| 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 |
|
|
|
Not Always Cut And Dried
by Dave
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Rich writes in with what I think is a very typical question regarding some frustrations he has on a new team. Here is his question:
"I want to know if your child goes to a tryout and wins a spot on the roster along with a position, 2nd in our case, how do you keep everyone from complaining about playing time and how do you prevent them from moving your daughter to another positon beacuse some parents are complaining? I feel she won the spot and should keep until she is beaten out at a practice or another try out. Am I wrong here? I was under the impression that travel ball is a competitive level and if you don't earn a spot you ride the pine until someone gets hurt or misses a game and would sub out a few innings here and there to give someone a break and mainly benefit from the training and practices. I like the team and the parents so to outright abandon ship I feel wouldn't be the thing to do. But I'm not sure as this is my first go around. All your thoughts would be a great deal of help."
My first reaction to this question is, I don't know Rich but it seems his kid is on my kid's team. I guess she wasn't on our various teams in years past because he is seeing this for the first time! But seriously, let me try to answer this coherently. In order to do that, I have to draw on my personal experiences as a player, parent and coach.
My first reaction to this issue is to note that politics are as much a reality of life as any other aspect. No matter what endeavor is involved, you put more than two people together for something and there are politics involved immediately. When people interact, stuff completely unrelated to the overall endeavor generally takes control or seems to take control.
I have never been involved with any team sport which didn't have politics at its core. The only sport I played in which politics took a back seat was competitive swimming. There, one's times usually control such things as who gets to be on the first team or who sits the bench. Whether we're talking about baseball, softball, football, basketball, or any other team sport, there is an element of politics at work. That's true in rec ball, travel, and school ball.
I can remember several "all-star" and "travel" baseball teams with which I was involved where a number of kids who shouldn't have even made the roster were starters. In one case, the weakest link's father was our manager. I believe he was the only one willing to take the job. His kid was a shortstop in rec and was the weakest one in the league. Aside from that, he couldn't hit a lick. He also had a weak arm. The father had the good sense to take the kid off short for the all-star team since we had 3 better options but the kid played every inning of every game at another position. I think he had trouble getting over .100 at the plate. We had at least 3 kids who alternated time on the bench whose averages were over .300. So-called "daddyball" is not a recent invention.
There were some travel baseball teams which were not run by fathers per se. Usually some guy who played in one of the towns, then was a star on the high school varsity team and went on to play some college ball or even make it reasonably far in the minors, but hadn't yet found a career, would be asked to take the team. Within those organizations there were a few fathers who were in control because they ran the thing and one of them usually got credit for getting the coach to take the job. These fathers generally had the ear of the coach and were able to get substantial playing time for their kids regardless of merit. Those whose parents were less involved or only just showed up for the games were more likely to sit the bench unless they were absolute standouts.
I remember in high school football, there were a bunch of parents who were invariably members of the booster club and who routinely found ways to come to practices to "watch." The kids always got more "looks" to see if they could make the starting teams. I remember one kid in particular who, like me, was an offensive guard. He was slow, he couldn't remember the plays, and there was a better, faster, smarter kid sitting the bench because this kid's father was in the coach's ear. I got charged with keeping the kid's direction straight on our somewhat complicated plays. After every huddle break, I would tell him what he was supposed to do. But he played for a couple years in the position and the other kid sat because of politics.
There is a softball team at our local middle school. The school draws kids from several large neighborhoods. There are at least 3 rec programs feeding into it. There are also several travel teams these kids play for and one is a neighborhood-only team from one of the neighborhoods which feed into the school because it grew out of the rec all-star program of that neighborhood. The middle school coach also hails from that neighborhood. When tryouts are conducted for the middle school team, typically 80 seventh and eighth graders come out. The coach has a hard time remembering who each kid is. The result of this and the politics of the coach knowing one set of kids better than the other is the kids who play for the neighborhood travel team or who participated in the rec all-star program invariably make the team ahead of kids from other neighborhoods.
