| SOFTBALL TIPS |
|
|
|
| SITE STUFF |
|
|
|
|
ARCHIVES
|
| • |
June 26, 2005 |
| • |
July 03, 2005 |
| • |
July 10, 2005 |
| • |
July 17, 2005 |
| • |
July 24, 2005 |
| • |
July 31, 2005 |
| • |
August 07, 2005 |
| • |
August 14, 2005 |
| • |
August 21, 2005 |
| • |
August 28, 2005 |
| • |
September 11, 2005 |
| • |
October 02, 2005 |
| • |
October 09, 2005 |
| • |
October 23, 2005 |
| • |
October 30, 2005 |
| • |
November 06, 2005 |
| • |
November 13, 2005 |
| • |
December 04, 2005 |
| • |
December 18, 2005 |
| • |
December 25, 2005 |
| • |
January 08, 2006 |
| • |
January 15, 2006 |
| • |
January 29, 2006 |
| • |
February 05, 2006 |
| • |
February 12, 2006 |
| • |
February 19, 2006 |
| • |
February 26, 2006 |
| • |
March 05, 2006 |
| • |
March 12, 2006 |
| • |
March 19, 2006 |
| • |
March 26, 2006 |
| • |
April 02, 2006 |
| • |
April 09, 2006 |
| • |
April 16, 2006 |
| • |
April 23, 2006 |
| • |
April 30, 2006 |
| • |
May 07, 2006 |
| • |
May 14, 2006 |
| • |
May 21, 2006 |
| • |
May 28, 2006 |
| • |
June 04, 2006 |
| • |
June 11, 2006 |
| • |
June 18, 2006 |
| • |
June 25, 2006 |
| • |
July 09, 2006 |
| • |
July 16, 2006 |
| • |
July 23, 2006 |
| • |
July 30, 2006 |
| • |
August 13, 2006 |
| • |
August 20, 2006 |
| • |
September 03, 2006 |
| • |
September 10, 2006 |
| • |
September 17, 2006 |
| • |
September 24, 2006 |
| • |
October 01, 2006 |
| • |
October 08, 2006 |
| • |
October 15, 2006 |
| • |
October 22, 2006 |
| • |
November 12, 2006 |
| • |
November 26, 2006 |
| • |
December 31, 2006 |
| • |
January 14, 2007 |
| • |
January 21, 2007 |
| • |
January 28, 2007 |
| • |
February 04, 2007 |
| • |
February 11, 2007 |
| • |
February 18, 2007 |
| • |
February 25, 2007 |
| • |
March 04, 2007 |
| • |
March 11, 2007 |
| • |
March 18, 2007 |
| • |
April 01, 2007 |
| • |
April 08, 2007 |
| • |
April 15, 2007 |
| • |
April 22, 2007 |
| • |
April 29, 2007 |
| • |
May 06, 2007 |
| • |
May 13, 2007 |
| • |
May 20, 2007 |
| • |
May 27, 2007 |
| • |
June 03, 2007 |
| • |
June 10, 2007 |
| • |
June 17, 2007 |
| • |
June 24, 2007 |
| • |
July 01, 2007 |
| • |
July 22, 2007 |
| • |
July 29, 2007 |
| • |
August 12, 2007 |
| • |
August 19, 2007 |
| • |
September 02, 2007 |
| • |
September 16, 2007 |
| • |
September 30, 2007 |
| • |
October 07, 2007 |
| • |
October 14, 2007 |
| • |
October 21, 2007 |
| • |
November 04, 2007 |
| • |
November 18, 2007 |
| • |
November 25, 2007 |
| • |
December 02, 2007 |
| • |
December 09, 2007 |
| • |
December 16, 2007 |
| • |
January 13, 2008 |
| • |
February 17, 2008 |
| • |
February 24, 2008 |
| • |
March 02, 2008 |
| • |
March 09, 2008 |
| • |
March 30, 2008 |
| • |
April 06, 2008 |
| • |
April 13, 2008 |
| • |
April 20, 2008 |
| • |
April 27, 2008 |
| • |
May 04, 2008 |
| • |
May 11, 2008 |
| • |
May 18, 2008 |
| • |
May 25, 2008 |
| • |
June 01, 2008 |
| • |
June 15, 2008 |
| • |
June 22, 2008 |
| • |
June 29, 2008 |
| • |
July 06, 2008 |
| • |
July 13, 2008 |
| • |
July 20, 2008 |
| • |
August 03, 2008 |
| • |
August 10, 2008 |
| • |
August 17, 2008 |
| • |
August 24, 2008 |
| • |
August 31, 2008 |
| • |
September 07, 2008 |
| • |
September 14, 2008 |
| • |
September 21, 2008 |
| • |
September 28, 2008 |
| • |
October 05, 2008 |
| • |
October 12, 2008 |
| • |
October 19, 2008 |
| • |
October 26, 2008 |
| • |
November 02, 2008 |
| • |
November 09, 2008 |
| • |
November 16, 2008 |
| • |
November 30, 2008 |
| • |
December 07, 2008 |
| • |
December 21, 2008 |
| • |
December 28, 2008 |
| • |
