Spring Break Games-I am NOT playing

Need more opinions on this.

All the responses so far appear to be by the older, more experienced, coaches point of view. While I happen to agree with all posts so far, I would love to hear from some players and parents who feel that some things, at some times,are more important in a young man's life than high school baseball. Especially when the games do not impact the end of season conference tournaments or state playoffs.
Please don't hammer me too hard! As Steven Covey put it, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood"...

 

This parents viewpoint on this..

Its simple: When you make a commitment to be on a team, you make a commitment to show up at every game. Doesn't matter whether its a conference game or a spring break tournament. It happened on my son's team last year and the player was suspended for the next 3 games. Not severe enough in my opinion!

I felt bad for the player because in this case he did not want to miss the games, his parents forced him to go.

But how would the player, who plays behind him all season, feel when he comes back and once again is playing over him, not to mention his parents.

 

There are certainly many things more important to a HS player than baseball; and there are some valid reasons to miss a game (health issues, a family tragedy, etc...), but definitely not a family vacation.

To me the litmus test would be if I allowed one to miss a game for whatever reason, can I allow all of his teammates to miss for the same reason with no consequences.

But everything always comes back to commitment. It's a powerful word...and one a person can always be proud to live up to. And it's a word that a parent must believe in because they will have to teach their son its meaning: The quicker it's learned, the easier he will achieve success on the field and off.

 

Ham and Eggs

What's the difference between being "involved" and being "committed?"

It's like ham and eggs. The chicken is "involved" but the pig is "committed."

Kinda feel the same way about weddings....

 

what about tests?

what about taking the SAT and missing a regular season Saturday game? I heard a parent (dad) mention this last year and blaming the wife for not making other SAT scheduling arrangements for the kid that wouldn't have conflicted with a non-conf. baseball game.

 

priorities

i heard once --- of a big deep sea fishing trip - couldn't be rescheduled - too much money to be lost -- a week later upon the return -- the STUD third baseman was right back in the line - up -- the season and "team"
were "toast" from there.

 

Yeah... nothing personal, but this is sad. Your kid is years or maybe months from leaving the house for possibly ever. No way it should be allowed that a family get to take a vacation together since the team is more important. Geez people but family time comes first. Period. Now I've got no problem if that player loses a starting position because they get outplayed while gone, and the coach should be informed of any possible trips ASAP, but to penalize someone for being with their family is sick.

 

I've been to a few weddings where the guy felt like the pig but for a different reason.

 

Bottomline folks is the teammates know who's committed and who's not. Parents can put "lipstick on a pig" any way they want to but the bottom line is if the kid goes on vacation and comes back and his teammates and coaches don't trust him than what good is it to go. You can argue the merits of a vacation and the timing and such but the bottom line is if your teammates aren't committed and they don't think YOU"RE committed than everything else is irrelevant.

 

I'm quite sure this is not what he or she was seeking in her invitation for opposing views; but comeonblue's post keeps causing a couple of recurring thoughts to come up for me (neither of them opposing):

(1) Baseball is a game, and games should be fun for those playing them; regardless of the level. However, as one moves up the baseball ladder, it becomes a game requiring greater and greater skill. Those players who fail to consistently develop their skills fall behind and, for them, the game tends to become less and less fun.

In my experience, it's the players who make choices like the decision to go away on spring break instead of playing in their team's tournament who are also the ones who are less likely to devote the time and effort to consistently improve their game. For them, baseball often becomes an increasingly frustrating game to play as others on the field pass them by.

(2) At the higher levels (high school and up?), a baseball team is not a democratic entity. If anything, it's the combination of a meritocracy and an autocracy. A successful head coach/manager reserves final authority for decision-making; and, if he is to win consistently, he'll make a habit of playing the best players. That becomes more and more important as the stakes increase; as his job usually depends upon it.

Because of this, when conflicts arise between the team's well-being and a player's personal desire, the head coach doesn't call for a vote. When he signed on as head coach, he arrived with the expectation that his players would be present for all of the practices and games. When a player's choice is at odds with the coach's expectation, he chooses his personal option at his own peril vis a vis the team's well-being.