politics

Welcome to HSBBW.

One of the best way to get over politics is have your son just be the best and the coach will utilizes him the most to let him win.

Politics can and do exist at every level of baseball.All you can do is make sure your son is well prepared.If he is good enough, any good coach will have him on the field.You cant wory about politics, just focus on what you can do.ANd dont go into the HS season thinking that will happen. Be positive, and dont mention politcs and all that to your kid.Let him just play and have fun.

A 9th grade lefty throwing in the 80's will overcome a lot of politics. Let him focus on what he can control, which is the effort he puts forth, and don't think about, talk about,or worry about anything else.

You could sum it all up with two words from the third sentence of your post ---- "I'm afraid" ----
Fear Not! Dog you're just experiencing the emotion that all parents feel when they want ONLY the best for their child and you know that might not happen. Matter of fact you KNOW it won't always happen. You can rest assured your child will have the opportunity to do good. He will have his share of game winning hits or get the save in a big game but he will also strike out with the bases loaded and hit into a double play when the team is counting on him. He may even take the "L" in a game ---- Stay positive and welcome to the life of being the parent of an athlete....
Fungo

quote:

Originally posted by war dog:
My son is 9th grade, a lefthand pitcher that thoughs unofficially in the 80's has a mean circle chang, curvball and slider that he gets around the dish. He can hit the ball over 300 ft. oppisite field and is being professionally trained, he is 5'9" 195 lbs, wears size 13 spikes and hasn't really hit his growth spurt yet. I'm afraid that the high school that he is zoned for the coaches play favorites and get the info from outside sources such as father/coaches that will push thier kids, friends etc. out front. I'm not in a position were I can be around all the time due to my job like other fathers. it will be very frustrating seeing jr. odd man out due to the politics in all the high schools in our area...

Not sure where you got your info about the High School Coach, but it sounds like it came from disenchanted parents? We had a similar experience. We were told by some Parents of upperclassmen that it was all about politics and that their Sons were not playing because the Coach brought up 2 Freshman that were highly touted but unproven. One of those Freshman is now playing AA in the Cardinals organization and the other got a D1 scholarship! So, maybe the ones that are saying this are parents of less-than-talented kids?
My Son went through 4 years of this program with absolutely no issues!

Other than the annual intrasquad scrimmage, I never attended a High School baseball practice. Why would you need to? Most Coaches frown on it. Some prohibit it.

On another note, if your Son has a future in baseball, his High School adventure is not near as important as his Summer exposure. Get him on a top-notch Summer team that provides good training and exposure.

Going into HS, son had a new HC, he started on JV, I never worried about his playing time, son took care of that. I have found that parents who worry about their son's future playing time know in the back of their minds junior isn't the best. Now I'm sure there are some places where politics may play a role, but really if your son is a top notch player ( you should know by HS) playing time will not be an issue. I think 99% of coaches want the best chance to win. Even in our son's situation, the new coach wasn't his best supporter but had to because of his abilities as a catcher. And it just so happened the coach's son was our #1 pitcher. So it worked out for son, he and others on his team did not like playing for this man due to his attitude.

This can be much ado about nothing---I have found in my experience that if the player has the talent there is no probem with "politics"---then "politics"
seem to effect the parents of the players of lesser talent who feel their child is being wronged

Let you son do his thing on the field and all will be right with the world

I agree with all said here. Most coaches want to win. Last year on our team, the three starting pitchers were a freshman and two sophmores. There were 2 senior pitchers and a junior on the team. I think when we started the season, the parents of one of the seniors was very disgruntled. However, over the course of the season, he saw how his son performed and how the younger guys did. He wasn't real happy, but he quit grumbling so much.

There will always be some politics. Seniors will usually get preferential treatment, unless an underclassman is head and shoulders above him, but generally the coach wants to win and will play those with the talent to help him do that.

If your son is that good, I wouldn't worry too much. The other thing I wanted to say is, I wouldn't try talking to the coach and promoting him too much. Maybe let him know that he is there so the coach knows generally who he is before tryouts begin, but don't pump him up too much. Coach probably hears how good a parents kid is ad nauseum. And he hears it from parents whose kids really are good as well as from those whose kids are very bad. He has no way to know until the kids hit the field. If your kid has the stuff, he will play. Be confident in that.

If you see a huddle of parents away from the stands with their arms crossed and they don't smile very often, stay away from them. This is the "politics" crowd. They know everything. They alternately award themselves the title of Mr. Baseball. They know more than the coach. They know more than anyone about who should be playing.

