What about the other guys???

Right on Sports Mom. You made some great points. Seems like we all know of situations where transfers hurt and some helped and how it affects each team and kid differently. Like you said, its an opinion. Great thoughts!

 

NO...no offense taken. You have an opinion that I respect. But on this subject, I can't agree with you.

We have discussed this subject many times before and it usually lands as an attack towards transfers. People have turned the word "transfer" into an ugly term and that's not fair. There is a myriad of logical reasons why a kid transfers, but a parent is quick to throw darts at the reasons simply out of fear their child's position may be taken. Then they want to take the "high road" and mention "loyalty, commitment, life lessons" and other buzz words to make their point. To me it smells of hypocracy.

But please don't think that my point is singularly pointed at you baserunning. I love your posts and opinions, but on this subject I offer a counter-point. I have seen the ugliness of parents trying to destroy a team's chemistry with behind the scene rumors, innuendos and trying to find another parent that will listen and take their side. It can be ugly, mean-spirited and turn players against each other. There is absolutely no justifiable reason for anybody to go down that road.

Allow me to offer a related topic:

Your boss brings in an employee from another area to fill a position that you wanted and felt deserved. What do you do?

- You can go around the office complaining to anyone who will listen to your complaints.

or

- You can find out what your boss feels you need to improve in to be prepared the next time the position opens.

I feel confidant that the player that has been exposed to this situation through sports will be better prepared to handle this situation vs the god given talented player that has had everything given to them.

 

Excellent.

 

What I find confusing is that I am getting mixed messages from posters on this topic.

Example one: You should be loyal to your travel team, showcase team, AAU, USSSA, etc., but it's okay to leave your high school team because there are reasons that the high school your child attends might not be best for him/her. If you really believe that, than I don't understand why one would not see that the same reasons could be legit when you leave your travel team.

Example two: The example from Braves is a great one about a new employee being moved in and the positive response that should come about and the lesson learned early being an athlete. I would think that the same logic could be applied to the transfer player/family that continues to move to find themselves in a better situation. If the player/family works through their situation, that young person would also have valuable life lessons.

Let me conclude with a couple of points...
My son has not been affected by a transfer. If anything, he was the new kid at his school. Because of where we lived, he always played rec and travel ball with one group of kids, but when the lines were drawn for schools, he went to a different school than all his baseball buddies. It was implied to him early on (not from the coaches, but the community) that there was a kid a year ahead of him that held the position that he played so he might need to prepare for a new one. We advised him to control only what he could... work harder than anyone else, play his game, and that in the end, he was only responsible for his actions and not the decisions made by the coach or anyone else. He did earn the spot he was trying for and he and the other player became great friends and have a mutual respect for each other. So,...in other words, this is not a sour grapes post.

As long as transfers are legal...I have no problem at all with that. It is totally up to a family as to what sacrifices, moves, etc. they are willing to make and I respect that families decisions.

I guess where I am coming from is a level playing field/same rules being followed for everyone. In our county, there are a few schools where athletes can transfer in without any problem, but other students can't get in the school. Within the same school system, at some high schools, there are no transfers that are allowed for athletes. It just makes it hard to compete for conference championships, state championships, etc. when the rules aren't applied the same. I guess it's like a rec team playing a showcase team. If the problem isn't addressed in some way, I just see things going downhill.

 

Well I think that it is important for any athlete to make decisions that will best help them in the future. I went from one high school to another and I did the same in AAU. It's a tough decision to make but you have to put faith in the lord and have your families support the whole time. You may end some friendships but you can also gain friends in the same sense. The school I went to I have made life long friends with teacher's and student's and i am thankful for that.

I think the way we need to apporach tranferring is like a job. Just because your in that job doesn't mean you there forever. We all have to make life decisions that will affect us for the better or worse. You can't sit there and say "this place hired me first so I have to give my loyalty to this job even though the other job would be better for me."

 

I respect your opinion totally and especially your consistency. Shows me you have real convictions. The mixed signals about loyalty to showcase over high school or the other way around is what I was questioning.
Sounds like things have worked out great for you and I really am thankful!

I also applaud and agree entirely with putting your faith in the Lord. If we all did that, imo...nothing else would be that big of a deal!

 

Let me tackle that question and see if I can help you on that.

You can't really put showcase ball over high school or vice versa. That's why the two seasons happen when they do so they don't interfere with each other. If you go to a high school that will not be strong then you really need to make sure to get a on a travel team so you can get out there and get seen. You have to try and balance the two in order to make sure both coaches stay happy and you get seen to hopefully play at the next level. You can't really say one is more important but your focus on one has to be the same on the other.

I hoped that helped you out some.

 

Oh, sorry...I didn't convey what I was thinking very well.

What I meant was some have implied that they thought it was okay to leave their high school for another program, but yet it showed a lack of loyalty to leave your showcase team. I totally get that they have very different purposes and I agree. I just don't get why it's okay to leave one team, but not okay to leave another.

 

Well personally I feel that if you feel compelled to leave a team for another then do it. But don't complain if you don't get the same amount of playing time than you did before. Some people feel differently about it and you will probably get a different answer every time but it all depends on the person's view point of it.

 

sportsmom- I must say that this post:

" Let me conclude with a couple of points...
My son has not been affected by a transfer. If anything, he was the new kid at his school. Because of where we lived, he always played rec and travel ball with one group of kids, but when the lines were drawn for schools, he went to a different school than all his baseball buddies. It was implied to him early on (not from the coaches, but the community) that there was a kid a year ahead of him that held the position that he played so he might need to prepare for a new one. We advised him to control only what he could... work harder than anyone else, play his game, and that in the end, he was only responsible for his actions and not the decisions made by the coach or anyone else. He did earn the spot he was trying for and he and the other player became great friends and have a mutual respect for each other. So,...in other words, this is not a sour grapes post.

As long as transfers are legal...I have no problem at all with that. It is totally up to a family as to what sacrifices, moves, etc. they are willing to make and I respect that families decisions.

I guess where I am coming from is a level playing field/same rules being followed for everyone. In our county, there are a few schools where athletes can transfer in without any problem, but other students can't get in the school. Within the same school system, at some high schools, there are no transfers that are allowed for athletes. It just makes it hard to compete for conference championships, state championships, etc. when the rules aren't applied the same. I guess it's like a rec team playing a showcase team. If the problem isn't addressed in some way, I just see things going downhill."

in my opinion is right on the mark. I really have been enjoying your points and the way you have addressed them. Quite honestly, I don't remember showcase/ loyalty ever being an issue that has been raised before, so I'm not sure of your confusion. But I like the things that you have said...and more important, I like the way you have said them.

Thank you for posting and I hope you will continue to....just watch out for that dbacks guy. Keep him in line for me please