February 15, 2009 |
| • |
February 22, 2009 |
| • |
April 12, 2009 |
| • |
April 19, 2009 |
| • |
April 26, 2009 |
| • |
May 03, 2009 |
| • |
May 10, 2009 |
| • |
May 17, 2009 |
| • |
May 24, 2009 |
| • |
May 31, 2009 |
| • |
June 07, 2009 |
| • |
June 14, 2009 |
| • |
June 21, 2009 |
| • |
July 05, 2009 |
| • |
July 12, 2009 |
| • |
July 19, 2009 |
| • |
August 02, 2009 |
| • |
August 30, 2009 |
| • |
September 06, 2009 |
| • |
September 20, 2009 |
| • |
October 04, 2009 |
| • |
October 11, 2009 |
| • |
October 18, 2009 |
| • |
November 08, 2009 |
| • |
November 15, 2009 |
| • |
November 22, 2009 |
| • |
November 29, 2009 |
| • |
December 27, 2009 |
| • |
January 03, 2010 |
| • |
January 10, 2010 |
| • |
January 17, 2010 |
| • |
January 24, 2010 |
| • |
January 31, 2010 |
| • |
March 14, 2010 |
| • |
March 21, 2010 |
| • |
March 28, 2010 |
| • |
April 04, 2010 |
| • |
April 18, 2010 |
| • |
April 25, 2010 |
|
|
| SOFTBALL LINKS |
|
|
|
Nomads
by Dave
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Over the years I have read discussion threads on a few softball forums discussing the issue of "team jumpers" or "nomads" who move from one team to another almost every year. As with all such subjects, there are two sides to the story. As usual, both sides have valid points to make but neither side is always right or always wrong. Often the debate leaves out important considerations, ignores realities, and represents the voice of relative inexperience. I have my opinion about what is right and, as usual, that falls somewhere in between the two poles. Let's get started looking at this.
Those who believe "jumping" between teams is fundamentally wrong often are "traditionalists" who believe perseverance through difficulty is an admirable quality. They also believe sticking with a team through a multiple years commitment is desirable as an end in and of itself. These folks are right to place high value on the quality of perseverance. One of the most important aspects of youth sports is the real life lessons it teaches our children. Teaching a child to run from difficult circumstances is less than ideal. Teaching children to be committed and persevere through difficulty is very desirable. Yet, there's lots more behind a decision to change fastpitch softball travel teams than simple fight or flight instinct or an immediate gratification mentality.
I have read several forum dwellers complain that kids who jump from team to team suffer from bad parenting. The notion is the parents must not understand the value of commitment enough to want to instill it in their children. This type of person laments the failure of modern parents to ground their children in moral values. I don't disagree but, again, jumping between teams in between seasons does not represent a moral judgment, involve lack of commitment, or have anything to say about other aspects of one's parenting skills.
For quite some time in our society, mobility has become a reality in the working world. This began in the post World War II economic boom which saw our nation's economy completely metamorphose into a form which was virtually unrecognizable when compared to that which had existed for the prior 150 years or more. Suddenly people from Pennsylvania or Virginia were taking new jobs in New York, California, or Texas. Suddenly, the best way to locate economic opportunity was to demostrate the willingness to completely relocate to a new part of the country.
