A couple of questions about softball

[NewNews]

To

Ken Hawkins

Maryville High School Softball

 

Mr Hawkins. I call you Mr because you have earned my respect. I know you get alot of flack wher you are at but to be honest you are Honest about who you are and what you do. You should be an example to others out there. Those coaches you mentioned are good Coaches and no I am not one of them . Sounds like good communication.

 

hopalot quote:

"What i see is that the kids and parents see these summer tourneys(with their travel team) as being bigger than the TSSAA State Tournament. I don't (and never will) agree with that philosophy. Travel ball is very exciting because you get to hand pick your team and play against other select teams. It is good to gauge yourself against top competition that you don't always see during the school season. So understand, I am not knocking travel ball. I'm just old school and the school sport is more important to me than the travel. Just my opinion."

 

When you take 12 of the best players(summer ball) from 1 or 2 regions and play other teams of the same caliber and you have sometimes up to 80 teams in a given week like an exposure tournament and over 100 college coaches or recruiters show up then how can that not be as equal.....or maybe bigger. Besides why would you not want to Promote both if is About the KIds....Here again something wrong there.

[s3softball]

What about when a younger players plays because of who their parents are and not because of their ability?

[NewNews]

What about when a younger players plays because of who their parents are and not because of their ability?

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seen that too...key to younger players make sure they are on a team where they can play.

They will never get better if they don't play. If they are 8 and playing 10u and getting to play then let them play up but don't leave them on a team where they don't get enough playing time.

Some coaches will never see potential some parents will never see what is realistic. Each have their opinion so do what is best for your child. Don't depend on other's you will be let down.

 

Never heard of a College coach recruiting a 12u kid in softball

... although Pat Summitt keeps her eyes on aau basketball players......sorry but can you beleive she watches summer travel basketball...figure she only watched TSSAA State....sorry that was mean

 

Just so no one takes this the wrong way I do believe TSSAA is great.....just want to make a point that Everyone should be behind Highschool and Summer Programs because they are both great for the KIDS.

Edited April 27, 2005 by NewNews

[s3softball]

I'm talking about high school ball....u don't have to put up with that in travel ball.

[NewNews]

Sorry s3softball....

 

I guess the key word here is ABILITY. Coaches can't hide that no matter who their parents are wether its good ability or bad ability. Hopefully the season won't be over before the better ability outshines the other. I do know of several players going through this. Wish I had a better answer but hopefully things will change. Good luck and tell whoever it is to keep working hard and don't give up. thumb

[s3softball]

I think the parents are well aware of whats going on and why. Even other teams have commented on it...so u either stink it up and pitch every 5th game or so and sit the rest or u quit....in this case she quit.

 

and its hard to show ur ability when ur never given a chance!

Edited April 28, 2005 by s3softball

[topperbaseball98]

Sorry s3softball....

 

I guess the key word here is ABILITY. Coaches can't hide that no matter who their parents are wether its good ability or bad ability. Hopefully the season won't be over before the better ability outshines the other. I do know of several players going through this. Wish I had a better answer but hopefully things will change. Good luck and tell whoever it is to keep working hard and don't give up.  thumb

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I wish I could agree with you about coaches not being able to hide ability. Well I kind of do, I guess they can't "hide it"... I mean parents and other spectators can tell who the best players are if they watch enough games, but that still doesn't mean the coach is going to play the best players. In some situations, coaches have serious problems, whether it's simply an ego trip or whatever, playing all the rich parents' kids, etc. In a situation like this, if it's as obvious as the one I'm talking about, parents and others need to step up and do something about it, but unfotrunately, they rarely ever do.

[hopalot]

NewNews, You make some good points. Things that i agree with completely. I was taking up for the kids getting to play on my 1st post. The kids that the coach decided to play, even though they were not starters. This helps in their development, doesn't it? They get to get in the "line of fire" and gain valuable experience that you just can't get in most practices(no matter the sport). I think that point was missed.

 

I am not involved in softball in any form, on any level. So, please understand that my opinions were completely unbiased from a coaching standpoint. I don't really have a dog in this fight either way. I just hate to see parents get on here and complain about their kids playing time or to question a coaches decisions(inferring they are either incompetent or play favortism). Every coach has a 'favorite player'. More times than not, it's the kid that is at every practice, tries their hardest, is the perfect teammate but doesn't have a lick of talent.

 

As far as select ball, like i said--- i think it's very exciting and fun to watch. I am all for it.

 

Let me try and make one more point here and i'll be done.......What AAU team(a.k.a. summer ball) did Michael Jordan play for? What about LeBron James? Todd Helton? When thay call out a NBA player's name during the introductions or when you look in the program at a MLB game, they tell the school's name of where they attended..... not the summer ball team's name. I know and completely understand the importance of select teams, TRUST ME!!! Development of players and whatnot. But when it comes down to it(IMO), school ball is most important (to me).

[NewNews]

Let me try and make one more point here and i'll be done.......What AAU team(a.k.a. summer ball) did Michael Jordan play for? What about LeBron James? Todd Helton? When thay call out a NBA player's name during the introductions or when you look in the program at a MLB game, they tell the school's name of where they attended..... not the summer ball team's name.  I know and completely understand the importance of select teams, TRUST ME!!!  Development of players and whatnot.  But when it comes down to it(IMO),  school ball is most important (to me).

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Hopalot Thanks for seeing a few good points I guess in a way we have been off the orig subject but maybe not. I understand sometimes you are liked and sometimes your not. I have seen where good kids with good attitudes and good talent have been over looked and I guess that is where most of the frustrations come from with parents. If everyone would just do whats right.

 

Can't help mentioning that Michael Jordan was cut from his highschool team as a sophomore....bet that was hard to deal with

and Todd Helton did play alot of travel ball with the Knoxville Stars.

 

Also Gender makes a big difference when it comes to playing a sport professionally. Professional Softball player as of this year might make around 5,000 for the summer. Of course indorsements help but the salary for now is low....Womens Prof Basketball average 40,000 plus indorsements

It seems that highschool is scouted more in Football,Basketball and Baseball but here again male sports....The biggest thing a girl softball player hopes for is that college education and yes highscool plays a big part but mostly academics.....most scholarships are covered by academics.

So there are some big hurdles out there for female athletes.

 

By the way thanks for letting me vent I think we all need to sometimes.