The problem with early commitments

It seems as though girls are verbally committing to colleges earlier and earlier. And it's not just happening in softball, but in other sports as well. What are the pros in doing this? What are the cons?

There are a few articles that have already been written on this subject that you can read up on:
What You Need To Know About Verbal Commitments
Softball players making college choices before their first high school games
Recruiting, commitment process begins early for softball stars
NCAA softball coaches troubled by recruits committing at younger ages
The Early Recruiting Dilemma (Part 1)
The Early Recruiting Dilemma (Part 2)
Early commits: Pros and cons of latest prep trend

Don't get me wrong, how great is it when your not-yet-freshman has already been offered a scholarship to play softball at a great institution? Oh the stories you can offer to friends and family about how your super star is going to ______ and she hasn't even graduated high school or taken her SATs yet! Oh the many social media posts bragging about such a feat.

But is it really in your child's best interest? Sometimes, girls have not yet developed into the body that they will have in college. There are ever-changing and evolving skills that they can pick-up or lose. There are, knock on wood, injuries that could be game changers. What if the coaching staff at that institution changes over and the new staff will not honor the original offer from 4-5 years ago that the previous staff made? What if little Janey changes her mind and decides she doesn't want to leave sunny Southern California and live in the middle of Oklahoma?

It's really a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly. Many times girls haven't even matured enough to know what they want in 8-9th grade. I guess it all depends on the girl, the family, the coach, the institution and the other miscellaneous circumstances around the situation. But be forewarned, if you accept an offer early because you can't wait to brag and tell everyone and their moms about it, it's probably not the right decision.

Play to ... lose?

You always play to win, right? What if the team you were on played to win, most of the time? Would you be OK with that? Would you be OK with it if it meant advancing your daughter’s team to the championship game?

There is some controversy now about a team throwing a game on purpose to position themselves more favorably in the Softball Little League World Series. I think it’s wrong and the coaches should be penalized. And at this age, I’m sure the girls on the team, especially their four hottest hitters who were benched during the game in question, knew about the plans the coach had laid out for that fateful game.

Unfortunately, we’ve come across some teams that “throw” games on purpose to either position themselves better, or to totally screw another team out of a good position. No matter what any organization or association says, this issue has to be dealt with. What kind of message does this teach to the girls? Try your best all the time except for when it can benefit you better for losing. Say what?

What do you think about this? 

Tryouts, tryouts, tryouts

'Tis the season for sotball tryouts.

There's this neat site called HeyBucket where people post about everything and anything. There are also times when topics can get heated! And while entertaining, it's sad that some parents operate in such a fashion to intimidate other parents, put kids down and basically be an @$$.

Before Fall season starts up, many teams and girls are making changes. In southern California, many girls move to travel ball after a successful first-year 12u season in rec. Coming from a smaller group of 10u travel teams, it's amazing how many MORE 12u travel teams there are in SoCal! Just look at how many topics are in the "Looking for players board!

Line after line of this team looking for this and that and we're great and we're better than all the rest when really... they are all the same. What makes an organization better than another? Is it because they've got hotshots and heads of PGF "running" the organization and "mentoring" their teams? Let's be real. Bruce Richardson and Tony Rico are not coming to every practice. They are not going to "mentor" your team in the true sense that mentoring is. Extending a successful organization name out to others is profitable. The teams pay $ to use the name and claim to be a part of an organization. The $ rolls up to the top and funds the main 18u team, and puts $ in the big dog's pockets. Many organizations even pay their coaches! 

And that's fine and dandy and all, if you like that kind of thing. 

I'd love to see some statistics on how many travel teams a girl goes through in the span of her softball career. I'd like to see the stats on how many travel coaches are paid. How many players are flown in from other cities/state to play for a travel team (granted this is more popular in 16u and 18u, it's absolutely mind boggling for 10u and 12u). I'd like to see the win/loss ration of teams that pay their coaches to teams with volunteer coaches.

Until then we do the best we can "for our girls". After all, it is them that are playing. It is the girls that we sacrifice our Saturdays and Sundays for. 

Which softball association is better?

Photo credit: Diamond Sports Hotshots Facebook page

First off, congratulations to the Diamond Sports Hotshots of Texas for their Inaugural PGF 10u National Championship win! They came back from the loser's bracket to meet the team that put them there in the championship game. Then they put on a great show of athleticism and perseverance to win it all. 

I enjoyed that the final games were streamed live on YouTube. Excellent move by PGF. After work I was able to relax at home and watch the game. My daughter was also watching it on YouTube from where she was that day. While we weren't rooting for any particular team to win, we were so enveloped in the game.

I'm curious to see the views and stats on the live video feed. I think interest in softball is growing and hard numbers like this will prove it. Maybe next year a sports network like ESPN will pick it up. Visibility is what softball needs to grow and thrive. It just makes sense, sports with the most airtime will get the most interest among young athletes. Kudos to PGF for trying to increase visibility of this great sport.

Now a lot of talk has been going on about which softball association is better; ASA, PGF, USSSA, USFA, Triple Crown Sports. That's an interesting discussion that won't find an answer anytime soon, but it's great to hear arguments for all sides. I particularly like one argument that says it changes depending on when you look at it. This year a majority of people think it's PGF. A few years back it was ASA. I think it also depends on age division. It will be great to see who keeps pushing to make their tournaments better each year. It's an exciting time for this sport!

Teams are moving up in division, holding tryouts for new athletes, and starting their fall seasons with friendlies. Although a week or two break is needed, this mom can't wait for the next season to start! My daughter's team is moving up to 12s which I hear is a whole new beast. I'm excited to take it all in and enjoy this time! As long as my daughter is enjoying playing this sport that she loves so dearly, I'm happy.