Dead periods...

I would like to know how other parents feel about the dead period for high school coaches in August. My daughters travel coach is also a high school coach. Again this year the WFC World Series is in August, and that means that our team will have to miss out on one of the major tourneys. These girls work hard all year long for a shot at winning the world series only to be told that they can't play! What can we as parents do to get a change made? And remember the coaches coach because they love it, not because they get paid.

 

I also can't come up a good reason for this rule. Maybe it applies better to other sports, but it sure doesn't make sense for softball.

I do know the NCHSAA will act if a coach violates this rule. I know of a HS coach who was a part time assistant coach on a team that was competing in the ASA Nationals last August. One of his high school players was on the team and for some reason another HS coach in NC reported him to the NCHSAA. This coach had been given some incorrect information of when the dead period started, however still he was fined and almost suspended.

Personally I don't see how any one coach, player or team benefits or is protected by this rule. I also think it was very childish for another NC high school coach to report this to the NCHSAA. The funny thing is that the coach who made the report had 3 of his players on this team and they were only benefiting from the other coach's efforts.

 

Dead

Don't like the rule but suspect it was created to try and stop some coaches from recruiting players to come to their HS. We all know there are football coaches famous for that procedure. Anyway, that said college coaches dead period, sure understand totally. May not understand the dates they pick but do not want an unfair advantage. HS seems a little over board. I had to coach my new 16U team as both my coaches were unable to help this fall.

 

Reason

There are actually three dead periods in place each year. One for the start of fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. They are in place to allow students to tryout and participate in other school sponsored sports if they choose. It last one month so that each student will have the opportunity to completely evaluate the sport they are interested in participating in. Just like softball has dead periods in August(Start of Fall Sports) and November (Start of Winter Sports) other sports have to abide by the Spring dead period which would be the start of softball. For example Volleyball would have to follow the rules in November and March if they were wanting to participate as an outside team.

As a former high school and travel coach I did not like the rules either. Some players choose to only play softball and they should not be punished for that desicion. However, the NCHSAA is trying to be fair to all sports in this case. According to the rule you are not even allowed to have an organized meeting with your team during a dead period.

Another note to point out is that a high school coach can only coach his entire high school team in a travel ball setting during a time period in which school is not in session (Summer Break). If that coach is coaching a travel team during the academic school year, then they are limited to only having eight members of their high school team on the travel team. The rule states that you may practice with one less than it takes to play outside of dead periods. The rule book directly states that travel teams coached by a high school coach must follow the same guidelines. This is why you see so many travel teams that are coached by a high school coach, coached by a parent in the Fall. The rules are the same whether it is a head coach or an assistant coach.

The NCHSAA is strict about handing out penalties for rule infractions. However, there are many ways to interpret and get around the rules.

Just trying to help answer the question.

 

Dead periods

:imagestor I also coach at the High School level and in the summer. The dead periods only relate to HIGH SCHOOL athletics. Away from high school a coach can coach a team. The "Dead Period" relates to a high school coach working his High school team out at school. The dead period ends when that particular school has its first home football game. After that game, we can either have the entire team out "Conditioning", which means no softball drills, or we can have (1) less that a team, which would be 8 players and work on softball related drills. I do agree howvever, that players who only play the one sport should be allowed to work out with their high school coach anytime. But that is the state for you.

 

Hey BMAC,
Have your Coach listen to the rules instead of thinking he was above the rules and he would have known the dead periods. In addressing another comment, IN NO way would Central players ever benefit from Coach Beatty's coaching. That must have been a joke.Be careful where you point your finger, Nobody knows about the practices at Mrs. Scott's house.

 

Thanks, Smooth Criminal for quoting the complete rule. In NC, I haven't seen too many teams with 8 players from the same school on it. So this brings up a question, what coach was almost fired for having less than that amount on his team? As for us (H/S coaches), we have very little recourse to challange the state rules. If parents think it's worth the trouble, they should petition the state and try to get it changed, after all, it is your girls that suffer from this, not us.

 

Hey CCfast,

I really respect the years of success that has been achieved at central. There has been a lot of hard work and long hours put in to achieve that success. Plus every player from Central I have had the opportunity to meet have always been classy and respectful young ladies on and off the field. However there is more than one quality high school coach in NC. I believe if you ask those central players they would disagree with your comment about the coach you refered to. However I don't think they would want to hurt your feelings.

I haven't accused anyone of doing anything wrong, I only stated what I know to be true. Plus if someone from the NCHSAA misinterpets a rule another coach may inquire about, (please see nc2aump's first post) I hope no one calls to report them.

Now in regards to your urban legend about a team practicing at Scott Field, I know for a FACT that no high school team has EVER practiced there.

The bottomline is that hopefully one day soon and with the help of the NCHSFCA, the state will begin to understand softball better and do away with the rules that really don't make much sense for softball. The IOC thought fastpitch softball was just baseball for girls and that was one of the reasons it was eliminated from the Olympics in 2012. Apparently, the NCHSAA takes the same view.

Good Luck to your team in 2006. Maybe a 3peat, who knows?