Finally - Handling the Ball
As you may or may not know, our high school season in Hawaii is just starting up. Last Monday was the first day we could handle the ball and actually have a practice. Before that all we could do was conditioning so we are definitely glad to be on the field.
This year however, our start date sort of got pushed back a little. Previously our regular season didn't start until about the second week of December and pitchers and catchers were allowed to throw around mid-Oct. This year (and last) our first game is the last Wed. of November. So we have about 5 weeks from the first practice to our first game. Many of the coaches were grumbling about the start date being pushed back because the season moved up and because we can still start scrimmaging on Nov. 1. The powers that be said they made the move to not handling the ball until Oct. 23 for everyone so that things could be more fair. To whom? Is it fair to the newer girls to only have one week to learn the game and then be thrown into pre-season tournament situations?
Each weekend of November there is a pre-season tournament going on - it has been this way for a long, long time. It baffles me that the higher ups who don't coach and don't work with the girls can feel that postponing the start of on-field training while moving up the first game of the season is a good idea. The softball commissioner of our league has told us that the best thing to do would be to write up a complaint at the end of the season, make copies for all the coaches, and submit it to those in charge. So we'll see what happens for the years to come.
But for this year, we have our first pre-season tournament beginning on Thursday. This is when things get interesting. We are fortunate to have players who do have experience and are not new to the game. Some of them are new to this level of play though and I'm interested in seeing how they handle themselves. So far, I like the attitude of the team as a whole. What a relief that is. A great team attitude makes our job as coaches much easier. We have just 3 returning starters this year (2 juniors and 1 sophomore), so all of our senior class is fighting for a first time starting role on this team. I'm looking forward to an exciting year as usual. One of the great things about coaching is that each team is different and each year presents it's own set of challenges. It's certainly not boring.
This year however, our start date sort of got pushed back a little. Previously our regular season didn't start until about the second week of December and pitchers and catchers were allowed to throw around mid-Oct. This year (and last) our first game is the last Wed. of November. So we have about 5 weeks from the first practice to our first game. Many of the coaches were grumbling about the start date being pushed back because the season moved up and because we can still start scrimmaging on Nov. 1. The powers that be said they made the move to not handling the ball until Oct. 23 for everyone so that things could be more fair. To whom? Is it fair to the newer girls to only have one week to learn the game and then be thrown into pre-season tournament situations?
Each weekend of November there is a pre-season tournament going on - it has been this way for a long, long time. It baffles me that the higher ups who don't coach and don't work with the girls can feel that postponing the start of on-field training while moving up the first game of the season is a good idea. The softball commissioner of our league has told us that the best thing to do would be to write up a complaint at the end of the season, make copies for all the coaches, and submit it to those in charge. So we'll see what happens for the years to come.
But for this year, we have our first pre-season tournament beginning on Thursday. This is when things get interesting. We are fortunate to have players who do have experience and are not new to the game. Some of them are new to this level of play though and I'm interested in seeing how they handle themselves. So far, I like the attitude of the team as a whole. What a relief that is. A great team attitude makes our job as coaches much easier. We have just 3 returning starters this year (2 juniors and 1 sophomore), so all of our senior class is fighting for a first time starting role on this team. I'm looking forward to an exciting year as usual. One of the great things about coaching is that each team is different and each year presents it's own set of challenges. It's certainly not boring.
posted by Stacie | 6:46 AM
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