Softball Soundoff
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Softball Soundoff
Silly Season
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Softball sound off with Chris and Mike. Good evening, everyone. It's Mike here with Chris.
SPEAKER_01Hey, how's everybody doing tonight?
SPEAKER_00Good. Well, I guess everybody's meeting. So tonight's topic, we're going to get into a little bit. Um I'll kind of take the lead on this. We're going to we're going to start to dive into evals for Travel Ball as we're starting to see them post. What are we in? Coming up on May.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the seasons haven't really started for anybody, and they're already posting tryouts. Soon you're going to have tryouts after tryouts for the following season. I know. It's crazy. It's get ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00Well, the problem is too. So like we we posted because we're starting to see everybody post them. So then, you know, it's, you know, we posted, but so we're doing ours. Um, the younger ages, we're doing ours, I think the end of June, the end of June for the like 10 and 12 you, and then 14 you and above. Um, I think like second week in July. Um, so you know, and the reasoning with that is so you have nationals. Nationals are typically the end of July. And ideally, you want to wait till after nationals to hold the tryouts. But the problem is I don't think a program out there anymore does that. And a lot of these programs have the tryout and they ask people to commit within like 24 hours. So it literally becomes a race to lock these people down.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and the whole 24-hour thing, 48-hour, whatever, that's one of my pet peeves is you know, when I started uh the program you're now running, is uh I didn't give deadlines for for the most part because I told parents um to to kind of shy away or or be hesitant about team programs that give you a deadline because they're trying to lock you up that way you can can't go anywhere else or can't you know visit other programs. But my philosophy was if this is the right program for you, you know, I'll wait. Now, not gonna wait, you know, a month, you know, but give you a fair amount of time to make a decision because I want you to go check out other programs. I want you to make sure you're picking the right program for you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I we typically ask for, I think it says we ask for to know within about a week, ask for like a week, I think seven days, um, if they could let us know. Um, but that but then really what we tell them is is that at that point we just open up the spot. So we're not it's not that they're like, oh, that's it, you didn't let us know. Um but we'll say after a certain amount, like seven days, the spot becomes open. Now you could still accept on eight days, but just know that if someone else comes, they try out and you haven't gotten back to us, they get an opportunity at that spot after seven days.
SPEAKER_01Right, and that's fair is you know, you're giving them an opportunity, and that you like you said, the spot's still there, but it's now up for grabs. That first seven days, it's theirs. Correct. Uh, until we you you pass that threshold.
SPEAKER_00So, you know, and I gotta we've discussed it, you know, the way we do it. Um we usually offer two nights per age group. I mean, you just have to come through one. Um, we do it, we use a scoring basis. Um, you know, so basically we want to have a minimum score to be eligible to get an offer for a team. Um, and it's it's one of the ways that we try to keep a higher standard, a higher level. Um, that's that's one of the things we do. Uh, I think it's important. So, you know, some of the things we wanted to get into is a little bit different part of it uh as these evals are coming up. What to look for, um really what maybe some red flags for programs. Um, you know, and this is just based off of what we see out there, what I've seen. Um some of like we you and I call like smoke and mirrors. Right. Uh we see programs out there that'll, you know, say two, three teams in their program to try to make it look like a more robust program. But if you look through the rosters, you've got the same names on multiple teams to make it look like full rosters, but it's half the team is made up of the same players.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, yeah, there's you know, there's programs out there that you know have uh have two teams and six of the 12 players play on both teams. Yeah, so you don't truly have 24 players, you have 18 at best. Um it and just so they can advertise um the additional teams. Um but yeah, I think some of the things to look for is like when you go to the tryout, how's it being run? Is it being professional? Is it you know you know, the proper type of evaluation um drills? Um I like a combo, basically a hybrid version where you have some skill testing and like certain measurables, uh, but I also like to have like a practice type tryout where you can see how they mesh with the other players. Um now a lot of times so there's another thing with tryouts. So it's always been my belief that like for your program, you have an established few established teams that have been together a few years. So example, your uh 14U team, um the second year 14U team, I I I would call it, uh, which your daughter plays on, is uh the majority of their team is intact. Um and how I would like how I would you know like to see it work out is you don't have a full open tryout for that team. Correct. Because you should there should be players that you're happy with, and there's gonna be some players you're not, and you're looking to swap out. I mean, if you're not looking to upgrade your team every year, you're not doing justice for the program or for the team. So if there's one or two players you're not inviting back, well then you have two spots you're trying out for, and they should be position position specific. Um so if you don't need if all you need is a like a pitcher and an outfielder, that's to me is what you advertise for is 14A team looking for or 14B team looking for an outfielder and a pitcher. Yep. That way you're not getting all these other players that are just wasting everybody's time that you're not really looking for.
