BYU softball is the epitome of the word consistency.
The Cougars have done nothing but win over the last decade and a half. BYU has won a conference championship each of the last 11 years, continuing to grab conference titles despite playing in four different conferences (Mountain West, Western Athletic, Pacific Coast and currently the West Coast).
Head coach Gordon Eakin has been there 18 years now, with his team posting a winning record in each of them. The Cougars are currently on a run of 15 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, and they broke through to the Super Regionals in 2010.
There was no NCAA Tournament in the COVID-19-shortened 2020, but the Cougars were 14-9 and playing well when the season was shuttered.
As Beverly Smith heads into her 11th season at the helm as head coach of the South Carolina softball program, who better to deal with change and the often-heard phrase “new normal.” She has dealt with change since she took over the program in 2010. That change resulted in the Gamecocks going to NCAA postseason play 7 of the 10 years. Those changes saw her become only the 2nd softball coach in South Carolina history to get over 300 career wins.
That experience in dealing with adjustments and the ability to stay on top of the ever-changing landscape of the COVID-19 world that we all work to adjust to, could be the difference in how the season plays out for the Gamecocks.
Gamecocks Softball Coach Smith Leads the Huddle Before the Game
Char Lorenz is one of the youngest players on Misty Boteler’sIndiana Magic Gold softball team, but that has proven no hindrance for the rising star in the Class of 2023.
Lorenz is ranked as the No. 6 utility player and 19th player overall in her class by the Fastpitch Network, and she’s just getting started.
“She fit right into our group,” said Boteler, who has worked with Lorenz for a few years even before Lorenz joined her team. “She has a lot of potential and she doesn’t even know yet how good she is. She’s pretty humble.”
As a young athlete I never understood why my parents spent majority of the innings I spent competing on the travel and high school softball circuit behind the outfield fence. I accused them of being anti-social and rude. Other parents hung out, had cook outs together, and seemingly more fun on the countless number of out of town weekend softball tournament trips. My parents wanted nothing to do with anything other than watching me compete. They would not engage in what has become sideline madness that plagues the youth sports scene.
Twenty plus years later, and with many years of competing, coaching, and instructing under my belt, I finally understand. Parents are crazy. They are sucking the fun and the many valuable lessons right out of the whole experience for their kids.
Thanks to the amazing new Zap-a-Slacker, parents are able to send a mild electrical current to their daydreamy Little Leaguers.
Who are these parents?
Red flag #1: They make excuses. If their kid does not play, it is always due to the fault of others. You will hear every excuse in the book. Kids not playing due to politics, mixed messages on instruction and what they have learned from different coaches, so and so’s parents are members of the booster club, the coach hates my kid, blah, blah, blah. The list goes on and on. There is zero accountability or responsibility placed on their kid for potential reasons they are not seeing game time.
Red flag #2: They rip apart other kids. They are quick to point out the flaws of other kids who see more playing time. They compare their kid to others and typically have well prepared arguments highlighting why their darling daughter is a better athlete and more deserving of playing time. An athlete’s teammates are very likely their friends as well. When a parent tries to make her daughter feel better by saying “I don’t know why Jenny always gets to play more innings than you, she makes a ton of errors ”, it is very uncomfortable for her child. You are talking behind the back of their friend and you are destroying the critical trust that teammates need in each other and their coach. Keep your thoughts to yourself.
Red flag #3: Sense of entitlement. These parents will e-mail, text, call, and corner coaches after games questioning playing time. They believe with every ounce of their being that little Susie should be in the game, specifically with a starting role. The rose colored glasses may as well be a blindfold. They do not care or often consider the humiliation they cause for their kid by approaching a coach in this way. Imagine your significant other contacting your boss when you have not received the raise or promotion they think you deserve. There is only one person who looks out for the team in its entirety. The coach. Parents only look out for their child. When parents question coaching decisions, player positions, playing time, tactics, and more, they undermine a coach’s authority, and the players respect for that coach. You teach your kids to question everything a coach tells them, and this makes them indecisive come game time. It also takes their focus off things they can control, like their attitude, their effort, and their focus, and turns it towards uncontrollable like coaching decisions. Yes, your child might have a coach that sees things differently than you do, but so what? If you really know that much more than the coach, you should coach. If you do not have the time or energy to do so, then be thankful someone does and support that person.
Red flag #4: They think dropping money on the sport through private lessons, sports conditioning and specialized training should guarantee playing time. Achieving a high level in sports is not an experience that can be bought. The aforementioned avenues can assist a player in skill development, but consistent results in game situations is the only currency most coaches use when drafting a lineup.
Red flag #5: They believe their kid has more talent or game knowledge than reality proves. Everyone else can see it, but they cannot. Often times these parents expect their kid to compete at a level that is not appropriate for their age or for the amount of time they have been playing the game. There is nothing wrong in owning the fact that your kid is a work in progress.