I was warned about politics when my son was in middle school and on JV's his freshman year. When he started as a soph the only politics I heard about were the ones I supposedly played to have him be the first soph to start opening day in six years. The dad of the first freshman to ever start opening day heard the same thing. What the complaining parents overlooked was our kids had been playing up in travel for two years and already made 18U scout teams for the upcoming summer.

"Politics" happen to marginal players. The "politics" are the coach decided the player other than the complainer's son has better potential. I've never heard screams of politics from the parents of obvious starters.

Relax. Tell your son to work hard. Have him read How to Make the High School Team.

A lot of good advice....with your son's talent, he will do fine..if not this year then next....bottom line most every coach want to win. They will put the best on the field.

quote:

Originally posted by Fungo:
Fear Not! Dog you're just experiencing the emotion that all parents feel when they want ONLY the best for their child and you know that might not happen. Matter of fact you KNOW it won't always happen. You can rest assured your child will have the opportunity to do good.....Stay positive and welcome to the life of being the parent of an athlete....

True, double-true and triple-true!

wardog - You're feelin' the same way most parents feel when this HS thing begins. Try and relax and let your son's ability do the talking. Haven't met a HS coach yet who didn't want to win. No way (well at least 99 times out of 100) will a coach cut loose a kid who can help him win. Yes, there are a small handfull of knuckleheads out there...but FAR fewer than most parents believe.

Side note: Someone on here made a comment about summer ball being more important than HS ball. That may well be true in many circumstances...probably was for our older son. But I just want to comment that our younger son's HS coach (different HS than older one) is as good as it gets...been doin' this for 25 years, over 500 wins and many, many players on to college and pro ball (including MLB). So in this case, HS ball is at the very least AS important as summer ball, maybe moreso? And this has been confirmed by EVERY SINGLE college coach we have talked too with regards to this HS coach and team and our son's situation. But he also plays in one of the top summer programs...and as one college coach told us, "You've really got the best in both worlds." So don't write off or overlook either one.

I think this topic will always come up here at the hsbaseballweb. Excellent comments thus far...

I have no doubts politics exist at some level in every organization or endeavor. It is part of the human condition imho. With respect to baseball, there are some tools to overcome politics:

1) You cannot control the coach's decision so never discuss politics with your son. Encourage him to lay it all out on the line and let the chips fall where they may. If he comes up short, encourage him to be the best team player on the planet and be prepared for future opportunites.

2) Versatility can defeat politics. If you are a shorstop and the coaches son is a shorstop, it might be a tough gig to beat that kid out. If you can slide over to second or third, you have tripled your chances of playing. If you can play outfield, you have increased your odds even more.

3) For non-pitchers, if you can hit they will find a place for you in the lineup.

4) For pitchers, throw strikes and let the chips fall where they may. It is hard for a coach to have confidence in a kid who is afraid to throw strikes imho.

5) Only focus on those things you can control like...

a) first to arrive last to leave
b) have the best attitude on the team
c) be the hardest worker on the team
d) have the dirtiest uniform on the team
e) be the guy who hustles the most
f) be the best teammate
g) do any team dirty work that might need done like field maintenance, carrying the water cooler, shagging balls, picking up equipment, etc. etc., etc.
h) never hang your head
l) always concern yourself with your teammates first

These things can get you noticed and help you stand out in a crowd. Never ever make excuses. Even though politics may exist, never let it be an excuse. A big part of baseball is learning how to overcome the excuses.

Cleveland Dad: excellent list

war dog,
I don't like talking specifics about my son but I will tell of his HS situation because it can relate to you and all freshman players/parents.

Freshman year he did not make JV although he and I thought he was among the top couple of freshman players. Up to 5 or 6 freshman got JV time that year. Son was very upset. My advice? Go out and do what you do and things will work out.
Son went on to be the best hitter on the freshman team and never got an inning on JV. (Every year at the year end banquet the coaches give individual stat sheets to every player)

Sophmore year, same thing. Didn't make varsity. Extremely disappointed. Wanted to quit HS ball and wait for travel. Me? Same advice as freshman year.
Same results, best hitter (stat sheet) and power hitter. Although called up for V playoff game, not one inning played.

For the first time in my life I did call the JV coach to see if my son had any discipline issues for not playing. No issues, but he also didn't understand why not called up.

Junior year. Makes varsity, starts 1B, bats 3rd every game. Breaks HS season HR record, hits almost 500 and makes many post season all star teams.

I don't think it was politics with my son, maybe a coach with an agenda. But whatever the reason is that a kid doesn't play he should continue to play the game as he has up to that point.

