hs softball

It all starts with developing a love of the game at an early age. I have coached a 10u or 12u rec team for the last 9 years.(as well as a 18u showcase team) Do not emphasize winning . Emphasize improving and winning will come with improvement. Teach the fundamentals, fundamentally sound ballplayers become successful ballplayers, successful ballplayers become confident young ladies, confident young ladies develop self esteem from playing ball. Keep it fun and upbeat and you will have a core group of ballplayers that loves the game, is loyal to her teamates and takes pride in her team( wether rec, tb or hs). This has been successful for our HS (been to the creek 2 of the last 3 years)

 

For all those who do not play hs ball and only play tb.
My dd has played tb since she was in the 4th grade and yes as far as competition and level of play tb is more than hs in my opinion, but she played her first year of hs ball last year and had a great time. the experience of hs ball is completely different and I would advise anybody that can needs to play

 

I am sure what some wont admit is that Travel Ball has almost killed Rec League Softball... For brand new girls to start playing softball at the travel ball level is extremely intimidating and very costly compared to a season of Rec Ball. With the decline of Rec Ball so goes the sport. I am positive that you have encountered many teams that you know should be playing Rec Ball instead of travel ball.

Rec Ball, like it or not, is the feeder for TB and HS ball. If Rec Ball was not held in such disdain and if the daughters were not pulled from Rec Ball the moment daddy wants them to play at a higher level, things might be different.

Something to think about....

 

I see no problem with doing both at the 8, 10, and perhaps 12 year old level. Rec ball is usually played during the week and travel ball is on the weekends. Now, if you are on a travel ball team that is going to make a trip to a National tournament it does change things at the end. I have seen a conflict when the rec all-star teams are playing at or very near the national tournament. The second year I asked my travel ball players to tell the rec coaches not to consider them for the all-star team...this seemed to work out well. The bottom line is that both coaches need to attempt to make it work.

 

The Other Side of the Fence

I am a normal and frequent poster, replying to this thread anonymously. The question of why, is one the reasons that some high schools suffer when it comes to obtaining and retaining athletes in their program.

Specifically...politics.

In our area, specifically, are families that have been here since people first stepped on North Carolinian soil and their roots run deep. While this area has experienced a population boom over the past couple of decades to the South and North of us, in our sleepy little hamlet, there is a firmly established network of people who run things...from the government offices, to the recreation programs, to the schools. For those kids whose families have lived here for 20 years, but are still not part of the "old" families, life in recreational and SCHOOL sports often become a lesson in frustration. Too often, the less talented "old family" child fields a primary position in a sport - be it soccer, football, baseball...or softball - whether or not they can catch a ball, throw a ball and often to the detriment of the team.

(This is not to say that there are not some tremendously talented kids from these old families, for there are.)

For our area, particularly, too often when you ask a student "Why didn't you tryout for softball" - a kid that you watched grow up, coached in rec sports, and in whom you saw early on a natural ability that has only been honed with time - the response is a simple one: "What's the point?" And you understand, for you too have witnessed it over the years. The talented 1st baseman that is "good enough" freshman and soph years to start and play every game, only to be relegated to the bench when "Jane OldFamilyCan'tCatchABall" goes directly to Varsity Freshman year and takes over 1B; or when "Jill OldFamilyCan'tDoAThang" plays a primary infield position, bats 3rd in the line up, is named MVP with a .712 FA, .077 BA, and 18 missed practices.

Kids would rather not play at all, than to be taken for granted and then discarded. And would far rather play travel sports, which many do, while forgoing high school sports all together, where the the playing ground is more level and based more on your abilities and contributions than your last name.

Politics...here in the deep south or up at the tip of our state by good ole TN...do play a part on whether or not players want to play a part in a team.

But that is only one side of this fence....

Here is another side: Commitment by the Coaches and how it impacts the success of a team and, in the end, players' feeling of pride and accomplishment in a season.

We have a wide range of programs in our immediate area. We have those schools in which not a single travel ball player attends; those schools with only 3 or 4 players; and those schools that are fed by three or four upper level travel teams that comprise the entirity of the Varsity team.

While certainly the number of more highly trained players, i.e. tb players, will make a definite impact on a hs softball team, so does the quality of coaching, the commitment of the coaching staff, and the decision early on, often by the first day of the school year, about how successful a program will be.

We have a wide range of training and coaching committment in our area as well. We have School 1 with only a couple of TB players who have summer work outs, fall work outs, winter warm ups, play their 23 games in a season plus a tournament over spring break....who are state contenders every single year. We also have School 2 where every player on the team plays TB, that have winter warm ups, play their 23 games in a season, plus a tournament over stpring break...who are state contenders every single years. But we also have School 3, where you have several TB players on the team, who have no summer work outs, no fall work outs, no winter warm ups, that start tryouts the week before the 1st game, practice 6 times in a season, play 14 games, and are never state contenders.

Schools 1 and 2 never have an issue fielding very strong JV and Varsity teams. School 3 fields a weak Varsity, never a conference or state contender, and a three-stooges JV team. Why?

Because those kids that love the sport, after a year or two, walk away...feeling the lack of commitment from the coach, the lack of belief in the team by the coach, the apathy that just ingrains the program. Several of these players turn to TB, where they will be challenged to be competitive, where demands are high and the expectation of success is infused throughout the program.

These are just a couple of reasons, from down here in the ole South, that softball -- and several other sports -- are struggling to field teams.

 

yes and

I have been on the side of the fence when I saw it as the TB team's tournament schedule was in conflict with the rec ball all-star team's post-season tournament run.

glass half-full or half-empty??

 

Everything that we do becomes "extremed"... We cant do anything without going full tilt, this includes kids sports. Maybe we have taken it so seriously that it has become a turnoff to the ones that have a casual interest... so they never get a chance to find out. Remember when kids used to get together and play a game of pickup - and that would include all kids, even the ones that couldnt play well. Sometimes I think, we have taken the fun out of being a kid. maybe they are trying to tell us something.

 

Okay- it appears that the majority of posters are not thrilled with HS softball. I still can't put my arms around the reason why (other than politics), but that is faced at every level of sports. And I believe it bothers parents moreso than the players because with many players that have no idea about the politics unless the parents point it out. And if it plays as big a role as some of you say, it's even worse on the baseball side. And it doesn't seem to have an impact on players trying out for the HS team.

Here is what I gather from reading the softball forum the last 6 years. I don't believe that the overall opinion of HS softball is important to many of you. I don't believe the majority encourage your DD's to play, for whatever reason. Yet, it appears that most of you understand the values of playing for your community/school and the pride a DD will have competing against other schools.

Now here is where some of you might part ways with me. From what I've read the last few years and has been confirmed by Monte Sherrill is the lack of quality coaches at the HS level. I can say with complete confidence if this is the case than you will avsolutely not have a favorable experience playing HS softball. And if others feel this way, my question to you is....what are you going to do about it? Because if your dd is missing out on all the benefits of playing for your school, then she is missing out on a fabulous experience that she will never be able to experience again.

There is a difference between meddlesome parents and parents that have a genuine concern about the school's program. If I was involved with a HS program and the coach does not share a commitment or loyalty to the program, I will fight to my last breathe to have them removed. I am not talking about personalities, styles, W/L records or playing time. All of those things are none of my business and to challenge a coach because my views are different is destructive and selfish. But it is right for me to demand for a coach to give their program and players 100%...and that's all I ask.

There really are an abundant of qualified coaches out there looking for opportunities. There isn't a valid reason to retain any knuckleheads who are not in it for the girls.

 

Ahhhh.....then you will appreciate this photo