Red flag #6: They are more invested in the sport than the kid. They believe wholeheartedly that their darling daughter wants to be the best she can be in the sport yet she rarely shows interest in seeking opportunities to practice and improve without prompting from her parents. When kids love something, they will lead the charge. All kids need occasional prompting, but it is the exception to the rule, not the norm.
Red flag #7: They live vicariously through their kid, in a bad way. When the kid plays great, life is good. When they have a bad game, life is bad. These parents outwardly show disgust when their kid does not play well as if it is some sort of reflection on them. They shame their own kid by not talking to them after poor performances, or they will go through a play by play of every mistake during the dreaded car ride home, questioning her actions throughout the game. For the kid, it is a nightmare. Many kids come to believe love, support, and approval from their parents is conditional based on how they perform in a silly game. Parents, please let the conversation on ride home be dictated by your kids, and unless they bring it up, not be about the game.
Red flag #8: They expect instant results. Much of these expectations can be blamed on our culture. We live in a fast food world where true hard work is becoming obsolete. Becoming proficient in any skill requires thousands upon thousands of repetitions. Applying acquired skills in a game situation is another matter entirely. Learning to do both in harmony is an acquired skill that takes years of game experience, practice, and hard work. We expect twelve and under players to handle game pressure the same way we see college players handle it on television.
Red flag #9: They do not understand the reason their kid plays ball. Kids play sports for a multitude of reasons. Some play because they want to be the best. Others play simply to be a part of something and to have a certain identity within their peer group. Sadly, some play to please their parents. No matter what the motivation to start in the first place, the game becomes difficult when it is no longer fun. When kids worry about their parents opinion of them based on game performance, I can assure you that the game becomes more of a chore than a leisure activity. In my experience, when kids stop having fun, their level of success on the field decreases drastically.
Red flag #10: They claim they will never be “that parent”. If a parent says this phrase out loud, they have likely already arrived.
When done right, there are countless life lessons to be garnered through sports. One of the most vital lessons being stripped from youth sports is autonomy. Parents are micro-managing the lives of their children unnecessarily, destroying any opportunity for them to learn how to handle themselves on their own. Instead of mentoring kids how to approach a coach about playing time, parents attempt to negotiate for them. We miss opportunities to teach kids how to ask for constructive criticism, develop a plan of action, and set realistic goals to achieve new heights. We blame coaches who are often volunteers, instead of educating ourselves in the game. With the explosion of social media, there are a countless number of ways to learn new drills and position play. There are thousands of videos that can be viewed over and over again if the thirst for knowledge truly exists. Instead of complaining in the face of adversity, teach kids how to help themselves. They will be better in the game of softball but more importantly, in the game of life.
Parents are supposed to be champions for their kids. Kids look to parents for guidance, support, approval, and love. They also learn how to behave from their parents. Complaining is the easiest and most unproductive thing to do in the face of adversity. Choose to model positive behaviors. Encourage risk taking and find joy in the effort. Celebrate the competitor above the winner. Foster independence by allowing your athlete to take ownership. Be the fan your kid needs you to be.
The train has just kept on roaring down the tracks in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The University of Louisiana softball program has been one of the top programs in all of college softball for the last three decades.
Not just one of the top mid-major programs. One of the top programs, period.
Gerry Glasco is just the fourth head coach in the program’s history, taking over in late 2017. His first three seasons in Lafayette have done nothing to change the perception of the program. In 2018, the Ragin’ Cajuns won 41 games. In 2019, they won 52 contests and won the Sun Belt championship. Both seasons, they qualified for the NCAA Regionals.
Fastpitch Network Polled 20+ Power 5 Head Coaches and asked them the question, “If you were an Athletic Director needing to hire a Softball Coach to lead your Program, who would you hire?”
We awarded points each time a name was mentioned and below are the results. This is a very strong list of experienced coaches and young coaches (over 30 of them) that are on the rise.
The state of Tennessee was a bit of a culture shock for Karen Weekly. Having grown up in the state of Washington and playing and coaching at Pacific Lutheran University, the move east was a bit of an adjustment.
Weekly and husband Ralph were hired as co-head softball coaches at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1997. After back-to-back NCAA regional appearances, they were hired in the same capacity at the University of Tennessee in the fall of 2001.
After living in Chattanooga and then Knoxville for the last 23 years, Weekly has grown quite fond of her new home.
That’s as great a testament as any as to what head coach Mike Candrea has created in Tucson over the last 35 years. The bar has been set so high that seasons ending in the Super Regionals from 2014-18 had the program still yearning to take the next step and return to the Women’s College World Series despite seasons that would seem like a mere pipe dream for the majority of programs across the nation.
University of Arizona Wildcats led by Coach Mike Candrea