In more recent years, the trend toward occupational mobility has not slowed at all. Rather, it has sped up. An employee plodding along at a specific job for more than a couple years is viewed as one who is not capable of doing anything else. And within specific organizations stability isn't viewed all that favorably. Many companies view their human resource function with an "up or out" mentality. An individual must continually get promoted or risk being fired. When companies look for talent to fill a post, they most frequently look outside their own stable because they want "fresh ideas" and want to hire people who are bold enough to look outside their current employer for new challenges.
Without naming names, there is one very large company in this country that has a specific policy which basically states that a given department head is not doing the job unless he or she turns over 10% of the workforce. The theory holds that in any given group of employees, about 10-20% are real achievers, 60-80% are steady and dependable but not giving their all, and 10-20% are slackers. If a manager is doing the job, the bottom echelon will either leave of their own accord or need to be fired. If these slackers are not fired, the company not only suffers their slacking but also fails to motivate the middle group to work harder. Similarly, they believe they must heep big rewards on the top 10-20% while also keeping them motivated by providing competition. They do this by replacing the bottom rung with people from outside the organization. These new hires are all people who are expected to compete not with the middle of the pack but rather with the highest achievers. I have no opinion about the correctness of this policy. But it really exists and is not quite as exceptional as you might think.
Understand that I'm not making a value judgment regarding the current state of affairs in our society. I'm merely pointing out that our culture has certain realities including an economy in which mobility is more highly valued than stability. Neither you nor I can change that. We simply must live within that stark reality. And, when we raise our children, we have no choice but to prepare them for the real world, as opposed to the ideal one.
I believe strongly in the value of perseverance. I would characterize myself as more of a traditionalist but always a pragmatist. In practice, that means I have always tried to stick out the tough times and, then, when things get good and stable, that's when I've made my moves. I recognized that in order to continue to move up the chain, I had to move from one employer to another. I was always told to never run from anything and, instead, always run towards something. Run to an opportunity or new challenge and don't be afraid to do so. On the rare occassions on which I failed to move, that's when I've suffered.
Moving back into the softball world, when one joins a team of any kind, one makes a decision to commit to a certain group of people for a certain finite period of time. Open-ended, semi-permanent commitments made by eight-year-olds are somewhat inadvisable! We don't permit anyone beneath a certain age to marry because they don't have the maturity to make such a long-range commitment. Heck, we don't even permit college coaches to recruit kids before July 1 after their junior years because we don't believe kids that young have gathered enough information or possess the intellectual maturity to make such final important decisions. If we won't allow an 8 year old to pick their lifelong partner; if we won't allow her to start picking a college; if we don't really let her choose her own outfit, shoes, what to eat for lunch, etc., how can we expect her to pick the softball team for which she shall absolutely commit her entire softball playing life?
I suppose the answer to my question is, of course we would never do that. It's up to her parents to pick the softball team she'll remain with until she's 17 or 18! The questions which follow are: 1) based on what information should they make their decision? 2) where do they obtain this information? And 3) How are they supposed to gauge their daughter's interest, her ability, etc. at 15 or 16 when she's just now turned 8 and is looking to play her first year of travel ball?
The typical softball player begins her career around 6 - 9 years old. It all begins when her thirty something parents decide to get her into some sport. These parents, in majority, never played softball before, maybe they never played sports at a competitive level. They have no idea what the current state of girls softball is. They may not have ever heard of "travel ball" before or know that the world they are about to enter is as complicated as any other element of their lives. They simply got a bulletin home from school, signed up, and ran out to purchase a tiny mitt made of plastic. Then they received a phone call from their daughter's "coach" telling them when and where to show up.
The next events which color this girl's softball career are likely to be a few very funny, chaotic "practices" in which she learns to hit a ball off a tee, pick up a slowly rolling grounder, and attempt to throw the ball to one of her classmates. That's about the extent of her and her parents' experience at this stage. They go to some games in town, take pictures, and, if the girl is lucky, play catch in the yard every now and again.
Later, the girl's parents may hear about something referred to as "all-stars" or the town "travelling team." Perhaps they will learn of some softball camp or clinic run by the rec league, high school team, or a professional coach. In some circumstances, the girl might play ball for a town travel team or another "travel-lite" team, not affiliated with the rec league, located near her home. The parents will no doubt be astounded by the 10U "travel team" and the level of its play. These girls are much better than the rec league kids.
