Softball Players that play Basketball

[ISTHATRIGHT]

Question, what is the best way to handle softball players being made to practice basketball during softball season(especially during tournament time). Should you go over the basketball coaches head and have it stopped or just allow it to happen and take a chance on getting a starter hurt practicing a sport out of season. Would like to hear suggestions. /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

[ISTHATRIGHT]

Well if its high school then its TSSAA and they should not be practice basketball right now...it's aginst the rules. Middle school that arnt tmssaa can do what ever they want but if they are punishing the kids for missing and its not basketball season you can go to the school board.

 

Its during their 4th block class which is allowed I guess but my point is there is no slack on you just because you play another sport which is not fair to the player or the softball program.

[ISTHATRIGHT]

I am a softball coach an I'm telling u its not allowed. I had some of the same problems but luckly we worked them out at our school. It usually takes a player that is amazing in both sports refusing to do both at the same time...THien they seem to want to give some other options

 

I feel bad for the kids wanting to play both sports because he puts so much pressure on them about missing and telling them they are behind others because they have missed AAU games because of softball which is not fair in my book.

[dubc]

I feel bad for the kids wanting to play both sports because he puts so much pressure on them about missing and telling them they are behind others because they have missed AAU games because of softball which is not fair in my book.

 

 

 

Yea, bad for the kids, but I think at some point the child must make a decision on which one to play when they are not able to do both...We had that problem at our school and I think it is quite small of a coach to not work with the other programs....

I, myself, believe that after a childs freshman year they shouldn't be allowed to do more than one sport....they should make a decision on what to play.....it's not fair to all others involved, players and coaches....

[5-Sport Dad]

First off, coaches shouldn't be able to put pressure on children when these conflicts arise. The talents, interests and welfare of the child should be paramount. Fortunately, for my daughter, our basketball coach is understanding. Unfortunately, our volleyball coach isn't...always. But, my wife and I look at it like this: God blessed us to be her parents and blessed her to play multiple sports, for goodness sake. If any coach wants to try to run our family or intimidate us, we have the right, privilege and obligation to say, politely at first, 'no' (heck, somebody has to be 'in charge' and since I'm the man of the house, I WILL NOT give up that particular responsibility without a fight!). If they 'punish' our daughter for missing an out-of-season sports practice or event, then, Houston, we've got a BIG problem. All of our children are blessed with being pretty good at most things they participate in, and sports are great and we love to participate, but we will NOT be held hostage with any of them. It's not worth it.

 

I recommend a face-to-face 'come to Jesus' meeting with the coach. They need to know your true feelings...obviously if you disagree with their way of doing things. But one thing's for sure: They should never, EVER be allowed to intimidate or mistreat or punish a child because they're playing another sport that's not yet completed its season. I mean, it's not like that particular child is sitting at home eating unhealthy food and watching TV or spending all day playing video games. They're working, exercising and actually doing something more difficult than the one-sport athlete.

 

Talk about pro-choice! We think playing mutiple sports, if a child is blessed to be able to do that, sharpens skills and makes 'em better. It's also FUN!, which is the real and best reason to play any sport. We usually look forward to the different seasons. To our family, in this case, variety really IS the spice of life!

 

My 2??.

[Indian]

One of the girls here played three sports this season. She was all-district and all-district tournament in basketball, started in volleyball and helped her team win its division and has been an all-star in softball since her freshman year, will play it in college. It takes cooperation and balancing schedules/free time but it can be done.

[5-Sport Dad]

One of the girls here played three sports this season. She was all-district and all-district tournament in basketball, started in volleyball and helped her team win its division and has been an all-star in softball since her freshman year, will play it in college. It takes cooperation and balancing schedules/free time but it can be done.

 

Amen, brotha...or sista! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[dubc]

First off, coaches shouldn't be able to put pressure on children when these conflicts arise. The talents, interests and welfare of the child should be paramount. Fortunately, for my daughter, our basketball coach is understanding. Unfortunately, our volleyball coach isn't...always. But, my wife and I look at it like this: God blessed us to be her parents and blessed her to play multiple sports, for goodness sake. If any coach wants to try to run our family or intimidate us, we have the right, privilege and obligation to say, politely at first, 'no' (heck, somebody has to be 'in charge' and since I'm the man of the house, I WILL NOT give up that particular responsibility without a fight!). If they 'punish' our daughter for missing an out-of-season sports practice or event, then, Houston, we've got a BIG problem. All of our children are blessed with being pretty good at most things they participate in, and sports are great and we love to participate, but we will NOT be held hostage with any of them. It's not worth it.

 

I recommend a face-to-face 'come to Jesus' meeting with the coach. They need to know your true feelings...obviously if you disagree with their way of doing things. But one thing's for sure: They should never, EVER be allowed to intimidate or mistreat or punish a child because they're playing another sport that's not yet completed its season. I mean, it's not like that particular child is sitting at home eating unhealthy food and watching TV or spending all day playing video games. They're working, exercising and actually doing something more difficult than the one-sport athlete.

