Softball: An increasingly rural game?

The city of Kannapolis does not have a youth softball league. The girls who want to play have to go out of town. That is the reason their school teams are always bad. Lacrosse is an expensive sport. Soccer is not as bad.

Having worked the Charlotte Mecklenburg schools for awhile. Softball is only as good as the area you happen to be in. Inner city kids typiclaly don't play due to lack of opportunity and quality coaching. It is harder to get the instruction there to make you successful. My thoughts about the east still being behind the West coast is finding quality instruction even at lower levels. People will coach but don't know crap about the game. In soccer you can sometimes beat someone by atheltic ability alone. In softball the coaching shows up quicker.

 

I live in a very rural and relatively poor county. The problem with TB is that many of the girls with the ability don't have the support to play. Many are from single parent homes. Money and time are truly limited for these parents and it shows in their ability to support the girls. With the county being so rural a good TB team would have to draw from the entire county. It take 45+ minutes to drive from one side of the county to the other running 55 to 60 MPH. So you are looking at quiet an investment. Even with these factors a good team could be formed. But then you run into the expense of traveling to tournaments. We have girls that coaches have to give money when we stop to eat on a school ball trip. There is no way I could afford rooms and food for an entire team. We have had several TB teams fire up, but it is always a few "daddys" and they want the "best" players (as long as they are not better than THEIR daughters at the position THEIR daughters WANT to play). I have one girl that is lucky but her parents are driving 200 miles one way for her to play with a good TB organization. Most girls in this area are just not that fortunate. With the economy like it is there are not many groups that could afford to sponsor a team either. All this is waying on me heavy and I was in the process of approaching a few folks about sponsoring when the economy went south. We have some tremendous talent in our area but it is definitely going undeveloped. Sorry for the long post but this is a sore spot with me and is weighing on me. I would be glad for any advice or help anyone could give on possible solutions. All I want to do is be able to help my girls. I have girls that will come out in July and August just to practice. They love the game and want to get better. But it would be nice to carry them to at least a few tournaments. I know I rambled but I am truly frustrated and just don't know what to do.

 

Hey

I hate to break this to you,but everything you have mentioned has been going on since the beginning of the game. The single parent issue will always be and yes the child suffers, but will survive,and the politics of Daddy Ball will never stop.."BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER", that will never change...NEVER !! I was told if you worry about things you can not change you will live a short life...which is true !! So do the best you can for these kids and carry on !!

 

URBAN vs RURAL Softball

In Durham(pop. 300,000+) , we do not have a summer/fall softball program. The Middle School program is "playground" at best. We share the student/athletes among 6 High Schools. At Riverside , our largest girls sports are : Field Hockey , Soccer , Lacrosse. I agree that the girls get tired of getting their hats handed to them in softball , when they can "compete" in other sports. If a H.S. team has a travel ball player or two , they can win a lot of games in the PAC 6. We have not done a good job of promoting softball among the African-American & Latino populations in our county(50%+). In our area , softball has almost become an elitist sport only encouraging the best of the best to play. We are trying to have a summer league at RHS , as we speak, just to teach the game and create interest. Umpire cost makes it almost prohibitive for most kids. I love the game , been in it a long time , need to get back to making our sport fun! Then everybody will be Happy and Successful ; Travel , High School , Middle School and "pick up"..when is the last time that one of you went by a field and saw girls playing "pickup" softball? With or Without the adult supervision? Playing , just for fun?

 

Not worried about the "Daddy" ball thing. Those folks end up getting exactly what they deserve. But what I am looking for is there anyone with suggestions on ways to deal with the finacial issues of TB. I have always been told that "you are either part of the solution or part of the problem" no in between. I am simply looking for ways to be part of the solution. I know sitting at the house and doing nothing but complaining want help anything.

 

You hit the nail on the head!

We need to get back to recognizing that softball is a team sport. Too many times players are made to seem bigger and better than the team. We need to place as much interest on rec, jv, etc., as we do on higher level teams.

By "we" I mean the ones who are going to be staying with the teams--not the ones moving on with their kids to the next level. We need more people to stay and help, more people to give back to the new ones coming in. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing kids develop their skill level. To see a kid that can't throw a ball to the next base become so hot that she burns your hand catching her is rewarding beyond words.

We need help at the young, beginner levels to the HS level. Presently, there is enough help after they get good; we need help developing the beginners.

 

Some of the most fun (and tedious) times with a team is fundraising.

We used to do car washes, sell candy in front of stores, etc. Doing these things as a team is more efficient than doing it individually. Plus, you don't have to hear "I sold my part." And the old "I would rather just pay my part and be done with it." I would, too, but fundraising should be a team thing. The bonding that occurs is beneficial.

All kids have doctors, dentists. Most parents have insurance agents, car dealers (especially when negotiating a new car), employers, restaurants, etc.

And in the old days we even played occasionally on a pay-as-you-go team; $25 to $30 per player to play. Do you think we worried about college scouts? Heck, no; we were worried about winning!! And that was fun!!!

 

As for the expense of travel ball, some ideas:

1) There's one complex in rural South Carolina (owned by a church and also used for adult slow pitch) that hosts a league for girls of high school age during the SCHSL do-whatever period period during early summer. Some high school coaches put a team together of their varsity and/or JV players. Some schools pool their girls to get a team. Some area travel teams participate. Some teams have been formed from local girls who are on other travel teams. They play a double header against another team one or two nights a week for 8 weeks. Most of the teams play in t-shirts. Some of the teams actually have matching t-shirts.

2) Depending on where you are, maybe you can find tournaments within 90 minutes drive. Ask the TD not to schedule you for Friday night play. Drive up EARLY Saturday AM and go home after play. If you're still playing Sunday, get up early and do it again. Bring fruit and sandwiches for lunch. We're lucky enough to have plenty of tournaments with 40 miles, but we have driven 100 miles back and forth. Some kids stayed in a hotel closer and got a better night's sleep, some didn't.

3) If that won't work, see if the girls can travel as a team... four cars or 3 mini vans, 3 hotel rooms for up to 12 girls for two nights, each girl only has to play a 1/4 share (or basically half the posted nightly rate plus tax).

4) My DD's first team only had one uniform (though it was fairly nice one). Instead of collecting all the money for the year up front, he collected enough for the uniforms, insurance and a bare minimum of practice equipment. Each tournament he'd collect each player's share of the tournament fee for that tournament.

 

Here's The Deal !!

I hate to tell you folks but REC Ball is becoming less and less in communities as far as softball, and it is partially the commisioner and board members fault. You take the talent level at Rec Ball and compare it to Travel Ball there is just no comparison. One thing that would help the Rec Ball community is finding the right coaches to teach these girls the correct fundamentals of the game. A buddy of mine whom I can't mention on TBR has started helping in his community with these kids that know little about the game but have all the potential in the world to be great ball players. He has made time in his summer schedule to help these kids grow in this sport. Getting back to the first statement the people in charge have just about put the cost of playing Rec Ball even with Travel Ball so you see where the problem might be. I know it cost a lot to run a facility, but when you can buy a Cadillac for the same price as a less desired car which are you going to buy... My friend also told me about 5 years ago that Rec Ball in softball will probably cease to exist in 10 years due to the Travel ball Circuit producing college bound players... U know he might be onto something !!! Nah ??

 

What your buddy is doing is exactly what is needed! That is how you make a difference!