She goes hard in the diamond 💠⚾

Kassidy's Arsenal Baseball Game

   

Kassidy played great tonight and I could not be any more proud than I am of her right now.  

She started the game at pitcher
She made the 1st 2 outs of the game for Romo's Arsenel by fielding a solid hit up the middle and catching pop up in the 1st inning.
4th inning she caught another pop up playing 3rd base
Offensively she got a hit every time at bat and ran the bases like her dad used to. 

She still made some mistakes on both sides of the ball but she is so engaged right now that when the coaches correct her and I talk to her about it afterward, you can literally see the comprehension and understanding. I seriously doubt those will happen again.

She has already quickly gained the respect from coach Romo and coach Mudd. It's hard to even describe how beautiful it is because these two aren't just regular coaches either. They are hard on the team, even harder on their own kids (best 2 players on team), they push them all to make plays, correct every mistake made. When it's time to practice, they push everyone to get moving, the reps start coming and they're continuously molding them. We'll follow these two for as long as they let us.

Arsenal won today by playing better defense than the Gators who are one of the top 3 teams in the league. Coaches are pleased with the defensive improvement from the last two games. Arsenal looked to be headed in the right direction. This experience already appears to be a blessing in disguise.

We are grateful.

#focused

#speed

#hustle

Caught pop fly at 3rd base

#determined

Fielded ground ball at pitcher to get 1st out of game

She’s NOT coachable! -Reese Bruechner

Below is complaint that I sent to the Georgetown Youth Girls Softball Association. 

GYGSA board members, 

I want to share our experience with you all regarding Reese Bruechner-8U-MACAWS coach and how this year has played out for us so far. 

Let me start out by saying that I have never had to inquire with a coach about how they are handling playing time so I never imagined that I would feel compelled to be writing you all this.

I also fully appreciate and admire youth sports coaches who provide positive impacts on our children's skill and development. 

I have coached my daughters team the last 2 years and have 10+ years of youth sports involvement between all 3 of my daughters multiple sports. I have never witnessed this level of preferred/outcast player treatment. When we reached out to the coach to inquire about Kassidy not getting infield playing time as we expected due to the players position assignment sheets he gave us before the first game. I was coming from a skills and expectations perspective. His response immediately mentions there are no rotation rules and makes it very clear that it’s up to coaches.

“There are no rules on who is benched or a rotation as far as the league goes. It’s up to the coaches. As far as what position they play it’s up to the coaches.”
“I’ve been rotating based on combination of age&ability.” -You will see below that is not true.
There is no real rotation anywhere outside ofoutfield->bench and bench->outfield.

Recap of Kassidy's usage 2023 season
Game 1-pitcher 
Game 2-outfield/bench rotation
Game 3-outfield/bench rotation
Game 4-outfield/bench rotation 1-at bat
Game 5-outfield/bench rotation 1-at bat
Game 6-outfield-2-at bats

Coach Preferred players
There has been ONE infield<->outfield rotation this year and that was after the 1st game Kassidy<->Outfield 
Infield- same players, same positions, every inning of every game.
Coach1 child- Catcher-Batting 1st
Coach2 child- 3rd base-Batting 3rd
Coach3 child- 1st base-Batting 4th

I look at this from an opportunities perspective (Ball touches + plate appearances)
The opportunities that the favored infield players vs the outcast outfield/rotation group is by a factor of 10x-12x

We joined gygsa league this season with the intention to continue building Kassidy's ball skills and development while introducing her to softball vs boys baseball league.

Her step brothers (twin boys-same skillset) joined GYBA at same time and have had complete opposite expierence. Amazing coaches, rotations everywhere almost every inning, they haven't lost a game and the amount of quality reps they are getting is DRASTICALLY different. Our principled approach to youth sports is that our children are skilled enough to be recognized based on skills and merit alone without having to play politics or know someone. At the very minimum we expected each child to have a fair opportunity improve their fundamentals and make plays. 7 of 13 girls on this team are simply NOT getting those opportunities. 

