Pay to play !!!!!!!!

I

IceDad34

Active member
My daughters High School team only had 18 girls show up to try out for High school softball. Is this a result of pay to play or do we push travel ball now over High school ball. We are the second biggest Div. 1 school and yet we cant get enough girls out to field a freshman, JV and Varsity. any suggestions on what we can do as parents to help our schools program. I just cant see paying $250 this year and possible $400 next year when half the team is not that serious about playing softball . This is an honest question !My daughter loves her school , friends and coaches but when do you say its to much to pay. Then turn around and pay for travel ball .
 
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I've heard the same thing at many schools. I know schools that have lost some of their best athletes to lacrosse or they're playing aau basketball. I think boys are seeing the same number problems with baseball in a number of programs. Would love to hear more "chatter" on this topic and how to keep girls interested in softball.
 
Summer sports (softball, basketball, etc) are getting out of control... and I coach spring/summer basketball but I can't stand some of what's going on either... it's all a matter of perspective. The trend has been towards the travel/all-star team being the primary focus and making the hs program secondary and that is imho a scary direction to head with amateur sports. I'm so sick of hearing all these coaches and parents selling/sold on the promise of the almight college scholarship $$ when most won't get that. There are other reasons to play.

That being said (back on topic), pay to play is bound to hurt any program more so at the 'bench' and jv/frosh levels because your best players will pay that amount to play but the 'good' or average players won't put up the $$$ just to have fun.
 
Two words for you IceDad...

Open Enrollment!
Seriously, if the game is as important to you and your DD as it seems by your post then you should look into other programs. She only has 4 years to play HS ball and it really does go by so quick! Why would you want her in a less than optimal situation?
 
pay to participate is ruining high school sports and everything h.s. sports stands for schools pass high dollar levies and you still pay,why? parents should be able to see an itemized breakdown of what this money is being used for:shrug:
 
fparkfan,
I have thought about that. To be honest I have been confronted by two area teams to get her to transfer but we are commited to her school. Travel ball will carry her a long way. Was just wondering how to improve her situation . Both my daughter and I take softball very serious. We will see how the year goes.
 
Icedad; We had the same problem in Westerville - $400.00 for pay to participate -- We had small numbers last two years -- Since then our levy passed and fees went down to $100.00 and numbers are back up - 34 tried out. not bad for one of the three westerville high schools.
 
Pay to play

pay to play has not benifitted any sport program other than to keep it alive so players who want to play will sacrifice paying.Numbers will drop, and the dominos start falling.Underclass players who should be getting experience and improving on J.V. will have to be put on varsity so to fill that roster. They will be at the end of the bench with no chance of getting better,one year of playing time and experience lost. Fresman will be placed on jv to fill that void, freshman team dropped because not enough players left. Second year in those players who sat will drop, why pay to sit. the whole program will suffer. Your top players will still pay,they love to play and they have worked hard every year, there teams will suffer in depth but their commitment will keep them there. They love to play!
 
Im not worried about playing time. My daughter starts as a freshman but it just seems as though the program is falling apart and was wondering what I could do to help. Dont really know if I can .
 
IceDad34 said:
fparkfan,
I have thought about that. To be honest I have been confronted by two area teams to get her to transfer but we are commited to her school. Travel ball will carry her a long way. Was just wondering how to improve her situation . Both my daughter and I take softball very serious. We will see how the year goes.
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Hang in there IceDad34, everything will be fine. Here is a quote I picked up from over at OFC that is true in most cases. :thumb:

"High school softball is for moms & dads, press clippings and wearing your school's uniform. It's a great experience that the masses can enjoy.
Travel softball is for training, competing against the best in the world and earning athletic scholarships. This is for about 1% of the population."
 
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samgsdad said:
pay to participate is ruining high school sports and everything h.s. sports stands for schools pass high dollar levies and you still pay,why? parents should be able to see an itemized breakdown of what this money is being used for:shrug:
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You can see a breakdown, at every level of the book. All you have to do is go to board meetings. This is all very public info down to a stapler.
 
IceDad34 said:
Im not worried about playing time. My daughter starts as a freshman but it just seems as though the program is falling apart and was wondering what I could do to help. Dont really know if I can .
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IceDad, has your team ever thought about a reverse raffle or night at the races ? I know a few schools that raise over 10K per event for these events. If you PM me, I will give you everything I have to assist helping make yours a success.
 
SportsFan... my recommendation on the fund-raising idea would be to check with your BOE first because sometimes systems have the 'raised by all/shared by all' policy and this may especially apply in a cash-strapped system.

IceDad... if you guys are going to stick it out at the original school, then she'll have to suck-it-up and tone down some of her competitiveness and realize the difference between playing for fun and playing to win. Otherwise I could see some frustration on the horizon. A long talk with the Varsity coach should help get everyone on the same page here.
 
fparkfan said:
SportsFan... my recommendation on the fund-raising idea would be to check with your BOE first because sometimes systems have the 'raised by all/shared by all' policy and this may especially apply in a cash-strapped system.

IceDad... if you guys are going to stick it out at the original school, then she'll have to suck-it-up and tone down some of her competitiveness and realize the difference between playing for fun and playing to win. Otherwise I could see some frustration on the horizon. A long talk with the Varsity coach should help get everyone on the same page here.
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Half full/half empty. I think it is assumed that the proper authorization would be had before having this event but thanks for stating the obvious.:Ohno:
 
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