SPEAKER_00So you know, and I agree, and that that was one of the things uh myself and the owner of the program we spoke about as we start to look at evals coming up and what does it look like? Because the reality is, and and fortunately, we have nine teams, and uh for the most part, all nine teams are full. Um, fully, full rosters. Um, so do we need to have this tryout with a hundred? Absolutely not. We we do not. Um we're having tryouts, but I think it's gonna be, and we we put the dates out there, but as we get closer, you know, and I spoke to all the coaches and I told them, I said, let me know over the next couple of weeks what you anticipate your needs to be going into next season. Uh, you know, whether it be on the coach, on your coaching staff, assistant coaches, uh, players, what what does your what does your team look like in your mind? Because that's how we're gonna that's how we're gonna hold this. Because I don't need a hundred players coming that aren't needed.
SPEAKER_01I want specific 100 players to fill eight spots.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's just it's just and positions that you don't need. Correct. It's just it's just it's a waste of it's not fair to the to the players that you know, the maybe the young ladies that come, you know, to just kind of let them all down. And it's not it's just a waste of time.
SPEAKER_01And you I don't feel the necessary need to have the players, let's say you're you're asking eight players to come back from your team. They're golden, you want them back, they've accepted to come back. Why have them at the tryouts? They're already on the team. Just to make I know I get the other side of it to make it look good when when parents and other people are there and you got a hundred players. Well, 90% of them are already on the team. It's just you're just wasting time.
SPEAKER_00So this year, and that's a good point. So this year we're gonna do it a little bit differently. Um, to me, it's it's more impressive when we're able to show that we really don't need all these players. We're not posting six months after tryouts looking to fill one more spot, any position. That's if you're looking to fill one more spot, that's not it, and you're saying any position, that's you're you look, you're not. So to me, it's more impressive to kind of let the softball community like, hey, we're good, like we need one or two spots filled, like, and that is it, um, rather than like these big open trials. So it's gonna be a little bit different from us this year because we're we're we're gonna be more specific. Um, and to me that that actually speaks to the program that we we've got this retention.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it creates a supply and demand. Yep. You know, if you see postings at you know, your 18U, 16U, 14U are full. You have one spot on the other 14U, one spot, it creates the the supply and demand where oh man, those teams are full, you know. Yeah, maybe let's hope hopefully next year a spot will open up, you know. And it creates more of a desire to be on the team because it you're full. Like, how how do you not need players? Well, we got good players. I mean, we're only taking good players, and you have to score above a certain score, like you said, to even get an offer. Um, and I I just think that's one of the biggest downfalls right now to travel is uh because there's so many teams that I mean anybody can play anywhere. Um you know, we saw we saw some some teams this past weekend. Um not gonna say who or where, um, but it it's just hard to watch. Yeah, like the quality of softball uh is just gone down generally speaking. Um, yeah, it was a good competitive game. Um but it's just it's just one of those things where as long as you can pay, you can play, and it's not how I think it should be. I I might be old school and and out of touch with the game these days with the the the direction it's heading, and it's more financially geared than it is it's quality geared.
