My 12yo daughter, G, is a good softball player; one of the best on her team this year. She pitches and plays first base. Not only is she good, but she works hard. She gives 110% at every practice and every game. Being a very non-athletic mom, I often marvel at her skill and perseverance and tenacity. This year, she was chosen by her team mates to be on the All Star team--a team made up of 4 players from each of the three regular season teams. The All Star team was coached by a regular season coach, but not G's regular coach. G attended the one practice that was held before the game, a 2 1/2 hour practice. Her dad said she was the most accurate pitcher, though not the fastest, and she did well at first.
G's team ended up playing 5 games in the All Star tournament, an average of 25 innings. G sat out 10 of those innings, played first base in maybe 7 of them and was relegated to left field the rest of the time. I tried to soften the blow by explaining that left might not get much action at her age, but it is an important position in high school. The sitting out is what frustrated me. The coach had the same two girls pitching the whole tournament--which is ok, they are good pitchers. But in one game, G's team mercied their opponents. This seemed like a great time to me to mix it up some. All 4 girls from G's regular season sat out 2 innings per game. The girls from the coach's regular season almost never had to sit out an inning. I don't think this is right. These girls are young; going into 6th and 7th grades. They haven't finished growing and developing and their talents and skills could still grow. Yet, I felt this coached had made some major decisions about each one's abilities. That wouldn't bother me, except that this coach is also the Varsity softball coach for the school district. I don't want my daughter to be "softball tracked" right now based on his (I believe faulty) assessment of her ability.
So my question is, are my concerns legitimate and would it be appropriate for me to address these issues with the coach? Or am I seeing things through the eyes of a mom and not being fair about the situation? I would appreciate any insight!
I think it would fall on deaf ears. There are ongoing investigations on this person in the community right now, and I think the least of his worries is softball.
ReplyDeletePS: background color is better.
ReplyDeleteI think since all of the girls from her team sat out, but none of his regular team did, that possibly you could talk to parents of the other girls and place a complaint with the league. It might fall on deaf ears, or it might help build a case against him. Surely it isn't the first time he's pulled something like this.
ReplyDeleteDoubt saying anything to him would help. He knows what he is doing and he chose to do it for a reason. I was just having a conversation about sports in my school district and am beginning to believe that schools should perhaps not have sports in the curriculum (except maybe intramurals.) Sports activities would be separate from schools which would save us lots of money and unnecessary attention by staff and school board. Think how much more time, money, and attention could be spent on education! I am not anti-sports, I just think they take up too much of my school's resources.
ReplyDeleteMr. C