Can’t believe I have to cover this topic yet again, but recently I’ve heard some stories that show me it’s still important to talk about.

What topic, you ask? The importance of giving young players, particularly those who are 14 years old or less, a chance to develop, even if it means your team’s win-loss record isn’t as sparkly as you and your ego would like.

Take a 10U pitcher who just started taking pitching lessons. She’s starting to get the hang of it, but maybe she just went through a growth spurt and doesn’t quite have full command of her arms and legs yet.

As a result, although she is trying really hard she tends to walk more batters than she gets out. In fact, the last time you put her in she walked 20 batters .

Now you have a decision to make. One option is you decide she’s just not good enough to pitch for your team, you tell her she just doesn’t have what it takes to be a pitcher, and you never put her in again. Because if you do put her in it will be tough for your team to overcome the freebies and win the game.

The other is you encourage her and look for opportunities to put her in (as long as she is continuing to work at it). Maybe you schedule some “friendlies” or scrimmages during the week and commit to giving her at least an inning no matter what. You can even put a run limit on each inning so the damage isn’t too bad.

If she’s a little further along but not quite ready for prime time maybe you put her in during pool play. Or you let her pick up innings when your team is either really far ahead or really far behind.

There are lots of ways to be creative and develop the players who need a little more of it while not driving away the players who are currently further ahead.

The same goes for position players and hitters. When you play scrimmage games, try moving the players who usually see one at bat per game up higher in the lineup so they can gain a little more experience.

Sure, it might cost you a few runs today. But we all know the softball gods are going to bring one of those girls up at a critical time in a game that does mean something and where you have no options but to let them hit. Wouldn’t it be nice to know they have a little more experience and thus a better chance of coming through in the clutch?

Or perhaps it turns out that the girl you keep trying to hide in right field actually is becoming a decent fielder, and by putting her at second base for a couple of innings she starts developing the confidence to become a more important contributor in the future.

That’s the funny thing about working with young players. They all develop at different rates, and some who seem kind of awkward at 9 or 10 years of age turn out to be pretty decent athletes by the time they’re 14 or 15.

You just never know. Take that pitcher who walks 20 hitters that I mentioned earlier.

That’s actually a true story. I’m sure there were “better” pitchers on her team, and it would have been easy for her to get discouraged and quit if no one gave her a chance in a game.

Fortunately, some coach did, which is how Lisa Fernandez eventually came to become a three-time Gold Medal winning Olympian and arguably the greatest female fastpitch player ever.

Yes, winning is more fun than losing. But if you truly are “in it for the girls” (as every promotional piece for every team that has ever come along says) sometimes it’s worth sacrificing a few wins here and there to help ensure ALL of your players develop into the best versions of themselves they can be.

Set your ego aside and find ways to give your players the opportunities they need to learn and grow. They just may surprise you.

Lead photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com