The moral of this story is that if the talent is there it will be noticed and appreciated eventually, if not immediately. Don't let your son use politics or disappointments as a crutch. You will hear two things many times on this site, "just worry about what you can control" and "it's a marathon not a sprint". Two truer phrases you will never hear. If the talent is there they will get what they earn sooner or later if we, the parents, and outside nonsense stay out of the way.

Now back to our originally scheduled program!

These have been excellent posts. STAY away from the complainers , the whiners , the people who constantly talk about politics , the negative folks! They are miserable , they want another member to join their team. What is really sad is in many cases they have already made their son miserable as well. Do not listen to their stories that they will tell how this kid did this and this kid did that and then the coach did this and then the coach did that. They will spend four years of assisting each other in the negative environment. Once in awhile one of their kids will become a starter and they will fade from the club. Sometimes they will come right back as soon as he doesnt start. Well most of the time.

Do not concern yourself with the parents that appear to be gaining an advantage for their kids by playing apparent politics with the coaching staff. It serves no purpose to do this only than to cause you to worry about something that does not matter. Do not concern yourself with what these parents say about other players or the team. If you listen close enough you will rarely if ever hear them say anything positive about the other players unless the player is a son of one of the negative parents club. If you listen closely you will hear them constantly being negative and constantly pumping each others kids to oneanother and constantly putting down the players that play in front of the negative parents clubs kids.

Let it be fun and a positive experience for your son. Let it be a fun and positive experience for you. When its all over and this quick four years comes to an end you will be very glad you did. And if you dont you will wish like H ell you had.

The proof is obvious how this all works. Observe the parents that come to the park and cheer for the team and enjoy the games. Watch how they have a good time. Now observe the parents negative club. They only enjoyment they have is in seeing failure by the players in front of their kids. Using this as a way to validate their negative attitudes. Also observe how their attitude quickly changes when one of their sons earns a starting spot. Quickly that member is no longer wanted in the club. And that member is no longer feeling like they want to be in the club.

The people I am talking about are obvious. You will quickly learn who they are. You have the opportunity to make the right decision. I hope you do. Good luck to your son he sounds like a talented young player.

I think I have mentioned this before but I think it bears mentioning again with regard to politics in HS baseball

My sons senior year in HS saw a political move in town to remove the longtime baseball coach---it took place just before practice began in the spring--my son was devastated when he got the news

If you have a strong AD things can be averted-- he was forced to remove the coach but he took over after that---his search committee was himself, the Asst Principal and my son who was the team captain--I objected to my son being on the committee but he, my son, talked me out of it because he said he knew what was going on and he wanted a piece of the action--they got the highly successful football coach to apply, he had been a baseball stud at the Division II college level, ---he got the job and all went well---my point is that if there is a strong system in place the politics can be aborted

Funny thing is that some 15 years laters we all touch base every now and then

I can speak from the point of view of a son who had the rare really bad H.S coach. He played JV for 2 years, did his work and got what he could out of it, played on excellent summer teams for good coaches and is playing in college, the only one to do so in that coaches ten year H.S. career. He knows the coach is just a rotten human being and now that he is out of H.S he does what he can to steer the local kids who want to pursue their dream to avenues where the ****** coach has little impact. He even is the pitching coach for the middle school kids during the summer. I could not be more proud. The adversity in my opinion made him a better player in the long run, he learned life is not fair, some coaches are to be avoided if you can, and you can still prevail in the face of adversity.

I agree with all the advice given...very good stuff...

However, being a good ball player is not always good enough...you can be the best kid on the team and if your attitude sucks, well, some coaches will send you packing...

This happened at my kid's school last year...the kid, clearly the best kid on the team. Yet, he felt entitiled and did not have to work hard to keep a spot on the team because he was the best player on the team. He was also a bully, who picked on others. As you would expect, he had an overall bad attitude. The coach gave him two years to mature and develop, but then decided he could tolerate it no more...and cut him in his senior year.

Devastating to the kid and his parents would be an understatement of how they felt. Getting cut in your senior year when you're trying to manuever to get into the best school and BB program you can and then get cut? Wow, this could seem like the end of the world to a kid. Indeed, the dad came so unglued at the coach he had to be escorted off the school campus. Not a good situation.

Anyway, the point is that no matter how good your son is he needs to keep working and striving to get better while respecting his teamates, coaches, teachers and fellow students. To remember playing the game is a privilage and not a right. Your son will play at the discreation of the coach and he should respect his decisions. Do not complain about the coach in front of your son because nothing good ever comes out of this. Have your son focus on his skills and try to ignore and forget anything else.

Play your game and not the game of politics...

Great point coach. I agree 100%.