Lest you think my example represents sour grapes because my kid was passed over for the MS team, please consider that my kids are too young to have ever tried out. Also consider that when the kids from the MS team go to high school there is a rejiggering - the kids who made and started on that team usually get passed over when it comes time to draw up the lineup for the HS teams. Usually, with noteable exceptions, girls who were starters on the MS team sit the bench on the HS team and often kids who never even made the MS team are starters because they are better players. I once heard a story about a kid who was cut two years from the MS team, the HS coach could not believe it and voiced this directly to the kid's parents. She started varsity by her sophomore year. She made all-conference and county. I believe she made third team all-state.
That's not to say the HS coach is any sort of non-political saint. There are politics at work there as much as anyplace. But the kids who are cut or sit the bench on the MS team are often better players than those who make the team or start. On the HS team, some kids start or play this or that position because the parents are in this coach's ear. But there is more of a merit system at work there than on the MS team.
I know that, as a coach, decisions as to who plays where can become very complicated. I hold tryouts like anybody else. When those are done, I usually have an idea of where I will play each kid and how much. Then when I see them in games, I change my mind and move kids around a bit. I'd like to think that all my decisions are completely objective but I know they are not. For one thing, after I begin practicing and get to know the parents a little better, I typically pick a couple parents who seem to know the game and ask them to help out with the team. Thereafter, there is no question that these coaches' kids get different treatment than other kids. That's mostly because I have a better relationship and more frequent conversations about the game and the team with those kids' parents. I am far more willing to give them a bit of a break when they make a bad play or have a bad game or tournament because I feel I know them better.
In addition to those kids whose parents help me out coaching, there are other parents who make a habit out of making themselves useful to the team. They volunteer to keep the book, make arrangements when we travel far out of town or take charge when we host a tournament. They remove the least welcome burdens from my shoulders and allow me to just coach. Their kids may not get quite the same treament coaches' kids do because they aren't as involved in actual games but I do cut their kids some slack because they make my life easier.
Also, some parents find ways to discuss things rationally and usually their kids catch some breaks because I am able to use my relationship with the parents to the team's advantage. For example, one set of parents was exceptionally interested in their kid's development. They acknowledged from the get go that they understood she wasn't nearly the best player on the team. They asked for specific things to do to improve her game. When I told them what to do, they listened and the kid's performance showed that they had done exactly what I wanted her to do. Her game improved markedly.
By way of contrast, there were other kids whose parents, overhearing my conversations with the other parents, tried to mimic this behavior. They never acknowledged their kids' weaknesses but they asked me what they could do to improve their games. I told them but I could see they were somewhat disingenuous as they never followed through. For example, there was one kid whose throwing was extremely weak. She had other qualities which made her a starter but she couldn't play her desired position because of the weak arm. They approached me ostensibly to see if they could get her the desired position and asked for drills. I told them exactly what I wanted her to do and they did these drills once or twice but then stopped for whatever reason. The truly amusing aspect of this is that the kid who religiousloy followed through with the drills, did so without ever telling me about it. The kid who did them a few times and then stopped never failed to tell me how hard she was practicing on those drills. Her parents told me every drill they did outside practice every time they did one. But I could clearly see that she wasn't doing them enough to improve the way she should, so she never got a chance to play that position she wanted. In fact, her throwing got so weak that I had to move her to yet another new position. She also saw far more bench time and the parents were pretty darn angry about it. In retrospect, I had probably played this kid more than I should have because her parents got in my ear. But when I saw that they were just wasting my time with idle chit-chat, I resented it and played their kid even less after I realized what was going on.
