Jr. High Softball League

[fpcoach]

Jr. High Softball
Southeastern Ohio Softball Club
Will have and organizational meeting Tuesday the 17th 6:30pm at Notre Dame High School. Any coach that wants to enter their team into the league is invited. All information will be discussed at that time.

Darrell 740 285-7566

[Strikeout]

Are you going to let girls from other schools that does not have a team go to the boarding schools. I know in alot of sports if your school does not have a sport function you can go to the boarding school to play.

[ManitouDan]

I'm sure that will be discussed at the meeting, but last year it seemed to create more problems that it solved. Some folks were unhappy with it, some were OK with it. So to keep problems to a minimum the sentiment was that this time around only girls from your school can play at your school.



Coack K -- did you get an email from me 1-2 weeks ago ? Dan

[Strikeout]

If this is to help the kids get better and your school does not offer it and can not get anyone to coach it then the kids should be able to go to the boardering school and play. Iam not saying a kid from coal grove go play at west, Iam saying girls from rock hill go play at either Ironton or Wheelersburg. Rock Hill borders both school districts.

[ManitouDan]

Hey Strikeout - I'm with you my friend but others in the league were against it. Hopefully you can make it to the meting and voice your opinion. Last year a few kids ( 1-2 from west , at least 1 from portsmouth, 2-3 from NW ) that did'nt have a team played at other schools. But you get into the area of what if a school brings in a stud pitcher , then people could get upset if she dominates your team and strikes out 14 kids . Or a team that is already good picks up 2-3 kids to turn their average team into a great team.

But thats why Coach Keller is having the meeting. Last year was the 1st year for this group of teams playing together. All in all , it went really well and everyone was happy with it. The meeting is to address any/all concerns -- I hope you can make it. The attitudes from nearly everyone involved was very very good last year. MD

[Strikeout]

Thanks Manitoudan. I also agree if your school does not have it then they should be able to go else where and play.
I dont know if I can make the meeting or not do to work but hopefully someone can bring this up and work it out.

Thanks

[Fastpitch Coach]

Does Jr High Softball have a 7th grade group and an 8th grade group, or do you combine both grades to form your teams? Also, are younger girls ( 6th grade ) allowed to play with the 7th grade girls?

[The_Sports_Junky]

Does Jr High Softball have a 7th grade group and an 8th grade group, or do you combine both grades to form your teams? Also, are younger girls ( 6th grade ) allowed to play with the 7th grade girls?

We wanted to have a 7th grade division and a 8th grade division but did not have enough 7th grade teams. Hopefully it will happen this year.

I think we had some teams with 6th graders last year.

[ManitouDan]

last year Valley and ND had seperate 7th and 8th grade teams , so the answer is Yes. Mixing grades is fine also. Valley could not have had 2 teams had they not had a couple West-Nothwest players play to have enough for 2 rosters. Thats one of the good things about allowing a kid or 2 from another school be able to play . Valley had 16-18 kids try out . If they only field one team 2 bad things happen --Valley kids get cut (can't keep that many) , and the couple kids from the 2 other schools don't get to play . Some are of the opinion having players not all from one school is unfair to those that do . Thats OK , everyone just needs to realize there are very legit arguments for and against it and neither way is 100 % best .

The other side of the coin is if you put pressure on the schools that DON"T have teams by not allowing their kids to be farmed out to some other school then they might put forth more effort to field a team.

Yes , several 6th graders played up to have enough to form a 6-7th grade team.

[Peanut]

Is this a school sponsored league, or just parents who are putting together a league?
If the school or little league do not sponsor it then who makes the rules of whether someone can play or not? I believe a kid should get to play no matter what. If they can't find a team at their own school or league and someone needs a player then why not? A kid from the school should not be cut so that another kid from another school can play, though. Maybe have a player pool or something. Put the kids together who want to play and put them on teams who need a few players to make a team, something should be worked out so the kids can play, though.

[ManitouDan]

gapper --not school sponsored. The coach's run the league .

[The_Sports_Junky]

This league is not a travel ball league. There are many leagues children can play in if your community does not want to put a team in. I know many High School coaches watch these kids play and pratice.

I think this program should be run on the OHSAA rules. High School is only a year or two away and you can't jump boarders in High School so why should we allow it in Jr. High?

[osumufan]

Can't run it by OHSAA rules if the schools aren't willing to foot the bill. So if local coaches put together a team and use a kid from somewhere else so be it. Why not give kids that aren't going to have a team a chance to play. Maybe those kids can be put into a pool and picked up by teams that need some extra players.The goal of the league is to make the kids better players and to not be sitting on their butts until the High School season is done to get some workouts in. If your goal is only about winnning the league then that is crazy.

