MTSCA All Middle Tennessee

[justanotherfan]

I do not have a daughter in high school, so i do not have a dog in the fight There is no reason for me to favor any team. I do watch a lot of the high school games. I also know lots of the players on most of the high school teams. The girls i was speaking of, all but one , coach is a member. The thing i do not understand is, how a girl makes the list one year and her stats from top to bottom are better than the last year,but dont make the list, and a team mate makes the list, but her stats are a liitle lower from the last year and she still makes the list, I am not picking any one school, I have noticed this from a few of the schools, Everone knows, sat, gpa, club and coumity involement plus sports stsa, shows good on profiles.

If supporting all the girls is complaining, then i guess i am, All i would like to see is for all to get their fair shot to be on this list if their coach is a member. { just what i see and know } { TRAVEL BALL ROCKS }

 

i totally agree with the one year and the next. but who knows. the teams i am speaking of are indeed members, so i know that is NOT the problem.

[crazyvolfan]

I actually like the form that the MTSCA has for nominating this year. In the past, all that was really listed on the nomination forms was the stats. This year there was a field for filling out why you think the player you are nominating deserves to be on the team. I nominated two, and put down positive remarks along with the weaknesses of the players. One of the two members made the All-Star team. I wasn't on the committee but hopefully all the coaches put this comment field to good use when nominating players.

[zachsdad]

Fairball-

 

Our school has been a member for one year. The reason we are a member is that I strongly encouraged our head coach to join. I encouraged him to join because I am personally acquainted with John Conditt and several of the other charter members of the organization. I believe in what they are doing and what their dreams are for our girls playing high school softball.

 

The main reason our coach did not want to join in the past is exactly what is going on here. The naming of All-Star teams is always a polarizing event. Some people are going to agree with the selections, more people are going to disagree. The people that disagree are always going to be more vocal than the people that are pleased. That is life!

 

The point I was trying to make in my original post is this:

 

Understand the parameters of the selections.

 

First, a player has to play for a member school. If the player you are thinking of is not playing for a member school, do the same thing I did and encourage your coach to join. It is not expensive and their input and participation could help not only his players but other players down the road. Who do you think will be the loudest voice with the TSSAA on the proposed softball scheduling changes? One parent, one coach, or an organization composed of 50 - 100 coaches?

 

Second, a nominated player is discussed by the coaches in attendance at the meeting. Maybe they are a well known player from a large school, maybe they are a great player from a small school. Is this process foolproof? Do I agree with every player on the list or think all deserving players made the list ? The answer is no. Is this process fair? As fair as any other list.

 

If you disagree, encourage your coach to join and work from the inside to fix it. Don't stand on the outside and complain but do nothing to improve it. The MTSCA is much more than an All-Star team. I think your coach will be impressed if he (or she) finds out what the organization is attempting to do.

[RaiderOne]

I agree STD, these teams probably should not be released until the season is over. The problem is that the all star game team had to be contacted and made sure that the players were available on the game dates. Those of you that think there are hidden agendas and a conspiracy against schools or players are wrong. In the AAA part of the process there were over 80 players nominated for All-Midstate alone. The players were selected by position starting with pitchers. Stats, coaches comments, team record, strength of schedule, and opposing coaches comments were all taken into account when making selections. Unfortunately, everyone that is nominated can not make the team. This does not by any stretch of the imagination mean that a player is not a good player. I can assure you that there was a thought process and adequate time was given to each player that was nominated. Imagine that you are the one that will take all the all-star team players, (three teams), and make one 15 player team to play Kentucky. Do you think some very good players will be left off that team? That answer is yes. The bottom line will be filling the best team that has a chance to beat the Kentucky team. The only way to keep people from feeling slighted is not not pick any all start teams period. I for one think that the Middle Tennesee All-star game and the soon to be TN-KY game is an honor to compete in and coach in. We talk with our girls all the time about making memories. I was fortunate to coach in the first all star game and the young ladies we dealt with had a blast and made lasting memories. Let me just again say that the selection process was done as fairly as possible. If anyone has constructive ideas about this process for the future or the MTSCA in general, please contact a MTSCA member or coach Conditt. This organization has a sole purpose to better the game for the girls in middle TN.

[coachrw]

Here is a thought, why not let the players on the team vote for a player { or players ] on their team and in their district, I belive about all the players in each district know the girls on the other teams. I know the coaches already have plenty of things to take care. We know stats do not always tell the whole story, but in some cases that all the coaches have to go on. Also stats can be written any way one wants them. If the players vote, it would give the coaches more information to make their choices, { JUST A IDEA }

[zachsdad]

CoachRW-

 

Thanks for voicing an idea instead of a critcism. I'm sure the powers that be at the MTSCA are watching this thread because I have seen some of their screen names. That is what they need and want, ideas to make the selection process better, not undeserved criticism for what they are trying to do.