SPEAKER_00No, and it's you know, but the good teams, the good players want that. So like the one coach came up to me and he said, Hey, once I saw you guys are gonna be here, I said to the other coach, that's gonna be that'll be a good game. That's and he they told the person at that runs a tournament because he told me, hey, if you can get teams like that to keep coming, we'll start coming back. So that's you know, the the right teams want that. So to get back, you know, is as you're looking at these evals, have a realistic, and I know this is a tricky thing to say because it's you know, but try to have a realistic expectation of your child, what their level is, and have a good understanding and honestly have a conversation with them, what they want to do. So before you even do it, have a conversation with your child. If you're on an existing team, do they really want to move, or are you pissed off that weekend and you want to move them? Does your does your child want to move? If you're not on a travel team, have that conversation with your child so they understand the commitment that's involved, what's involved on a you know, on a daily basis, what the expectation, what they might see from coaches might be different than they were used to at rec. Like where they're gonna be possibly disciplined, you know, that it's gonna be harder, it's gonna be more pressure on them. Are they really ready for that? Because, you know, I I've seen it also in the program where players come in that want to try travel and they quickly realize, like, whoa, this isn't like they don't both the players and the families don't realize that no, this isn't rec 2.0. Like, I this is this is travel. This is gonna be a different level. Like, your kid's not gonna be given a high five for everything that they do. Uh, they're not gonna be given a lollipop for everything that they do. Like, there may be games where they've got to sit on the bench because they weren't listening, or they weren't, you know, they rolled their eyes at the coach, or or they just gave zero effort. This is, you know, so before you even start to dive into that, have a conversation with your child and make sure that both them and you understand that if you're going to a real competitive program, not one that's just will take anybody, if you're really looking to make a run at this, have a realistic expectation and conversation with your child. Hey, this is what you're telling me you want to play travel. Understand that this is what it's gonna be. Are you sure you want to get involved with this? And then once you and your child are you're both on that same page and that expectation of what you want is clear, then start deciding and looking at programs that might be the right fit for you. Um, and one of the ways to do that is you know, you go to go to some of the tryouts, see the way, like Chris said, how are they running the evals? Or are there multiple people involved that are helping run it and watch them? Do they seem like they know what they're doing? Or are they talking to each other, not paying attention to what's going on with the drills? Or are they sitting there? Are they interjecting and taking a minute to work with your child to help them maybe throw a little bit differently? Like that's one of the things that we do is we have we typically try to have evaluators there doing one thing, and then the coaches roaming around, walking to see, to observe. Um, they'll maybe interact with your child to see if they're coachable. You know, like Chris said, it's it's not just how you know how they do and how they perform in their mechanics. Are they coachable? Are they gonna be a right culture fit? And believe it or not, our coaches, that's one of the things that they're told to look out for and to interject with, is that interaction with the player, not just because they want to fix them, they want to see do they respond properly? Do they nod, do they acknowledge, do they make the adjustment? Or do they just because I could tell you now we have had evals where they've come up to us and like Joe has come up to me and said, No to that one. I told them three times, they didn't even look at me, they won't even pay attention to me. Right. And we scratched their name off the list.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so decide what level you want to play at. Know that C is developmental. If your child that you in your fair assessment or other people's assessment is past the developmental stage, then you want to play B or A. Um if your child is not to a level of B or A, then you can consider C. Um But have the your expectations have to align with the the team. So if you already know that this team is a C team, don't bother trying out if you don't want a developmental team. If you're a competitive player, yeah, you're not you don't want to be on a C team just to go win stupid rings. You're there to be a good thing.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say I'm a big advocate, and you know this, of putting my child on teams where she's gonna be challenged, of pushing her a little bit. Um it helps their growth. I'm a fan of that. I've had people come up to me. I had someone this past weekend, I was at my son's baseball practice, and a parent came up to me, introduced himself, because he if he knew who you know my son was, and yada yada. But I guess he was talking to me about his son is on a team where a different team, and he's probably one of the weaker players, and what's my take on that? And and his son kind of you know gets frustrated, you know, and I I I said, look, I'd rather my child be the the you know middle line to lower player on a good team because they're gonna the right attitude, the right player will work harder to hang with those players.
SPEAKER_01Motivation.