Maybe during the first or second year of playing 10U travel ball, the girl will encounter some team from far away which is far superior to the wonderful girls on her travel-lite team. Parents will gasp and utter phrases like "how does anyone ever become that good?" They may imagine these girls on the monstrous travel team were hand-picked from all over the country, if not world, and have been fed perfect athletic diets while being home-schooled to make room for their year-round daily regimens involving 8 hour practice sessions followed by weight lifting under the watchful eyes of professional trainers, some with Olympic experience. They'll be overwhelmed by the speed of the girl in the circle while wondering if she takes steroids or other performance enhancing drugs and trying to figure out whether she started playing the game at 2 or 3 years old. Perhaps they will leave the field concluding that their kid is just not that talented nor committed. Maybe she'll stay with the town travel team for the duration of her softball career.
Some relative few girls' parents will instead start asking questions. They'll get the bug in their craws and want to know a bit more about this travel stuff. They may start looking outside their circle and find other travel teams which are reasonably close to home, don't require home-schooling in order to make practice, have 10U or 12U teams which are not in the weightroom for 3 hours a day, 7 days a week, and generally don't require that huge of a commitment.
Perhaps this travel team will regularly play tournaments against the monstrous teams. They'll conduct winter workouts in which the coaches actually understand not only the fundamentals of the game but also how to teach them to 9 or 10 year olds. Then, gradually, the parents will come to see that the monstrous team isn't all that different from other teams. Their team can actually compete with them. They don't beat the monstrous teams, sometimes they are mercied by them, but on many occassions, they are able to keep the games close.
As time goes on, the little girl grows up and finally the day arrives when she will be moving up from 10U to 12U. She'd like to stay with the same team and coach but the situation has changed. Perhaps the coach's daughter decided she would rather concentrate on soccer so he desides he will coach that instead of softball. Maybe the good coach left the year before when his daughter aged out. Maybe she had reached a level at which she needed to move on to bigger challenges so she went and tried out for an "A" level team which draws from 3 states.
Whatever the reason, the little girl moving up to 12U now finds herself looking for a new team. The girl's parents would like to stay within the same organization so they don't have to buy a new uniform, learn 11 other girls' names, give up the people they have become so close with after spending 100s of hours sitting next to them in the midday sun, etc. But they want the best for their daughter. They think she may want to play ball at a high level one day. They would have liked to stay with the old coach and the crew of girls who made up this team but that's not possible. Now they must spread their wings, fly away, and enter the game of musical chairs we call tryouts.
The parents and daughter may visit as many as three team's tryouts, perhaps more, depending on available free time. They already gave up their hopes of an August beach vacation since the 3 teams have two required sessions per tryout and this filled every available free weekend after the travel season was over. Now they make the rounds at tryouts. They watch the tryouts while stressing over their daughter's performance. They talk with coaches while trying to learn: 1) how much does it cost? 2) where do you see our daughter fitting into the team? 3) what kind of practices will you be running, how frequently will they be, where and when? 4) what kind of tournament schedule do you plan, 5) do you think you'll be competitive at an "A" level? And so on and so on!
At some point these parents and the girl will make a decision to join this team or that based on very much incomplete information. They'll pay up their money, choose a number and get sized for uniforms before they see the bruises on the head coach's daughter; watch the truck driver blush when his wife curses repeatedly during games ... while talking to her 11 year old daughter after she makes an error during the team's first scrimmage against 14-year-olds; meet new girls who are "guesting" on the team while their daughter rides the bench, or see the January birth 13-year-old star shortstop pull the cell phone out of her bra during practice so she can talk to her 16-year-old boyfriend who her parents allow her to date because he is a third cousin. Do I need to go on?
So, after this first season, the parents of the little girl, now 12, are happy when the team breaks up because the coach has been put in jail, the truck driver divorces his wife, and/or the shortstop moves on before running away from home to live with some guy she met on the internet. They sort of hope they can stay with the same organization but give up that hope when only two other girls show up for tryouts. They look again for a new team and hope to God that they have a better experience the next time.