There are responses below that coming from a youth sports coach indicate questionable charater flaws and some that I don't ethically agree with. 
“Play perfectly when she gets opportunities in outfield. She can develop and earn more time playing infield by doing that”
-Our record is 0-6. Infielders are all making many mistakes and we get 5-run ruled most innings on defense every game. No one is playing perfectly yet the same 5-6 girls continue to get all the opportunities. He also mentioned most of these preferred players by name in his response. I cheer and root for these girls at every turn but you have to be honest to yourself as a coach. You should probably make tweaks and adjustments to the lineup in an effort incrimentally improve the outcome of the games. If the game is well out of reach, its probably time to mix up positions and give someone a new opportunity. I would never say that a child needs to play perfectly in the outfield at every opportunity to "earn" playing time in the infield when my infield has been nowhere near perfection. These are just ethical things from my coaching mind that are missing from coach Reese's character.

“We had identified Kassidy early as possible infielder.”
-Admission that she does in fact have the skillset and ability to play infield. Also inconsistent with his overall message that she doesn't possess these skills. He handed out “position assignments” paper to each player at the last practice before Game 1. Kassidy’s assignment paper- Starting Pitcher, 1st Base-Backup, Outfield listed in that order. Again, I coached 6u the last 2 years at NAO and you don’t assign a player to starting pitcher and 1st base unless you are comfortable with them handling the ball. Which made sense to me because last 2 years at NAO, Kassidy was a major contributor to her mostly boys team playing pitcher, second, and 1st base. So what happened?

“She needs to listen. She has not been coachable”
-You flat out don’t tell a parent that their kid is not coachable as a youth sports coach. Outside of the fact that i’ve been to most practices and every game. I know that all the girls have this problem and often the coach makes all of them run when they’re not listening. His responses were obviously defensive, demeaning, inconsistent and blatantly false. 

"If you notice we have 6 girls who this is their first season of coach pitch and that’s basically 6 outs every at bat. It’s hard to win when that happens."

-What??? What youth coach truly believes that much less says that to a parent? Thats wildly off from my experience last year when most of our team was 1st year coach pitch. Do any of you believe that?

Considering that coaches are selected and voted on by the board, they are a representation of GYGSA. I would think that the board would expect these coaches to also be a positive reflection of the league itself. This coach was suspended after the 1st weekend of play due to a sportsmanship complaint and his response to such criticism. He notified parents of suspension via TeamSnap chat. He admits to poor sportsmanship, deflects accountability by saying he was instigated and followed that up by calling the GYGSA board a joke. 

At the end of the day I have to ask myslef fundamental questions.

Is my daughter having fun and does she enjoy being on this team? -No, This last game I've started to notice a disengagement. 

Is this a positive experience for her? Mixed, she feels the mistreatment but doesn't understand why. 

Is she getting opportunities to build her development? Very little. bench->outfield every other inning, no ball touches on defense and gets 1 at bat in multiple games.

Is this something that I would reccomend to like minded parents with talented children?Definitely not.

Is coach Reese someone that I want coaching my daughter? No. Too many indicators revealing his negative character traits. Coaches belief system and ethics do not meet standards of someone who I want coaching my child. 

Is coach Reese someone that you would want coaching your daughter?

Does this board support this coaches behaivor and is he an accurate reflection of this league?

We plan to move on from this situation but what about the other 6 girls on this team and next familiy that explores this league who also won't get fair opportunities?

I 100% fully appreciate what you all do for this community. 

I hope for thoughtful consideration into a corrective action plan with the intention of improving the overall experience for these girls. 

Attached is supporting documentation

-Position Assignment sheet.jpg

-Screenshot of Teamsnap suspension notice.png

-Coach Reese Bruechner-to-Parent response thread.doc

Thank you again

Coach Reese/Parent exchanges after games 7-8

I wrote complaint to GYGSA board after game 6. A week went by with no response from board and we played double header for games 7 and 8. I had basically given up hope that Reese would improve. Kassidy was still being positioned in outfield but on game 8 she made 2 great plays actually tracking down base runners for outs on TWO occasions all the way from the left field position. Was a rare defensive spark that she executed on and also had put herself into position to have chance to make 2 other outs but just missed them. Clutch performance considering that I saw that GYGSA President was sat behind home plate watching our game the entire time. He also approached me after the game to chat about my complaint. 