SPEAKER_00Correct. If you put a good player on a shitty team, they just everything slows down. You can see it, their mechanics slow down, they get lazy, you know, they they get distracted, they they lose their drive, um, which is why, you know, a lot of some of these travel ball competitive teams, they really kind of want the players to stop playing wreck because they feel that all week they're playing at a little bit slower pace, you know, girls that aren't as competitive, and then come the weekend, they gotta go with them. They're they're they're like they're mentally like in a different place, and they've got to, their swing is all of a sudden slower, and like they come out of the gate like you know, just off. You know, you gotta pick and choose what you think is best for your child. But again, at the end of the day, put your child in the right place where they're gonna be challenged and grow. Um, if they're not very good, but they just like this sport and you're just looking for something to do on the weekends, then pick the appropriate program for that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know, it's not just a tryout for the player, it's a tryout for the program. You know, you as a parent, talk to the coach after the eval and get their philosophy, you know, get what they're find out what their goals are for the season, you know, what tournaments they're gonna play in as far as quality of tournaments. Um, because you you have to align with them as well. And if what your goals don't align with that coach, then it might not be the right team. So it has to be a a fit all the way around. Um and you know, that's why I tell players go try out for other programs, see what because ultimately the you have to be unselfish. The whole point of all of this is for the player that they're in the right spot to get the most out of and you know progress in their careers. Um coaches and programs have to be unselfish about that. Yes, you want their tuition, yes, you want to fill your team, yes. But not at the expense of the development and the the responsibility of making the player better and and you know trying to get to the next level. Uh too many programs are too selfish about that, and you know, will again, you know, if the coach guarantees you playing time or they promise you playing time, uh that's a red flag. Uh nobody should be guaranteed playing time. Okay. The coach should be telling you, you should be hearing from them that you know, there's no guarantees. We we know we want her on the team, we think she'd be a crucial part of the team, but she's gonna have to earn her spot just like everybody else. Um, and that may fluctuate throughout the season um to based on her performance and and development. Um, but anybody that tells you, oh, we'll guarantee you X amount of playing time, that's uh something to be worried about. Uh, because that means they're not doing it for the right reasons. They're doing it to get your tuition money.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and one of the things you could, you know, um, a couple of things also. A, you do want to make sure when you go in there, um, you know, ask the questions. What what do the tournaments look like? You know, what what does, you know, speak, like you said, speak to the coach. What's their philosophy? How do you, you know, get a good get a little bit of a feel for them. Um, if you do get an offer, so like I know for you know, we at times we'll make an offer, sometimes that night, if a player is really good, we'll go up to them and say, hey, great player, we'd love you to, you know, them to join the program. Sometimes we'll we'll reach out, you know, usually we tell them give us a week. Um, if you do get an offer that night, ask them why. Why why my child? Like, why why are we getting an offer? What did you see in my child that's that's you want to give them an offer? Um, and that's just like at any program, because our coaches, if they're giving an offer, like because they'll come to you, like, I want to give an offer, and I look at them and say, why? Like, why? Like, what what what's making you like hit that golden buzzer on this kid to give them an offer tonight rather than waiting like everybody else? And they'll they'll tell me they did this, that, that, that, that, whatever the reasoning is, I'll say, okay, you know, fair enough, go ahead and make an offer. And ask that question. If you get, if you're just going to to places that, you know, are just looking to take anyone, oh, here's an offer. Ask the question, why? What did you see in my player? What did you see in my child that they they have to have in the program? Like, oh, you know, I appreciate it, but because if they're just like, oh, such a great kid, uh, you know, my coaches damn well better give you specifics. The way she did this, the way she did that, the way she did that. I like the way she responded. When I coached her, she responded. That's a program that I'd be like, okay, I I like that.
SPEAKER_01I I'm you know that yeah, because most programs these days are gonna offer everybody because they're looking to fill Russia's spots in tuition. Correct. So that you want a good reason.
SPEAKER_00So so don't be afraid to ask that question. Um, you know, they should be able to, when you're at these evals, you know, they should be able to give you an idea of what that's next season looks like. How many tournaments do you plan on doing? What level tournament do you plan on doing? You know, what's included, uniforms, you know, helmets, and location of tournament.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So if you're like a 14U or lower, um there's a certain distance you really don't need to go beyond.
SPEAKER_00Um, if you want to take one like I saw a Puerto Rican, a Puerto Rico uh trip uh advertised yesterday, uh like a tournament in Puerto Rico, and I I did text it to uh the 14U coach that my daughter's on, and I said, All right, you've got I'll give you an option. You could either go here or Florida. One of those two. Um I was kind of rooting for Puerto Rico, but I think we're sticking with Florida.
