I like what I see
We are going to begin our official pre-season conditioning on Sept. 1st for the high school season. We could actually have begun as early as Aug. 14, however our head coach felt that a conditioning period from Aug. 14 all the way until Oct. 23 was quite long. Therefore, he decided on Sept. 1 as the official first day of conditioning for softball.
However, there are some players that have been going out to the track or to the weight room on their own time voluntarily. Most of them are seniors, but I like it because it is a change from last year. Last year's senior class never really opted to do much more than what was required of them. This year's class, though inexperienced at this Varsity level, seems to be taking a different path. That's a good sign which is why I say I like what I see. Not that last year was bad, but we no longer have our conference title and we didn't make it back to the state championship game, so I'm looking for more this year.
I say this senior class is inexperienced at this level because the '07 class had 0 representatives on our team as freshman and as sophomores. All of the '07 players on last year's team were rookies and none of them had a regular starting role. So it will be interesting to see if any of them step up to become a starter and if so, will they also step up and become a leader as well?
Maybe people ask me, "So how does the team look this year" or "What kind of season are you going to have?" Well, I haven't seen this year's team so I can't say anything with certainty. We, as coaches, always have a general idea of how we think things will go, but I'm finding that what we think is going to be rarely is. Some players improve greatly over the summer, others get worse. Some come back as expected some don't. Then there are always surprising new faces - players that we didn't know of or new students at the school. Then there is also the factor of how much (or how little) players have developed as far as maturity. Just like anything else, sometimes it's a pleasant surprise, other times it's a disappointment. Whatever the case, it's always quite difficult to accurately predict the outcome of the season prior to even getting started. I certainly know what I would like to happen and I know what I expect to happen, but whether or not we'll get to that point remains to be seen. But no matter what, it's always fun, and I look forward to another year of high school softball.
However, there are some players that have been going out to the track or to the weight room on their own time voluntarily. Most of them are seniors, but I like it because it is a change from last year. Last year's senior class never really opted to do much more than what was required of them. This year's class, though inexperienced at this Varsity level, seems to be taking a different path. That's a good sign which is why I say I like what I see. Not that last year was bad, but we no longer have our conference title and we didn't make it back to the state championship game, so I'm looking for more this year.
I say this senior class is inexperienced at this level because the '07 class had 0 representatives on our team as freshman and as sophomores. All of the '07 players on last year's team were rookies and none of them had a regular starting role. So it will be interesting to see if any of them step up to become a starter and if so, will they also step up and become a leader as well?
Maybe people ask me, "So how does the team look this year" or "What kind of season are you going to have?" Well, I haven't seen this year's team so I can't say anything with certainty. We, as coaches, always have a general idea of how we think things will go, but I'm finding that what we think is going to be rarely is. Some players improve greatly over the summer, others get worse. Some come back as expected some don't. Then there are always surprising new faces - players that we didn't know of or new students at the school. Then there is also the factor of how much (or how little) players have developed as far as maturity. Just like anything else, sometimes it's a pleasant surprise, other times it's a disappointment. Whatever the case, it's always quite difficult to accurately predict the outcome of the season prior to even getting started. I certainly know what I would like to happen and I know what I expect to happen, but whether or not we'll get to that point remains to be seen. But no matter what, it's always fun, and I look forward to another year of high school softball.
posted by Stacie | 11:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home