staying on the same team

there's lot of discussion on this forum about girls switching TB teams often.

may be interesting to post about girl(s) that have actually remained loyal to a single organization for multiple years. also maybe there's several girls that have played on the same TB team for several yr's. not asking for girls' names.

??

 

The original Carolina Stars played their first game in the fall of 1999 as a 12U team playing 14U. We started the team with 13 players. When we played our last tournament game together in the fall of 2004, we had 9 of the orginal 13 on the field that day. From that team, 4 currently are playing softball in college and 2 more will be freshman players next fall.

With the growth in the sport we have seen since 1999 and so many new teams playing, the competition for good players has at times become ugly. And from my experience, it hasn't been the players that have been looking to switch teams, it has been the parents.

From my 12U team this year, we had parents of one player decide they wanted their DD play for a team closer to where they live. That makes sense and is reasonable. However, within 2 days of leaving our team, the Mom and Dad were on the phone calling parents of players (only the better ones) on our team trying to get them to join them on their new team. Unbelievable!!!!

Something else I have noticed recently is the number of players that have played on 2,3 sometime 4 or more teams. Many times these are players who have parents that think their dd should be playing more than they are. So what they do is keep switching teams until they find a team bad enough to where their DD is the best on that team and will play most every pitch. These parents don't really care about how much their DD is learning or if the team is any good, they are happy their DD is playing all the time like she "should" be.

I guess you can say my sore spot is selfish parents.

 

Staying on the same Team- Charlotte Cobras

The 16u Charlotte Cobras(formerly Matthews Cobras) have 5 players on the current team that have played together since 8u in 2000, seven seasons of travel ball. Two more current players were picked up in 2002 while playing 10u, two more in 2003 while playing 12u and the last two current players in 2005 while playing 14u. We have won at least one state championship or world series tournament at every age level through the years, although still working on that 16u state championship. We started out as a rec all-star team and later developed into an independent travel ball squad. The greatest asset of our team is how well the players and parents get along and truly enjoy spending a lot of time together. Would love to hear about other teams who have kept a large nucleus together over the years, seems to be the exception these days.

 

Our team since 2001 have had the same nucleus until this Fall when one of our kids moved to the 18 & Under team, and we have combined with the existing 16 & Under team to form the Lady Blues 16 & Under. We also have been very successful with (5) State Titles, and (1) World Title in the past..I agree with Dave a team to succeed must gell together,and know each other....Guru......

 

It takes time to become a team....

Let's see.... we put a group of athletes together, train them and help them mature within the game, teach them to play as a team, and they have success......

What a concept.....

The discussion on the thread should be ...

Who has been successful jumping around everytime the wind changes??

It will be a short list

 

Girls

Yea I know a few girls that change uniforms more than their regular clothes. No way the college coaches can keep up.

 

what has been talked about concerning changing teams and what will be talked about here in this thread will again miss the point. On the surface it will be the same old refrain: bad coaching, favoritism, lack of loyalty. lack of professionalism and the list goes on but what it really is about is the sense of feeling left behind.. that there is a better situation out there or let me put it another way... my daughter isn't in the right situation to be seen, ie she must play with the best team from the best organization that gets into the best BRACKET! I will refer everyone again to BMac's point in an earlier thread. Of course, if you have the unrealistic expectation of playing at UCLA or AZ then perhaps you need to seek out the type of team mentioned above.

Apparently this past weekend there were more scouts at Eagle than there were at Cherry. My feeling is with who I saw listed as being in attendence is that if YOU recruited most of those schools yourself and told that your DD has her heart set on attending that college and that college only there is a pretty good chance you would be able to play at that school and some money of some type could be found for her. This is really about marketing people; most don't realize that. I would assume that if you were playing this past weekend in Rock Hill your DD has the ability to play beyond HS.

We have sat down and decided on a handfull of colleges where WE would be willing to play softball. If we can make any of those teams then a "career" will continue. If not we will have chosen the college that is best for our DD. 99% of the people involved in FP in NC should take a lesson from the young lady who plays for Rick, who is #1 in her class and is thinking of not continuing at the level to play D1 ball. It would be so interesting to fast forward 10/20 years from now and compare where that young lady is in her life. She has been described as "very special". I would go a step further and use adjectives like rare, priceless and unique!

The final truth is changing teams has more to do with the culture that has arisen than anything else. Change the culture! Stop trying to frantically catch up with everyone else... it is not a race... its a journey.

 

Good post. I have discussed the disloyalty from players and unsportsmanlike recruiting by some TB coaches with several college coaches. They look on this very unfavorably with the player and the TB coach. The college coach wonders if that player could do the same to him/her someday if they were to recruit that player. Could another college coach lure them away? College coaches are looking for a pattern of consistency when it comes to player loyalty. I think Charlie might agree with this as well.

 

Great Point....

The lack of coaches at the Fusion showcase has allot to do with the calendar and the point that Rick made earlier in this thread that the rules have changed concerning DI participation in these events...

The non traditional season for college softball runs from the middle of September to the middle of October... Each division has different rules during the non traditional season, which includes play dates, participation days, as well as other rules and commitments within their own college calendar. Missing classes to make a practice in the fall is not an option,so Saturday's and Sunday's are reserved for practices and games.

Holding "showcase" tournaments during these dates will always conflict with the collegiate coaches primary function....coaching their team..
Doesn't matter what bracket you are in, if no body comes.

This time would be well spent with the potential recruit visiting schools, and watching the college team play and the coach....coach in game situations.

 

yes

this is well-said