SPEAKER_01And the the main reason I say that is because like you take a you know a 14U, 16U, you know, let's just talk 14U and lower, the take the showcases out of it. Yeah, if you want to have one tournament where you go to Florida and with with the it being it's a vacation/slash tournament. Correct. You know, we're doing it just as a treat for the you know families, you know, the experience something different, cool. But if it's long distances every weekend, there's no need for that at that age. I agree 100%. Now, if it's when you get into the 16 U 18U and you're starting to do showcases, um, there's also a limit there. Um, you know, I've seen teams at 1618 go to like the Colorado Sparkler or whatever you call it.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01Uh that's thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to do that. You better have the right team to do that with. And you better have majority of your players that are interested in colleges that are going to be going to that. event. Um so how I would structure uh like a showcase team is I would take a a preseason poll of my players. All right, give me the colleges that you're interested in. And then you tailor your schedule to where the majority of the let's say majority of the the players you know want to go to a tournament in Ohio because six or seven of the players there, the colleges that they're interested are going to be there. Well then yeah that's where you go you don't go to the Colorado sparkler or whatever that's getting all these division one schools when none of your players want to go to those colleges. That's just a waste of money and a waste of a trip.
SPEAKER_00I agree. And it it's and to your point like it's don't get at these evals you know when you ask these questions again and it really comes down to expectations and having an understanding don't get oood and odd by some of that stuff. Like you know oh we're going here we're going there. You know it's just focus on the basics focus on what's going to be done on a daily basis. I do encourage most of my teams 12 you and up to do like 12 you to that 16 you to do nationals. I think nationals is a good you know it's you know I don't know was it a couple hours from us but you know it's a week it's a commitment it's a whole week um but we let the parents know had it plenty of head of a time but you know I I that I do believe in but ask the questions when you go to these evals what's you know what does the season look like how many tournaments and we do get a lot of families that do that and I and I I love like to me the families that engage like that I I prefer that because I'm like all right they're they're doing their homework I I like that um so then so then that's one part of it. So as you get into the season so that's kind of some of the things to look for watch how it's being run. Are they interacting with your player the people walking around are they just BSing with themselves or are they focusing on what's going on you know pay attention to those things. Ask the questions of the facility that the evals are taking place. Is that where you practice or is this a rental place for the night? You know get an understanding of where where are your practices going to be during the winter? Where are your practices going to be in the summer? Ask those questions. We I saw plenty of teams posting this past winter looking for space, looking for you know to have practices I'd want to know that going in um I wouldn't want to be on a team that all of a sudden I find out like wait what do you mean you don't have a facility to practice at this winter? So no all those are good questions to ask because you should have at least a very solid understanding of what you're getting into. Now with that said things come you know things may happen here and there but at least you have a good understanding. The other component of this so as these tryouts are coming up and some of them are starting very early. We're gonna turn to the dark side aren't we yes we're gonna I got some thoughts too we're gonna turn to the reality side um as you get to this time of the season as tryouts and evals are popping up you're gonna have a couple of families that probably aren't thrilled with what's going on on your team or the program so they're gonna start hitting up those evals go for it. What they're gonna be doing then is coming back to the team and chirping in the ears of the other parents hey I just went to this eval this this program is way better than this one you should come with me over there. So how as a coach do you handle that? So it's you know it doesn't take long for this to get out for a parent to chirp back to the program director or the coach like hey I think they're looking hey rumor has it it's a very small community no matter where you live whether you're in Lancaster or Ohio or Florida all these softball communities are very small. I've been networking over the past year with them all over the country that every every no matter what state you're at everything's small everybody speaks so if you're you have a team and you've got some rumblings and you've got a parent that's looking to lasso some players to go with them to the new shiny shiny program as a coach what do you what's your do you interject do you let the cards play out well for me as a coach it's very simple.
SPEAKER_01I don't care what happens off the field only thing I care about is what goes on and what I can control on the field. Because you know people are going to talk it it happens all the time you know I I really don't care. I'm the whoever whatever players show up for me game a tournament that's who I care about. I don't care what parents have to say don't care about the the rumors the scuttle butt um it's more for like the parent so if you are approached by another parent that's you know chattering and and and talking all this you know it's it's how are you gonna handle it? Um my suggestion is like if it would happen to me I'd be like okay I you know I hear you I got you you know but but make your own informed decision. Absolutely don't go based off what somebody else is saying because typically those type of people have ulterior motives um and they are a cancer to a program. If you're not happy where you're at just keep your mouth shut keep it to yourself worry about yourselves and and you know go do your thing. I don't understand the need to have to spread the cancer and have to get in the ear of other if I wasn't happy somewhere I'm not gonna talk you know shit on the the team I'm just gonna leave. I'm just gonna go do my thing. I'm not there to convince somebody else to go to go with me because that's their decision to make uh who am I to try to convince them they could be you know happy with where they're at they don't need it's just it's just gotten so stupid lately with the the parents like I said I've always said parents ruin sports. Yeah um just keep your mouth shut watch the game and then if you have plans after the season keep them to yourself nobody cares.