On one occassion, I was coaching a team doing a series of fall ball double headers which I viewed as scrimmages. Unfortunately we were playing some really tough teams who hit the ball hard. So I was limited to moving kids around far less than I would have liked. We had a couple of 11s moving into their second year of travel 12U, a bunch of 10s moving up, and even several 9s who were playing with us because there was no opportunity to play 10U fall ball. The team we were playing had predominantly 12s moving up to 14U in the spring but they played this team as a unit and were not willing to play up at 14U in the fall as every other team in our area routinely does. I tried to keep mostly my 11s in the infield because I didn't want anyone to get a ball in the face. One girl's father approached me between games and said, "is J____ not good enough to get some time in the infield? You said she would see some time at second base on this team." So I played her there a couple innings. She made the few outs on which she had opportunities but she didn't cover bases the way I had taught her, didn't go out for cutoffs, again the way I had taught her, and looked shaky on the few grounders hit her way. I appeased this kid's father this one time but I resented his comments and eventually sat his kid more than I might have while never again playing her in the infield. They left the team.
As a parent, I have experienced politics at work in the formulation of the line-up card. On occassion, my kid has suffered from this reality. But I try to take a long-term approach and not upset the applecart over politically charged decisions. A few years ago I watched as my kid was given less opportunity to pitch or play second base than she would otherwise have gotten because another, less gifted kid had a parent who volunteered to coach. My kid sat the bench some as a result. I made sure my daughter did not get upset over the situation. Eventually the gulf between this kid's ability and my own kid's showed itself over and over again. Eventually the other kid began sitting, or at least not pitching or playing second, a little more frequently. The kid got upset. The father felt betrayed. Eventually they left the team.
So, in summary, what I'm saying is that there are politics at work in all levels of softball or any other team sport for that matter. Parents who make themselves extremely useful by helping out, get the benefit of their efforts. Parents who show a real interest in their kid's improvement get the benefit of their efforts. Parents who waste a coach's time and do not follow through with suggestions for drills generally suffer the backlash. Parents who try to maipulate coaches usually end up losing in the long run. If your kid is suffering the brunt of politics, be patient and learn what you can do to make a difference. Keep working those drills and eventually the payoff should be there.
Now that I've said this, it occurs to me that if this is all your kid learns during her stay in travel softball, that's not too bad of a result. When she grows up and is in the workplace, the same situation will be dominant. There's at least as much politics in the real world as in this rarified one of travel softball. She will have learned how to play politics on the softball field and won't make as many mistakes in her career. She'll be far better off for the experience.
These comments are general and do not directly relate to Rich's question. The point is, if you are truly interested in your kid's development, make yourself useful. Help out with coaching, if you can. Ask what the coaches think your kid can do to improve, if you are prepared to follow through, but don't try to "play" politics unless you are willing to suffer consequences when you are found out. Now, more to the specifics of Rich's question.
Rich says his daughter earned the second base slot in tryouts. It may very well be that his daughter was the clear and convincing starter for the position. Now, for unknown reasons, she is relegated to rightfield or the bench. The reasons may have something to do with the poltics I just outlined or maybe there is another reason. I can't say without actually witnessing the situation firsthand. But I do have some thoughts and some suggestions.
First of all, it occurs to me that right now, it is just September. I think of the travel ball year as beginning with tryouts in August, followed by "scrimmages" in the fall, then winter workouts, and finally the real season commencing in spring.
Tryouts are necessarily imperfect. I like to make my decisions based on a single tryout. I feel I can adequately judge a kid's potential in one day. I'm not looking at how perfect she is. I want to see athleticism on the softball field. That means I look at the way she moves, how she throws, and how she reacts to things I do in a practice. I'd rather have that athletic kid, even if she makes errors, than the kid who fields every ball, hits every pitch but does so somewhat unathletically and has poor throwing or swing mechanics. I want nice, coachable kids, and I like to use my first impression to determine this. No, its not perfect but what I don't want to do is drag the kid out to the field 3 or 4 times, lead her along and then cut her. Many coaches do things differently. Some do things just like I do.
I had a couple experiences in which teams conducted their tryouts on several dates. We picked one and attended. After the tryout, they told us that they wanted all the girls back for a second tryout since sometimes kids have a bad (or I suppose good) day and they want to be as fair as possible. So we attended the second tryout and it went pretty much like the first. Afterwards, they said they would be in contact with us about a third tryout, this time with live pitching. We attended that one as well. I did not see anything in the second or third tryout which would have changed my mind about who I might have invited to the team if I had been the one making the decisions. When the team coach called to ask us to join, I said, "sorry, we picked our team weeks ago." I'm reasonably certain that our decision not to join the team was the majority view because most of the kids I would have asked to join the team based on that first tryout did similarly. Some never showed up for a second tryout. Some skipped the third. And most had already committed to teams before they got a call asking them to join.