[Peanut]

Right on. That is what I was saying. Just pool the players. You might have a school that has only 7 or 8 interested, why hurt that team by not picking up enough to play. Same goes to the one or two who don't have a team. It is a win-win situation. I really don't have a kid in this league, but you have some kids who would do anything to play and yet don't have a team to play, just let the kids play. Have a pool, put the kids as close to home as possible and if they really want to play then they will go. Some schools can't have a league because they have no fields. I'm sure that is the case at Rock Hill and some others. They have one girls field and little league starts using it in March. High School field is off limits except for high school ball.

[Gomer]

I think the answer to all of this is WAY TO EASY........

If the girls don't have a place to play, then someone needs to get off their butt and put together a team!

It seems like there are so many people looking for an easy way out. So many people want someone else to do all of the hard work and try to make their kid a better ball player. Then they have the audacity to sit back and complain when things don't go the way they think they should!

This is easy people......don't take it out on the coaches who do put in the time and effort. I know this is a big, bad world, but it's not the job of Coach "A" to help build the program of an opposing team. I don't see any high school coaches putting together camps/practices for their biggest rival.

If you don't like the way something is being done.....do something about it instead of complaining. Put together your own team!

[ManitouDan]

like I said , no easy answers. I will state this with 100% authority --COACHING ISN"T EASY . Even Jr high softball, you have to arrange practices , do field prep , arrange the umps, make sure everyone has rides to and from games , call all 10-14 kids every time you have a change in schedule ( think how often that happens in the spring !) It's a time eater ! Then to do all that to make someone else's HS program stronger because no one would step up and invest their time and energy . It a legit argument to say " I'm doing this to better the softball program at _______ jr and high school . "

[The_Sports_Junky]

I agree with Gomer and MD.

I coach a Jr. High team. I am blessed that our school does support our team. I am paid to coach (not much but I don't plan on getting rich from coaching anyway). I carried 15 players from our school and one of the league rules is, all players must play. Many of our girls has never played before. My point is I don't care about winning the league. My goal is to teach the girls the game of softball so they have a chance to win the league in High School. Winning the league in Jr High Is like winning a 9-10 Little League, You win the area league but do not advance to state.

There is no need for any player to sit on there butts. There is many leagues in our area like ASA,NSA,PONY,Little League,USSSA,etc...... Why turn Jr High Softball into a travel league? Jr. High Baseball do not pick up players from other schools why do it in softball.

Burg has one field for High School, Jr. High, And Little League. They made it work.
ND has one field and had 2 Jr. High teams and a High School team. They made it work.
Now your telling me Rock Hill can't get field time? I've been to Hill and I find it hard to believe you have a hard time getting field time.

How can little schools like East,ND, and Clay field a team but a school like RH can't ?

I think most coaches was happy with our league last year. DK done a fine job running the league. I am happy DK is back this year and hope the league is as good this year as it was last year.

[Peanut]

Like I said, I don't even have a kid involved. I know a couple of girls that just want to play, that is all. There is not enough girls for a team, and yes, only one field. Starting March, (2-3) 9-10 yr old teams, 2 -11/12 teams and only one field. The High School field is off limits, without a doubt!!! If my girl was involved, and I could come up with enough girls, I would still have to go somewhere else. The schools do not fund it, nor will they get involved. I'm telling you, there is not a field to count on!! If you don't want to believe me, ask others!!!!! Don't judge me or the parents here, I would just like to see the couple of girls that want to play--play. I thought maybe a school was close to having a team (like 8-9 players), have a field and just needed a couple of players to make a team, I wasn't starting any issue or anything, just like to see the kids play, that is all!!! I agree, you would think it could happen here, but you would have to live here to understand. That's the end of it for me, I'm just one that wants to see the kids play that's all.

[headhunter1]

You right DK did a great job starting and running the league last year. He does not have a kid in the league and none that will be in it in the future he does it for the love of the game. He also has offered his field for other teams practice and games. Last year one of the teams did not have a home field, so he scheduled his HS team, the 2 JH team and the other schools JH team so they could play. That field is open to 3-travel ball team and the local little league during the summer and he keeps it in shape for them.

Just wanted to say good job DK

[fpcoach]

Southeastern Ohio Club
Jr.High Softball League
The teams that have signed up are:
1 Notre Dame
2 Notre Dame ?
3 SouthWebster
4 Oak Hill
5 Clay
6Wheelersburg
7 Minford
8 East
The teams that have called to say they are trying to get a team together are:

Rock Hill
West

I need to hear from these two teams and any other team that want to join the league by Tuesday March the 3rd. Please send me an email stating your team wants to join the league and provide me with:

Team Name (School)
Contact number
Email address
Thanks,

Darrell [email protected]