SPEAKER_00So I I agree and if you're so if you're a parent you're a player on a team you're a parent on a team and you're encountering that and you've got it as these eval times are coming my advice like anything else do your own homework do your own due diligence if you're happy in the program you know then stick where you're at and and ignore the noise. Yeah you know is it is it look players look at other programs all the time you know um you know we've got players like I said for the past couple years I would get texts and and that's the funny part too is people don't realize like I get texts from other programs like hey just wanted to let you know I saw one of your play I'm like I hey that that's their path they got that's it's their choice that's their choice like this is their kids they got to do whatever's best for them. You know for every two, three players that leave our program for whatever reason two, three players come on in and say oh my God, why would they ever leave this program? This is a great it's it would be amazing every program's not for every player every coach isn't for every player I've said this a million times um so if you're on a team like I said that these evals are coming up and you know that there's a couple of people leaving there's some chirping do your own do your own homework um follow the path and now with that said so let's say you do decide you go to an eval you know for whatever reason it was an okay season but you like for whatever reason the coach is an asshole the the director's an asshole the both of them are it doesn't have to be negative either you can you could be happy where you're at you just you just check you're just you're window shopping you just see what else is out there.
SPEAKER_01It's okay to do that.
SPEAKER_00And let's say that you decide that you're not getting the development you want um so you want to look somewhere else or you found a program that's literally in your neighborhood you want to you don't want to drive an hour and a half every day. So that that happens and then people have said to me do we tell the coach we're making a move when do we tell them because again this is where it gets tricky a lot of these tryouts are before most of them are before nationals. Nobody wants to make any decisions or let their current team know before nationals because out of fear of getting benched thrown off the team all that so Chris what's your I know my opinion but what's your opinion on you let's say nationals are July 15th you went to a tryout June 30th love it go in there it's just it's the right fit for you for next year.
SPEAKER_01You don't hate your program or team now you like your coach everything's okay but this just seems right and it's 10 minutes from your house what do you do do you keep your mouth shut till the end what do you or do you tell the coach like right off out of the gate so the adult in me would be so look at it both ways from the coach and parent side as a parent if that was my decision um I would and if tryouts were prior to the end of our current season I would go to the coach and say hey let's just go on the the context that it's not negative. It's like you said we're just it's just it's a closer or something like that. It's there's no negativity. After the season's over we're probably gonna go to you know a different program has nothing against you guys it's just a better fit for us but until the season's over we're 100% committed to you to this team and she's gonna perform and give her all and once the season's over then we'll but and as a coach if you know somebody came to me and said hey you know said that thing to me I'd be like cool you know it's your choice you know sorry to have sorry to see you leave um it's understandable it's it's business um and that's all I would ask is hey you know just give me a hundred percent while you're here absolutely you're not gonna get dinged for it you're not gonna get lower less the only thing that lessens your playing time is your performance. Yep if you're given 100% that's all I care about whoever's here at that moment you know good luck to you in the future because to me most cases you don't want to burn bridges because there's a good opportunity or a good chance that that per that player does leave and they realize it wasn't for them and then they want to try to come back. And if it was a good player you don't want to burn that bridge.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely so we we we I did that with my daughter a couple of years ago a few years ago you know time flies uh but we're in a program that we're happy with nice coach great coach good team but when this program started to come about it's 10 minutes from a house as opposed to the other program was over an hour and I traveled a good amount for work. It just logistically was becoming very difficult. I have two younger boys that also play sports. Logistically it was becoming hard. So when this program came up we looked at it and we you knew it was going to be something real um the before the last tournament I did go to the coach and I said listen I got to talk to you and I was also involved with helping coach that that team as well um but I said listen this is this is what this is the situation and he understood like he wasn't you know he wasn't happy he was bummed um and but he understood we finished the season gave 150% you know hugged everybody hugged and shook hands and we left and to this day three years later I'm still friends with him like we still talk this weekend we kind of combined teams to go out there and have some fun so there again there's a right way to do things and there's a wrong way to do things as this time of season comes about and you're looking at other programs you know again this is the final step of it you've done your diligence you looked at you know you kind of paid attention all these things now you do want to make a move um you know just be an adult be an adult and like you know like Chris said you know the the the grass is not always greener and you know if somebody were to leave our program which we've had I think I've had one one player that did leave one way and they the right way and they gave a call and asked like hey is there an opening things that you know and I said absolutely you know like speak to the coach like but I you know I it's it's life you know people make choices you do things the right way there's you know I I'd always leave the door open but then when you do things the wrong way uh good luck yeah uh and there are bridges that should be burned uh based on their departure um and that's another thing you're gonna see uh along with these people you know that that want to talk shit and and stuff like that don't you I don't I don't respect them uh when they do that if you don't like it keep your mouth shut and move on. I agree um dude I get I get calls from people that I hear that are people chirping up you know years months later from shit. And I'm like oh my God like enough.