My personal approach is to pick my team in very vague terms via the first tryout but I have not made decisions about who is going to play where, based on those tryouts. I need to see more. I need to see them in games.
It may not work this way everywhere but when we play fall ball, things are pretty loose. Kids play all sorts of positions and we usually bat our entire lineup in the travel ball leagues around here. That's because fall is seen as kind of an additional tryout. It is not a dress rehearsal in which the lead girl has already been pre-ordained and now is just working towards the real opening night.
During the fall, I want to see this girl play the position I think she'll be best at but I want to see her play more than that. I also want to see that athletic girl who says she plays first, catches or whatever try some other positions. And I won't be done locking down positions when fall is over. I'm going to need to see how girls react when we have to play 3 or more games in a single day or 6 over two days. The sparkling shortstop might not be able to do 3 games on each of two consecutive days. If that's the case, I'll be needing another shortstop. And if that starting catcher can only go one on Saturday if she is going to be able to do two on Sunday, I'm going to need two additional catchers.
Tryouts give me my team; fall ball gives me an idea of where these girls will play; and the real tournament season gives me a better idea of where I can count on kids. Our goal is to play as well as possible at our last big tournament of the year while developing the kids during the time leading up to that. I can't nail down my third baseman based on the tryouts because she could crumble as soon as the game is on the line. I can't guarantee one kid second base all the time because she may not be able to play 3 games in one day so I need to prep somebody else.
On a related note, your typical travel team consists of 12 players. School teams usually have many more than that for a number of reasons. A central reality of travel ball is we play more games than school teams do and kids get hurt. If you only have room for 12 and 2 go down, that leaves you with just 10 so they better all know how to play. If the two kids who go down during the season are starters, you better be able to replace them with two other kids who can take their places without costing the team significantly. In other words, nobody on the 12 person roster can sit all the time. Two or three girls better know how to play every position on the field since the two girls who go down might be your first and second string shortstop or catcher. If you don't take this approach as a travel coach, you are eventually going to have to pay the piper.
Rich said his daughter was the clear winner of the second base position. I told you of the potential political issues which might lead her to see less time there. I've also noted that right now is fall ball which is a sort of developmental, scrimmaging, additional tryout sort of animal. I've also told you that it is of paramount importance to not play one girl at each position to the exclusion of all others because the possibility of injury and the rigors of tournament ball make it necessary to have multiple players at any particular position. Additionally I think second base is a bit tricky. Actually, most positions on the fastpitch diamond are tricky.
A coach said to me recently that second base is the position he likes to put girls who think they are third baseman but who can't reliably make the throw. I see that this happens but I don't necessarily agree. Second base plays and responsibilities don't resemble third base particularly much. Second is more like shortstop with all the ball angles on grounders and the outfield cutoff responsibilities. I don't always play a future or backup shortstop at second. I don't think I like my backup third baseman there either. My backup SS often plays center because she is fast enough to field the position and because it gives her a break from base coverage responsibilities on hot days when she is going to see plenty of action at SS. My backup third baseman plays first because the bunt coverage is more similar and because ball angles on grounders are, while opposite, very similar too. But I think I'm getting a little too particular here. The bottom line is I like kids to play multiple positions for the good of the team. And it benefits the girls themselves too.
The trouble with one player - one position is, while it does refine a kid's skills at that one position, it neglects reality. Your typical player who focuses on one position loses opportunities to become well rounded. And chances are that when she reaches the pinnacle of her career - high school ball for many kids - there may just be an All-America there waiting to play the same position. You can cross that bridge when you come to it but why wait? I recall listening to Jessica Mendoza telling the story of how during her travel ball days she caught. Then she got to Stanford and there was a girl playing the position who had just made All-America her freshman year. Jessica could have waited for the kid to graduate and then maybe gotten one year at the catcher position (assuming nobody else came along in the meantime) or she could move to outfield. If you've never played outfield before, this can be a daunting prospect.