 

 

Talk about pro-choice! We think playing mutiple sports, if a child is blessed to be able to do that, sharpens skills and makes 'em better. It's also FUN!, which is the real and best reason to play any sport. We usually look forward to the different seasons. To our family, in this case, variety really IS the spice of life!

 

My 2??.

 

 

 

Alot of good thoughts...... I agree with most... everyones not the same....... kids play sports for different reasons and all are not wanting to be "All Anything", but just fun to play.....better than doin nothin....but there are other things in life to do also.....I just don't believe most kids can give 100 % in muliple sports and when it becomes a conflict , they should have to make a choice.....some give all....some can't give all.....they shouldn't shortchange a program cause they want to have it all....just my thoughts, if I were a coach you wouldn't like me but oh well....making choices is part of growing into an adult......

[luvsmokymnts]

Here's my 2 cents worth....

 

Our daughter played for a great basketball coach in high school. She never missed practice and did everything she was told. In the past, she had played softball, and soccer as well, but gave it all up to just play basketball--her choice.

 

One day, (her sophomore year) she got interested in tennis--borrowed my racket and asked her dad to show her how to serve (he had played competitive tennis in his younger days). Well, needless to say, since she is an "athlete", she picked it up quickly and before we knew it, we were hitting on the courts every night and she developed a mean serve. She was laughing and having a blast!

 

Well, one day when bb was over and it was the dead period...she mentioned to her coach that she had been hitting the tennis ball some and was loving it. The coach said....."if you have time to hit a tennis ball---then you have time to be shooting the basketball". Now keep in mind--she only has one month off from basketball--JULY. All of the other 11 months are spent on the court--AAU, Camps, School ball, practice, conditioning, etc.

 

Now, I know all of this is a debate; but I watched her as she very sadly put away the racket and never hit the tennis ball again. She thought this coach "hung the moon"--so she did EVERYTHING that she was told to do.

 

Well time has passed and she has learned a valuable lesson---there IS more to life! She can swing a club on the driving range that surprised even her brother and is actually wanting to get back on the tennis court--but her true "love" is still the round ball. She has learned to live for "herself", not for the coach.

 

Coaches, BE CAREFUL. You never know when a player may have "talent" in another sport. Just because you coach one sport and believe it to be "the only sport", please do not discourage our kids from "trying" other things. I agree with the earlier poster--let them "ENJOY" their lives and play as many sports as they want to play or if they choose only one--that is ok too! But let THEM make that decision and please do not "sway them" either way.

 

Cha-Ching....there's my 2 cents worth! Thanks!

[etownsparky]

Yea, bad for the kids, but I think at some point the child must make a decision on which one to play when they are not able to do both...We had that problem at our school and I think it is quite small of a coach to not work with the other programs....

I, myself, believe that after a childs freshman year they shouldn't be allowed to do more than one sport....they should make a decision on what to play.....it's not fair to all others involved, players and coaches....

 

First, I will admit this can be a problem. It's unfortunate that coaches sometimes can't work together in such cases. I think that coaches of off-season sports should yield to the in-season coach on potential conflicts. During a period when both (or more) sports are off, the kid should decide which sports-related activities she/she wants to participate in. However, to suggest that a kid should be forced by anyone (especially a coach) to play one sport vs. multiple is ludicrous IMO. I don't get the statement "...it's not fair to all others involved, players and coaches..." If a kid is good enough to play more than one sport, then they should be given the opportunity to try and do so. Coaches have the option to cut and to play who they want. If there are better options, i.e. enough single-sport athletes, they are free to choose who is on the team and who plays. It seems to me that this natural selection process should be good enough. Besides, depending on the size of the school (and thus the pool of players available), it is almost necessary in many cases to allow kids to play more than one sport in order to field respectable teams.

 

It sounds as though your post is suggesting that by limiting participation to one sport, there would be more opportunities for others; thus, would be more fair. While it may be true that some kids may get an opportunity to play that may not otherwise be available, the truth of the matter is that sometimes the kids that have passion for and work hard to play a sport, still aren't that skilled. That's part of life. I'm afraid our society has yielded to the mantra that "everybody deserves a trophy" in the name of politically correctness. I'm sure it's not news to any of you, but life isn't always fair! We all can't be CEOs and drive Mercedes...

[Proverbial]

Lots of good points on this thread, but I admit I'm a bit confused about the original post. How does having a basketball class in fourth period interfere with softball? Do they also practice softball during that period? If she simply doesn't want to fool with basketball at all right now, then that's a whole different matter.

[bluefan23]

My 2 cents worth

There are a great many kids that have the ability to play more than one sport and be successful. Good for them. But......as a head coach on an A 14u travel team I will not put up with anything else during our season. I go out of the way not to interfere with anything they may do during their off time or during their school seasons, but when its our time no other sports. Sorry......nothing personal........just business