SPEAKER_01Yeah uh move on with life. Um because whether you believe it or not nobody's special there's always gonna be another kid that fills that spot so um don't let the door hit you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah so so take so just keep again throughout the entire process do your due diligence look at the programs check in on them watch how they interact you know watch how the evals go is it okay to go to app to tryouts absolutely would I want to tell the coach hey I'm going to tryouts no I don't it's not their business you do what you got to do but if you do decide to leave um me personally I I let our coach know before we left before the end of the season um we had a good relationship and I I was just very honest with them um it was a you know um and we still you know have a good relationship it really depends on your situation and your relationship um if you feel it's better to wait till after the end of the tournament then then go for it um wait till the your last tournament and maybe give a call that weekend say hey we really appreciate it playing here we probably won't be back next season and but in the long long along the lines of not burning bridges tell them before their tryouts so they can they know what spots they need to fill.
SPEAKER_01You know you don't need to just because you ain't you're not happy doesn't mean you have to trash the other girls that are still going to be on that team that don't know that now they have a a missing roster spot correct and that the team needs to fill.
SPEAKER_00Just just be like again be an adult quit being a team see what again what what what people don't realize when you do that again these teams are based off of budgets and rosters so when so you know when when you leave like that you are leaving you are you know you're not really sticking it to the coach you're sticking it to the players.
SPEAKER_01Right because the the coach is going to be there no matter what yeah I mean for the most part um and that's a another part of it is you know because I'm I'm gonna sp speak from personal experience um that's always good quit being the douchebag parent that makes stuff up about a coach or a program um it only makes you look like an ass in the end um because if you start lying about things and accusing coaches or programs of doing things when they're not um the truth always comes out because the other people involved see what actually happens and then when you're caught making things up or claiming a coach did this or that and there's plenty of people to testify to the contrary it just makes you look like an ass.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I look I've I've always said everything always comes out I always say let the cards play out let even though like I'll know stuff's coming I'll know it's coming off people call me just so you know I'm like I'm I'm aware let it play out let's see how it's handled.
SPEAKER_01Um so yeah you know it it's like anything else um but you you really should if you're gonna attack a programmer a coach you really should have some ammo like legit ammo yeah um and the number one form of ammo is stats yeah numbers don't lie as I mean obviously as long as they're being input correctly um but if you're gonna make stuff up about a coach and and blame the coach for things they you claim they say or or do play time when when when ultimately it's about playtime and then when you're smacked in the face with the stats that's your only go-to is to try to undercut the coach because uh your child is two for their last 25 or um you know it has no production um there's no one to blame but the player um you can't blame a coach for shitty production that's up to the player um so so yeah just uh it's gonna be silly season starting soon that's what I like to call it um yeah it's his tis tis the season where you know yeah just keep your head down and do your own work and you're gonna get with with this time of year you're gonna get you're gonna be playing in tournaments you're gonna get coaches that maybe find out who you are and reach out to you like hey if you want to come over to our team um yeah it you know again I to me look for a program that you know holds their standard up um somewhat um do your due diligence go into the evals kind of dive into their rosters a little bit look at their game that's the beauty of game changer you know you can't hide anymore people can't hide um you know look at the not only the wins oh we're 30 and oh cool let me see you know so it's very easy to go look at teams and tournaments and then go look at the teams and then go to you USSA the app and type in that team and it'll tell you where they're registered.
