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13 replies

Sad - HS team is siphoning catcher's passion

S slbaseballdad100+ posts
Help..... sorry this is so long.

Son was fortunate to make soph baseball team. Starting and only catcher. Team is full of jack arounds and slack offs. Long story short.....majority of kids won't follow coaches pregame agility routine (my son put in charge). Most kids complain and whine the whole time. Some won't execute plays called by my son. Coach is the girls basketball coach that does nothing. Line ups are scripted by varsity coach.

My son loves this game. Has a real passion for it. He's never run into this before. Has always played for disiplined teams. Varsity head coach has said to JV coach in front of my son that he is one of the most baseball intelligent kids through the program in a while. Reminded of another kid that was a 2 year var starter at catcher. Asked my son in the convo if he takes advanced classes (he does). Has always known most of the kids. They are a very tough crowd to break. All very strong willed. Alot of the instigators are non-starters.

My potential advice:
1. Keep doing what you know is right;
2. Its not your job to make the kids do the pregame right; it is your job to give them the opportunity to;
3. Regarding pregame...put it back on the ones who won't do it..."If you can't keep up, all the wussies go over there and watch. The rest of us will be getting ready for the game".
4. Get an appointment with var coach and ask for advice. Don't say any names. Just give the back ground and ask for advice. If he rips into the team making them run or something, do it with them.
5. There's one or two kids that are candidates for this next one due to being tired of the **** too. Talk to one and convince him to stand with him.
6. JV team does everything right. Try to get the whole team to go to a JV game (in time for pregame) to see how is done.
7. ??????????????

I've never seen him so discouraged. He hates it. Fair assessment...his not a socialite. Has many friends but doesn't live by texting or facebook. In my opinion, hes what I would call a quite leader. He does things the right way. He doesn't get into trouble. If the coach says to scratch your nose, he scratches his nose.

Please help. How would you advice him?
Last edited {1}
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trojan-skippertrojan-skipper1,000+ posts
I agree, Number 1 is good advice.

To go a little deeper into this, it looks like the JV team is being run by a coach that is committed to doing a good job and his players respect that. It looks like the V coach just doesn't really care what goes on at the soph team because believe me he knows those guys are screwing around for the most part. I'd bet you he also knows who is not screwing around... advise your son to stay in the group who is not messing around (which sounds like a given, but kids can join in and mess up.... that's my take anyway.

He still has much to gain, he's getting to practice every day and has games scheduled; make the best of it and try to get a summer team that will really stretch his development. best wishes and keep us posted
M Momof1B100+ posts
All your son can do is lead by example. It is a maturity issue, and he can't control the rest of the players.

Not an easy fix, but he just needs to play the game and not get to stressed about the knuckleheads.
He sounds a lot like my son and now that they are seniors, those same knuckleheads are looking to my son for help.
Good Luck and keep us posted about his season.
zombywoofzombywoof1,000+ posts
If a player's passion is siphoned out, then he probably never had the passion to begin with. Blaming slackers sounds like more of an excuse than anything else. A player with a passion for the game will look past the slackers and continue to do what they need to do to prepare for a game and let the coaches deal with it if this is really an issue that's having a negative affect in the locker room and dugout. If it's bench scrubs, then it especially shouldn't make any difference at all to the player.
Last edited by zombywoof
BaseballGr8BaseballGr810+ posts
It's understandable he's discouraged but who's to say his passion is being siphoned? I mean it might seem that way, but only he can say that for sure. I know I worry alot more than my son when it comes to these sort of things, the kids handle things much better than us. It's just the beginning of the season, maybe he can take this as an opportunity and not a problem. Not saying it would be easy, but this could be an opportunity for him to lead the way. Anyhow, I hope things aren't as bad as it sounds and he has a good season!
Last edited by BaseballGr8
S slbaseballdad100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by BaseballGr8:
It's understandable he's discouraged but who's to say his passion is being siphoned?


Its my interpretation of what I see. I very well could be over analyzing. Its gotten a little better. He's also resigned himself to the reality of having to deal with the jack arounds and slackers as part of HS baseball. Especially at the sophmore team level. He also got some reinforcement from the JV and Var coaches regarding the pregame stuff and one person only makes play calls (him).

The passion is still there. He was invited to play the May short season of Kyle Chapman as a tryout for their summer teams. Very excited about that. Its getting better. Thanks for the replies.
Last edited by slbaseballdad
fillsfanfillsfan1,000+ posts
I believe that all players will rise to the level that their talent allows. That is if they work at developing the talent. Many, many players in high school are on teams they think they do not belong on as freshman and sophomores. Most of them probably are on the right team and only the parents don't believe it.

The others that maybe are on the wrong team will eventually be where they belong. The talent and results will speak for themselves and all politics, or bad decisions will disappear.

My advice if someone finds themself in this position is to just continue to do your best on the team you happen to be on. Don't complain to other parents, the coach or your player. Let the on field results be the decision maker. It will usually work out exactly the way it should.

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