South Florida Travel Softball

Unpopular opinion
You can’t ask a bench player how they feel about the Coach!

Their response will 100% be fueled by their lack of playing time with no accountability for why they’re not playing!

Repost: thoughts?

Sorry I’m not sorry 👀

Your kid deserves an opportunity. She doesn’t automatically deserve playing time.

There’s a difference.

You paid the same money. You drove to the same practices. You bought the uniform. You spent your entire damn weekend at the field. I get it.

But none of that guarantees your daughter the same innings, at-bats, pitching time or opportunities as somebody who is currently performing better than her.

And somewhere along the way, we got REALLY uncomfortable admitting that.

We want development. We want confidence. We want our daughters challenged. We want coaches to prepare them for the next level…

Until the challenge is sitting on the bench.

Then suddenly the coach is an as***le. It’s politics. There are favorites. We need a new team. Someone needs to explain why our daughter isn’t playing.

And listen… sometimes that 💩 IS real.

But sometimes another kid is just better right now.

READ THAT AGAIN.

RIGHT NOW.

That doesn’t mean your daughter sucks. It doesn’t mean the coach hates her. And it sure as hell doesn’t mean she should quit.

It means she has information.

Someone has something she wants.

So what happens next?

Does she pout? Does Mom send the text? Does Dad start looking for another team before the tournament is even over?

Or does she say…

“Okay. What the hell do I need to do to make it impossible for you to keep me out of the lineup?”

THAT is a competitor.

Because if every time our kids aren’t getting what they want we move them somewhere they will…

What exactly are we preparing them for?

Advocate for your kid when she truly needs you.

But don’t rob her of one of the greatest lessons sports can possibly teach:

Sometimes you aren’t the best option YET.

Now go do something about it.

Parents… where’s the line between advocating for your kid and rescuing them? 👀

🥎 For the lousy coaches that lie to players and parents about the upcoming season playtime. Make promises they never intend to execute. Why do this? Isn’t honesty the best policy? 🤔 🥎

🥎 For players over 14 years old: would it be a good tactic to skip the fall travel season and put that money into college camps only?🥎

🥎 If a 14/16u team is always losing players- looking for pitchers every season. Is that a red flag indicating there is an issue with the team? 🥎

💯

🥎Have you ever paid to attend tryouts? Is this a new trend? 🥎

Repost:

Why are there so many problems on travel ball teams?

Because there are literally no boundaries anymore.

Parents coach.
Parents fund.
Parents manage.

And when relationships form, expectations follow.

Travel ball is so demanding that we spend more time with our teams than we do with our own relatives.

So teams don’t just play together, they become everyone’s social circles.

And because of that the lines between:
Coach and friend
Teammate and family
Business and relationships

Are blurred.

The moment difficult decisions have to be made like playing time, roster moves, position changes, or even a family leaving the team - they stop feeling like “what’s best for us” choices and start feeling like betrayal or favoritism to everyone.

The relationships off the field do not come before the responsibilities on the field.

A coach’s responsibility is to the entire team, not just the people they’re closest to.

A parent’s responsibility is to do what’s best for their own child, not someone else’s.

“Travel ball politics” aren’t really ever about baseball or softball.

They’re about relationships.

With tryout season coming..do you let your current coach know you’re exploring options or just go to workouts quietly?