Here you are a catcher, third baseman, or whatever. You make the big decision to move into the outfield in order to break into the starting line-up. Your standing out there doing nothing when all of a sudden the girl at the plate has the audacity to hit you a routine pop. The ball is coming right to you. You won't have to even move your feet to make the play but you don't realize that at first. You see the ball come off the bat and it is definitely coming to you. The blood rushes to your head in a way with which you are unfamiliar. This never happened to you at third. You shuffle your feet. You take two steps back, then forwards, then back, then fowards. You don't realize it but you are right where you started. You reach up and think you are about to catch it cleanly but the ball hits the heal of your glove and begins to bounce out. Luckily you put your throwing hand up and trap the ball as it begins to flop out of your mitt and roll down your arm. Congratulations, you made a routine play with incredible finesse! Trouble is, you looked foolish catching a simple pop-up and you may find yourself back on the bench!
Now, rather than trying to worry about getting all the time at your "chosen" position, the one you were the clear favorite for at tryouts, why not try to play wherever your team needs you and learn to play every position on the field? You never know when the benefits of this approach will accrue to you.
Another aspect of Rich's question holds the answer to his predicament, at least for me, it does. Rich says, "I like the team and the parents so to outright abandon ship I feel wouldn't be the thing to do." I think liking the team and parents is a more rare commodity than anyone supposes. I have seen more team infighting than I ever want to write about here. I think I may have written about this before but I once knew a team from some previous tournaments and they seemed a bit tense - a little too worried about winning games. A month or two later we ran into them again on a field adjacent to us. This was maybe the second or third last tournament of the season. The team was eliminated in its first Sunday game against a far inferior team. The parents were beginning to pack up their stuff when one of them made a snide comment to the other. The second parent said something back in a rather terse, condescending manner. The first person came back with a nasty comment about a body part of the other. A third parent injected some vile, profanity-laced comment about the first. A fourth jumped into the argument and made the third person's attempt at profanity appear almost childlike. From there, things really got ugly!
In another instance, I noted that a parent just barely tolerated the continual ranting of another kid's father for most of a season. Then, late in the year, the ranting parent offered up the straw which broke the other parent's back. The two went at it for some time before deciding the best course of action was to ignore the other person for the remainder of eternity. This didn't get as ugly as the profane shouting match but it wasn't pretty.
The thing is, tournament ball is tough. It's tough on the kids though that aspect does make them much better ball players. It's also tough on the parents. This and most other sports draw people who are at least somewhat competitive. Competitive people don't eat their own young. They eat other people's. Generally liking the group you are involved with is a prerequisite for enjoying travel ball. It isn't easy to find. It may not last. When you have it, cherish it. Hold onto such a team with all your might.
Rich, thank you for your question. You have no idea how relevant it is to all of us out here in travel ball. It is OK for you to get just a little upset when you daughter isn't playing the position you think she won in tryouts but keep in mind there are a lot of things at work. Some of these may be political but now you know you need to get involved in that political arena. You will strive to make all of your political dealings positive and you will be patient because you know that your kid is going to get her chances. You now understand that position and line-up decisions are always somewhat fluid. If your daughter is not out at second today, she may be tomorrow. Begin having regular dialogues with the coaches or offer to help them, when needed. Make yourself an asset to the team manager. Ask him what your daughter needs to do to work her way into the lineup or get a shot to play X position. Be sure not to talk down to the coaches. Appreciate how difficult their jobs are. You now also appreciate that any position on the field is going to give her positive experiences and that she should learn a bunch of different ones. You recognize that finding a team which has an overall positive feel is maybe the single most important thing you could have hoped for. Good luck with your daughter's first year of travel. May she always relish the experience.Labels: playing time, Travel vs. Recreational
Permanent Link: Not Always Cut And Dried
 
|
|
|
