Absence from games, practices: what's acceptable?

Ski Trip

I was not going to post on this subject but the ski trip deal forced my hand. My first year as a Head Coach I had two kids both upperclassman come up to me and tell me they had each paid 275 dollars to go on a ski trip with their church. They were going to leave on a Friday morning and come back on Monday night. This meant that they were going to miss three practices. I asked them if they knew when they paid the money that they were going to be coming out for the team. They said yes. I asked them if they knew our policy on missing practices when they paid the money for the trip. They said yes. I asked them if going on the trip was more important than playing baseball. They said no. I told them that I was not going to make the decision for them. I was going to tell them what the consequences were going to be if they missed practice to go on a ski trip during the season and then it was up to them to make the decision. They both decided baseball was more important to them.

Now as soon as you start letting kids miss practice for ski trips then you have to let them miss for birthday parties then you have to let them miss to visit their grand mother etc etc etc. How fair is it to the team? How about the dedicated players that have invested years of hard work to try to win something to come to practice and players are not their because they are on a ski trip? You have the rest of your life to go on ski trips. You dont have the rest of your life to play hs baseball. But if other people want to run their programs like this its fine with me. Our kids dont miss. Our kids are not late. Our kids know that they better not plan anything during the HS baseball season. And the parents know this as well. Im really amazed that anyone would even consider missing a HS baseball practice for reasons like this. You have four years to play HS baseball. You have the rest of your life to go on ski trips. If you would rather go on a ski trip than prepare for your high school baseball season and not be out there with your teamates then you dont really want to play in the first place. See Yah!

 

Wossa

In my book it has no bearing on the situation at all wether the player is a stud or a role player. Everyone is treated the same and everyone is held to the same standards period. Everyone is equally held accountable regardless of their role on the team. How can you expect to stand up there and tell the boys that everyone is important to the teams success and then let a kid miss because he doesnt play? Also in practice alot of those so called role players play vital roles. And many times during the year a kid that starts the season with one role ends up with even a bigger role because of his work ethic , injuries , academic casualties , discipline casualties , poor performance by others etc etc etc. You open up a whole keg of worms when you treat people differently when it comes to following rules. You will loose all credibility with your team , parents and the administration if you do. More importantly it just aint right.

 

How about this one.....Bobby Dale is a great coach. I'm tryin' for 2 for 2

 

My Kind of Coach (Coach27)

You're the kind of guy every kid should play for. There's a lot more to this coaching thing than baseball. The life skills you're teaching will come in handy time and again and long after baseball is over. Keep up the good work!

 

what

C27: may I ask what would the consequences have been if they had missed the three practice to go on the ski trip during the season? expulsion from the team?

 

What would have happened?

They would have gotten an early start on trying to make the x games. No way Im going to give a uniform to a kid that is not willing to sacrifice and do what everyone else is willing to do to be a part of something special. Dont they ski in Dec and Jan?

 

Missing game or practice

Players know going into the season when the season starts and ends so any family who plans a trip during season has no respect for the team or that coach. My players obviously sit out the games they miss and 1-2 games when they get back from there trip. If they don't like it then tough.

 

Hahahaha...welcome to the board, Coach!

 

next year?

Coaches, say the guy's a soph or jr that went on fun trip and missed game. You either suspend him, discipline him, throw him off team , whatever.
What about next year; does he get a clean slate & another chance as if nothing ever happened?

 

I would think after the one on one meeting with the player, if the coach felt he learned something from it and showed some new level of maturity, then yeah...slate's clean.

I'm sure that it has happened somewhere but, EOR, truthfully, I have never witnessed a HS baseball player doing that.