After a while they find a new organization and team. They stick it out on a 12U team comprised mostly of 11 year olds even though their daughter is one of only 3 12s. Then after the season, they hope to join the organization's younger 14U team. That thought evaporates when the team coach gets into a fight with the organization and leaves to join another. So they get busy with tryouts again but now they have their eyes wide open, have gained invaluable experience, and know how to evaluate a team and organization. They join a team made up of all girls the same age, ability, etc. Everything goes well with the team getting beaten up a bit at 13 and then playing really well at 14 after only two girls left between years and the two new kids were nice kids and good ball players. The little girl has her first experience staying with a team for more than one year and it looks like maybe she can play here until she gets out of high school.
But now the once little girl is looking to play high school ball in the near future. She has been attending lessons regularly for over a year. She's a really good infielder who has a real shot to start varsity. She says she'd like to play ball in college, maybe even get a scholarship. She's already played on a good team. But now she wants to go to ASA "A" nationals and she has begun looking at Gold level teams since she has that ability and desire.
So let's examine the career of this girl from the point of view of those debating nomads on the softball forums. She's played for 5 or 6 different teams in just 7 years. She's contemplating joining a new Gold one to do showcases and hopefully earn herself some sort of scholarship or at least a solid walk-on opportunity. Is this girl a malcontent who failed to get along with her teammates? Is she "not good enough" to make the grade with one team for her whole career? Was she not taught proper morals by her parents? The answer to all these questions is you just don't know. I haven't given you enough information. Yet it is entirely possible that this is the nicest kid in the world who is extremely friendly, well grounded, and the best possible teammate.
One of the debating points often used to dissuade folks from moving among teams involves the assertion that college coaches evaluating a prospect will contact every single blessed travel ball coach a kid has ever played for to learn about her character. Perhaps they won't even have to do that since, after they see the kid's resume, they won't even entertain the thought of recruiting her! I'm not sure I believe the assertion when it is used to convince someone about a girl with the 67 mph killer riseball, 1600 core SATs, straight A average at a top high school, etc.
College coaches do care about a lot of things, especially character, personality, and grounding. But I doubt they'll call the guy who coached our little girl in her first real travel ball experiences at his cell in the state pen. I do not believe they'll be interested in hearing from the 10U travel-lite or all-star coach. They may not be all that interested in interrogating the 14U coach she played with for two years since she's now been with the same Gold team for 3 years, her private coach also worked with the college's assistant coach, and the Gold team has placed three girls with the head coach over the past 5 years. That's not even to mention that the girl has gone to camp each of the past five years at the college of her hopes and is a close personal friend of the team's head coach!
I guess what I'm saying is college aspirations are not a reason to stay with the travel team filled with future and present juvenile delinquents, coaches who beat their children, or mothers who curse badly enough to make truck drivers blush. I do belive strongly in teaching kids perseverance through difficulties. I think you ought to make a commitment and thereafter live up to it. I just happen to think that when my kid goes to a tryout and is guaranteed a spot on a roster for just one year, the commitment from both ends is one year. If things don't work out for the following year, for whatever reason, I think I should then find a new team. And, if that doesn't work out, I should find yet another one.
If my 10 year old is ready to make the jump from town all-stars to travel-lite, that's what she's going to do. But when she gets better and the travel lite team's highlight of the year is playing at the county fair, I may take the opportunity to join some team which plays Pony, NSA or ASA tournaments. And if the time comes when my daughter wants to play showcases, we'll work on finding another new team.
My kids will never start guesting with all sorts of teams in mid-season in order to jump to whichever one offers the best opportunity and thereby leave teammates in the lurch. They will not play for multiple organizations in one year. They won't leave a team in mid-season unless all the coaches end up in jail or something similarly drastic happens.
I'm not going to insist my kid stick with one team no matter what happens because it was the only one she tried out with when she was 8. If that could possibly cost her a desired college scholarship, the thing wasn't meant to be. There may be lots of college coaches out there who want to talk to "travel ball coaches," but I suggest to you that the coaches they want to speak with are mostly of the Gold variety. The debating point is completely fallacious.
The reality out there is there are many different levels of ball to be played. When girls first start out, they and their parents' learning curves are steep. It takes years to compile a dosier on all the local travel teams. Situations change on teams and within organizations. You can't be afraid to jump teams when circumstances justify it. You should teach your kids perseverance and living up to commitments. But let's get the exact commitments out on the table before we feel obligated to live up to open ended ones. We all have lots of experiences with travel ball. There's room for disagreement. But a little common sense will serve you well.Labels: youth tournament teams
 
|
|
|
