
It does suck to lose year after year without any new direction in sight.
It does suck when a very good intentioned, but lacking knowledge coach tries his/her shot at coaching a game that they never played.

BUT....theres a right way and a wrong way to handle dealing with issues that don't suit you or me or joe q. parent.

To try to sort out this whole thing would take forever and my opinion would be backed by some and blasted by others....you know, just like this threads history.

Bottom line is we've got to do whats best for our kids as parents and let their math teachers, teach them math, their science teachers teach them science....and let their HS coaches teach them their way as well. If your DD or mine needs work in math, science, or hitting, then we as aparents need to put in some work with them at home.

Last but not least, my DD loved her HS experience and her coach.... and even though her teams lost more than they won, things worked out right.

......oh, btw, I had nothing to do with her math and science grades! lol

Dr.Fish

 

I was at a retirement ceremony 2 days ago for a local leader in recreation. It was held in the gym where my kids played many a rec league game and it reminded me of the following story:

My son had been playing rec league hoops for about three years and his teams had never had much success... mind you this was a rec league where all the players were graded and then drafted by the coaches in a mtg so if there were 6 teams there would be 6 A players 6 B players and so on.. taken on a round by round basis. No team ended up with 3 "A" players; it was all about balance.

Finally one November, he would have been about 10 or so, time came for sign ups. He begged me to coach. I had coached him in baseball and I had coached the girls in basketball and softball but had never coached him in basketball. I asked.. why do you want me to coach? He said: "I am tired of loosing Dad". My experience as a coach was that many kids greatly preferred playing on a winner in the rec league environment even if it meant they were only playing minimally.

Don't underestimate the effect loosing and getting your brains beat out has on young psyches. By definition we are not all Abraham Lincolns and so capable of dealing with on going defeat and disappointment in our lives.

Thanks for the post Fish

 

Great Thread!

My opinion, and it's only an opinion (to which I am entitled to one!), is that winning and losing in HS softball is LARGELY dependent upon being blessed enough to have a high caliber PITCHER and a high caliber CATCHER that just happens to live in your school's district.

Say what you want about HS coaches (good or bad) or stud players in the other 7 positions (who can hopefully HIT the ball a country mile), if you don't have a heavily "experienced" TB battery, the chances of your team winning many QUALITY games are small. (This is even more true, as the mound moved back to 43' a couple of year ago)

With the exception of calling a timely bunt or steal from the 3rd base coach's box, most HS coaches (even the "GOOD" ones) don't have the direct impact on the actual game that they (and even the parents!) think that they do.

Show me a HS team that makes it to Walnut Creek without a quality battery, and I'll eat my words. And, to be clear, it is highly unlikely that a HS softball coach has the time or the knowledge to create, groom, and produce a quality pitcher/catcher combination. It either exists or it does not.

In summary, if your school has a good battery, then you will probably find your HS softball experience worthwhile. If your school does not, then you will probably lose more games than you win. Life is tough.
DDD