SPEAKER_00So like okay they've got 30 wins at a C level I'm specifically trying to get to a higher level team you know like so again a like a five seconds of homework like people always say to me like I'll get texts from like you'll text me over the weekend yo what level team is this like and I it's I'm not a whiz it's just everything's so easily accessible to find out what level a player is ranked at what level a team is ranked at so when you're doing you're going to these evals and they're you know there you have a whole wall of trophies that's great was it you know what was the competition like and again you could go right to their game changer see their games and you can then look up the teams um hey if that's the level that you're at then that's then that's the right place for you. But if you're a competitive person and you're looking for a higher level team do that research and be like oh shit they actually play some good teams they got some good wins or they played them they lost but they were right there with them that's that's yeah that's I'm looking for a team that's playing those teams.
SPEAKER_01Yeah if you prefer hardware over development go for it then those programs are out there. But if you're looking for development um and hardware I mean you know I mean you can you know I like you can do both but there's um without you know bashing brands there's teamu hardware and then there's legit hardware yep so you got look look what's on the label of the trophy. Yep if it says class C um and that's not what you're looking for then you might want to move on. Yep.
SPEAKER_00But so anything else we got to add for no just like I said as as I'm seeing all these come about all the I'm starting to see the postings and look I'll we're we're one of the programs that did it just to kind of put it on people's radar so they mark off the dates. But that's that's what you're gonna be seeing now. You're gonna be seeing these evals what are we going into we're going into May? I mean you're gonna start seeing evals coming up probably the end of this month early June take your time do your due diligence have the again the recommendation speak to your child first if you've never played travel and you want to get into it have a conversation with them to get understanding or better yet find out who the director is of a program or coach that you're going to and come in and have a conversation with your child with the coach or the director saying hey what's involved and let them explain like don't just jump in and do it because little Jenny's doing it do it because it's the right thing for you. And if it is the right thing for you take a little bit of time and research the programs the coaches you know where do they go who do they play all very accessible things so this way you are fully prepared so when you make that commitment it's the right commitment for you for the team for everybody the chances of you staying are going to be much higher and you being happier with what you chose are going to be much higher than if you just are writing down eval places and just taking your child from place to place to place you know Monday through Friday and then you know roll the dice or pick you get five offers and you pick the one that's got the lowest tuition because oh they're all the same I'm gonna take that one because it's 500 bucks and that place is 5,000. Have everything know what you're going in know your budget honestly know your budget because every most programs will be very clear like we tell people that day like this is what it costs to join our program. So know your budget be, you know have an understanding of that um and then make the right choice. And then the the chances of you staying will be much higher than if you just randomly pick you know a program because they got cool jerseys.
SPEAKER_01Yeah so uh yeah it's been a few weeks since we've been on um but with my high school schedule being jammed it's it was tough to get some you know some episodes out there. Hopefully we get back to something a little more regular. It still might be hit or miss uh for a little bit yet because uh season's about to wrap up and playoffs starting so uh we'll do our best to get out to you but uh once again you know hit us up on the socials on Facebook Instagram uh twitter x whatever you want to call it um email us any topics um softballsound off at gmail.com follow us on Spotify Apple Podcast Amazon Music and uh don't forget to hit up uh Crusoes we again we will be having more guests coming and we are looking into
SPEAKER_00potentially in the future doing video live video.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. We're gonna work on branching out into that.
SPEAKER_00Um we're gonna do like call-ins like Howard Starren. Like can people call in?
SPEAKER_01I'd like to if we can we're not we neither of us are the are tech wizards here so we're gonna have to figure this out. Um maybe we'll do like I I we could I have an idea we can do maybe like once a month live with call-ins we're gonna have to have the same person keep calling in if we don't have a lineup and do different voices have the different accents and shit. But yeah it's uh we'll we'll try to get back to it here um and then we're gonna eventually look for any sponsors out there you know if once we go you know lot video yep um we'll be sure to you know have your your company logo uh in in the shot uh during during our podcast um but you know thanks for everybody who listens um spread the word if you like what we have to say you know if you think there's some things that you'd like us to talk about let us know. And if you don't like it you must be one of the grumpy parents and uh yeah so um if you have any uh uh ideas of any guests you think we should have on that could contribute to uh our nonsense let's maybe uh maybe an umpire we should try to get midge i don't know if she would or not i think she would i'll we'll hit her up later but yeah we want to hear all all sides that'll be a good one hear all the good stories out of her uh thanks everybody uh appreciate it um have a good night all right later
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