[outasight]

I agree STD, these teams probably should not be released until the season is over. The problem is that the all star game team had to be contacted and made sure that the players were available on the game dates. Those of you that think there are hidden agendas and a conspiracy against schools or players are wrong. In the AAA part of the process there were over 80 players nominated for All-Midstate alone. The players were selected by position starting with pitchers. Stats, coaches comments, team record, strength of schedule, and opposing coaches comments were all taken into account when making selections. Unfortunately, everyone that is nominated can not make the team. This does not by any stretch of the imagination mean that a player is not a good player. I can assure you that there was a thought process and adequate time was given to each player that was nominated. Imagine that you are the one that will take all the all-star team players, (three teams), and make one 15 player team to play Kentucky. Do you think some very good players will be left off that team? That answer is yes. The bottom line will be filling the best team that has a chance to beat the Kentucky team. The only way to keep people from feeling slighted is not not pick any all start teams period. I for one think that the Middle Tennesee All-star game and the soon to be TN-KY game is an honor to compete in and coach in. We talk with our girls all the time about making memories. I was fortunate to coach in the first all star game and the young ladies we dealt with had a blast and made lasting memories. Let me just again say that the selection process was done as fairly as possible. If anyone has constructive ideas about this process for the future or the MTSCA in general, please contact a MTSCA member or coach Conditt. This organization has a sole purpose to better the game for the girls in middle TN.

I agree w/most everything you said; however, the MTSCA does need to make one change. It is incorrect and misleading to call the AllStar game just that. It should be called the Senior Bowl or AllStar Senior Game, since only graduating seniors are eligible to play. A true AllStar game would have the "best players", regardless of age. Nothing wrong w/only allowing seniors, but let's call it what it is!

[sbfan01]

I agree w/most everything you said; however, the MTSCA does need to make one change. It is incorrect and misleading to call the AllStar game just that. It should be called the Senior Bowl or AllStar Senior Game, since only graduating seniors are eligible to play. A true AllStar game would have the "best players", regardless of age. Nothing wrong w/only allowing seniors, but let's call it what it is!

If only seniors can play in the AllStar game, why not announce only the AllStar team at this point and release the all Midstate team after the state tournament is finished?

[outasight]

If only seniors can play in the AllStar game, why not announce only the AllStar team at this point and release the all Midstate team after the state tournament is finished?

Not a bad idea!?!

[crazyvolfan]

RaiderOne already explained the reason for the All-Star Senior team not being mentioned yet. The players need to be contacted and confirm that they will be eligible to play on the date set for the game.

[sbfan01]

RaiderOne already explained the reason for the All-Star Senior team not being mentioned yet. The players need to be contacted and confirm that they will be eligible to play on the date set for the game.

After the players have been contacted and confirmed that they will be playing, announce the AllStar team, but wait on the All Midstate team.

[cobracoach]

I would like to say thank you to all of the people who have become involved in the MTSCA. This organization started out as a dream of 5 coaches from different parts of the mid-state to help promote softball to a higher degree. In the first meeting the main thing that was discuss was to promote all levels of high school softball (A,AA, AAA and private schools) and to do our best to help all girls to achieve some type of recognition from softball if it be from playing or academics. Personally I wanted to see more single A schools getting more exposure than they were receiving from the Nashville media

 

Another issue was how to get the coaches involved like the coaches are in football and baseball. We mailed out letters and made phone calls to EVERY school in the Mid-State and asked the coach to be apart of the MTSCA. Every year if a school is not a member, we mail to their school a hard copy letter inviting them to become a member of the MTSCA. Every year we have had coaches speaking to every TSSAA rules meeting where every school has to attend inviting the coaches to join the MTSCA. The TSSAA has been very supportive of our efforts. Of course like anything we have had to have dead lines for schools to join. This year it was up until mid January to become a member and we had to put a cutoff date on the membership.

 

We have offered clinics to help ALL coaches become a better coach and listen to their peers about how they are doing things. We have had college coaches and professionals speak at these clinics. We have had the TSSAA come and have a rules meeting and have a question and answer sessions.

 

We have put on tournaments to give scholarships to girls who want to continue their education. Last year we were able to give $5,000 dollars to 10 girls.

 

We have given away tee shirts and plaques to the All-Academic teams which is over 150 girls.

 

We are having our first Ky-Tn All-Star game this year.

 

The question was asked how we picked these players this year. We ASKED EVERY coach who was winning their district to come and represent their district on the selection process as long as they were a member of the MTSCA. Now the question is did all of the coaches attend. The answer is NO but they were asked to help elect these players. We have almost three times more AAA teams than we do single A schools. From day one I wanted to see these coaches become and be apart of the MTSCA but for whatever reason the single A coaches are not competing in our tournament or clinics or membership.

 

I do want people to understand that we are trying to do our best and every time we have a meeting the member coaches are contacted and we place it on Coacht. These meetings are always open to the public to attend and you are welcome to attend a regular meeting or clinic Have we made mistakes sure we have but did we do it on purpose to hurt a child or a coach the answer is NO and it will never happen as long as I have anything to do with it.

 

If you have any comments that you will like for me to try and address please call me at school 615-641-5400 ext 398 or home number is 615-683-8354 or cell number is 615-489-3687 I will do my best to answer your questions. But do encourage you coach to become a member and to attend our meetings! They wll make a difference.

 

Coach John Conditt