Individual Awards

Our HS just had our awards banquet. Naturally awards were given. The bulk of the team/families praised the ceremony. Naturally there were a few that were disappointed. Some alot more openly than others (using facebook and the like is shameful and cowardly IMHO). I even had a parent of one of the recipient mention that it was a reaffirmation of his daughter's skills over another player in a somewhat ugly starting position battle that sadly involved the parents as well. It was mentioned that these awards contribute to DI, DII, scholarships. Being a coach on this staff I am somewhat appalled and disappointed in "parents" actions. Here's my question, would not receiving and award in your HS keep a player from a college scholarship? My contention is NO! I feel that college coaches are a heckuva lot smarter than that! They know that anything that can be politically influence normally is. (But in our HS awards were given to the most deserving IMO). What are your thoughts oh great and wise constituents of TBR.

 

Not receiving an award from your High School team is definitely not going to make or break a college scholarship, but they better be careful because a bad parent CAN be a deal breaker. Some parents may not believe it but college coaches can find another kid just like theirs only with better parents. Sounds like you should get some kind of award for having to put up with that all year.

 

This PLUS a BILLION on the facebook thing. . And coaches do see things that maybe a parent doesn't. You are looking at 10,11,12, or 13 kids with one common goal.... to WIN GAMES. Parents are looking at 1 kid and alot of times not very objectively. Just my 2 cents.


and isn't it funny how the people praising you are the ones you can't remember, but the few negative that takes up your thought process. Thats only natural. Hang in there. You did your job.

 

You can please some people sometimes but never all of the people all the time. Simple as that.

 

Those D1, D2, etc. coaches will be looking at the parents, so the award will be of voided.

 

I wonder how many parents understand this and it couldn't be truer! If a coach is at a tournament watching a girl and hears some parent complaining about the umpires or even worse talking smack about the coach or teammates, they will watch after the game and see whose parents those are. I feel bad for Suzy if she was the one they were there to watch. Bet she just got crossed off the list...

Oh and sorry for the thread highjack. Back to the point, I wouldn't sweat it. Have seen girls with no awards run circles around girls with long lists of accomplishments and awards. The coach will see it too.

 

Last week, I was speaking with some friends of mine that were VERY upset. Their sophomore daughter has not *yet* received an award or acknowledgement of any kind in high school. She is a talented young lady, that has been one of the cornerstones of our varsity squad since freshman year. Their concern is "how is it going to look when she has no awards or recognitions on her college resumes

Similarly, I have received calls from friends very upset that either a) their daughter was not recognized and deserved to be; or b) that the awards were clearly based on "who you know" or "who you are to the coach"- both for team awards and all conference etc.

Here is what I have told them:

1) Player A receives the team MVP award, although she has the 3rd best BA and 8th worst FA. Who cares? Maybe YOUR child earned the MVP, but sadly it does not always matter who earns what. And do you know how much credence college coaches scouting a kid gives to these team awards? For most school teams, little to none. It is a oh, that's nice...moving on... I want to *watch* the kid play.
2) Player B with a .992 FA clearly hands down winner for Golden Glove award; player C with a .869 and 14 errors on the year gets it because "She's my daughter". A college coach does not see this acknowledgment on Player B's resume, watches her and recognizes true defensive talent; college coach watches Player C, witnesses an error, or sees she is not a truly gifted fielder. Which do you think matters more?


We have to be careful about how much importance we place on awards. My dd has received many awards over the years...and I can quite promise you every, single solitary one of them was earned through practice, blood left on the field, and a lot of pressure placed upon herself. There are acknowledgements and awards she has not received, that were proven in performance and statistics that she should have.

Yes, each award makes her glow with pride and makes her feel like her contributions were acknowledged for their value. Yes, she has pretty plaques, certificates and trophies on display.

But, I will tell you this and I have said to those very same parents:

Her greatest rewards have been the very tangible goals she has set an attained:

She will remember far longer than those plaques hold up that she went 74 AB without a strike out.

She will remember entering HS with a goal of more than 100 hits in her career and she attained that.

She will remember entering HS a goal of more than 100 rbi's in her career and she attained that.

She will remember, forever, the coaches who watched her play and actively recruited her to play for them in college.

And if you asked her what her favorite award was throughout her travel and HS career, she would tell you this: Being named MVP of the World Series...because it was voted on by the players and the coaches of the opposing teams and the umpires..and it made every cut and bruise on that body MORE than worth it.

Parents who belittle another player because of an award, need to take a serious, serious look into the mirror and ask themselves: What am I teaching my child?

And as for college coaches, let's give them the credit they are due. They do not decide to recruit a player because she has lots of awards listed on her resume. They recruit a player after seeing them in action, determining if they may be the right "fit" for the school...and let's face it, some will turn away from a truly talented player because of a truly awful parent.

BEWARE PARENTS: COACHES NOT ONLY READ YOUR DAUGHTER'S FACEBOOK, THEY WILL CHECK OUT YOUR'S TOO.

It is truly sad how awful people can be to one another these days.

JMHO

 

Fact is aside from . . . . .

being a good citizen and making good grades virtually nothing that happens in HS has anything to do with a college coach's assessment. These coaches don't give a flip about how many $10 plaques a kid collects.

I think the reason some parents think it matters is that these accolades often make their way into the player bios on college websites. The irony, of course, is that what really matters is travel ball and it's almost never mentioned except for the fact the Suzy Q played for . . . . . .

In the big picture HS ball is the "small stuff". Play it, enjoy it and move on but you know what they say about the "small stuff". Don't sweat it!

 

Well said Justsoftball

My picture of "team" and yours seem to match. And the examples are dead on. But my deepest worry seems to be how to cut this off as to not divide the team for years to come. I think that controlling students is easier if there are not parents "back biting" other players and of course other parents. We had a very special JV team come in and know that a potentially awesome freshman class behind them. To be subjected to in fighting as the norm. Right now we are in the just stay positive mode tho I do have a more harsh path I wish for at times for the parents. Look we have a set of parents that openly root against players on our team so thier DD would get more PT. That's dispicable!
Having said that we do have some very special young ladies on this team that are great examples,excellent students , coachable and very pleasent to be around and I would never want to take one moment of how special this game is away from them. As a matter of fact, of all the awards given out the most highly regarded one is the "Coaches Award". It went to a young lady that always cheered for her team mates, picked up girls that were down and worked her tail off all the while played in only a small handfull of games in her senior year. Just sad these parents couldn't get the message from this senior.