After the doubleheader we went to GYBA fields for boys games and Reese approached me saying Kassidy made some really great plays today and if she continued to play like that he would "consider" getting her more infield time. 😂  The way that he still used word "consider" after she showed out was just another little stab to me and I just smiled and tried to disengage with interaction. But I felt necessary to share my real thoughts later on that evening with a message below. 

From: Jeremiah
Hey coach, Jeremiah(Kassidys dad) here.
Wanted to let you know that Kassidy has a baseball practice conflict tomorrow afternoon so she will not be able to make it. Thank you for sharing the recognition of her play today and mentioning trying to work her into some infield time but that’s not really good enough.

This is her 3rd year playing, 2nd year of coach pitch. I simply think that your skills assessment of her is far off. I’m fully aware of her early struggles but I’ve witnessed her abilities the last 3 years in multiple sports. She’s consistently one of top 3 players on every team but definitely never lower tier of any team. There’s simply too much pure athletic ability there. She’s fast and strong on the situational awareness and reaction aspect. Multiple times getting double plays least year. I think the confusing part is that you gave out position assignment sheets before 1st game and listed pitcher, back up 1st base and outfield in that order. Her poor play in the 1st game seemed to have made you totally change your skills assessment of her for rest of the season. I think that your response to Meredith’s inquiry was a demeaning and inaccurate.

Tell me your honest assessment of how our infield has played this year?
Perfect?
Great?
Good?
None of the above-but getting better?

So for you to say Kassidy needed to play perfectly in the outfield for an opportunity to play infield again, when the rest of the infield hasn’t even been good is just disrespectful.

Maybe re-read “Meredith’s response” to your response. You may actually find a lot of words that actually came from me (Kassidys dad and former boys baseball coach). I thought that you would at least put more thought and consideration into how you utilize her the next game but you failed to do so. I saw that lexi’s dad had a conversation with you before this last game and when it was out of reach you did have the decency to shuffle positions. That’s a step in the right direction and is where we differ from a youth coach ethics perspective.

There are other parents feeling the same way as me and Lexi’s dad. Also, for full transparency, I have written a complaint to the GYGSA board regarding our experience this year. The thing is, I’m not even that guy and I never thought I’d ever be in this situation.

I just want to share my thoughts and be transparent about us taking up an opportunity with another team. As her parent I have to ensure that she gets quality reps/opportunities. We felt it was necessary to maneuver towards what’s best for her growth and development.

I hope you understand where I’m coming from as a parent and at the end of the day, as a youth sports head coach, I just want you to do better.

We will see you Monday.

 

From: Coach Reese
If you start skipping practice don’t expect more playing time.  Also very immature to miss a chance when the team needs you to play infield for a bathroom run.  As a coach I think you understand.  If Kassidy is not enjoying this season then I am sorry for that.  We run practice to develop all girls.  I also rely heavily on my assistant coaches on assessment and positions.  If you decide to leave the team then I respect your decision. 

 

 

Position Assignment sheet

 

Coach suspension notice to parents

 

Coach Reese Bruechner Message-->Parent response thread

 

FROM COACH-Reese Bruechner
Hey Meredith, we can chat in person before or after our next practice if you’re interested.  I’ll try to answer your questions.

With 13 girls 3 have to sit on the bench every inning but all are in the lineup and bat.  There are no rules on who is benched or a rotation as far as the league goes.  It’s up to the coaches. I’ve been rotating based on combination of age&ability.

As far as what position they play it’s up to the coaches.  We try to fit them into positions with the best chance of success for the team.

Outfield is important in coach pitch.  Paying attention, stopping the ball, throwing to second, and backing up infield is very important.  Softball is a team game and we need players all around the field.

We had identified Kassidy early as possible infielder.  She needs to listen.  She has not been coachable and she’s not listening to our advice.  You may notice every practice we tell her to set her feet and step into her throws.  She is hustling and rushing everywhere which hurts her fundamentals.  Performance in games and practices matters.  No position is set in stone and as girls develop they may be moved where they can benefit team success.
Believe me we coaches all want to win and are trying to win.  If the girls maintain good attitudes and continue to develop we can beat everyone we play.  If you notice we have 6 girls who this is their first season of coach pitch and that’s basically 6 outs every at bat.  It’s hard to win when that happens.  Everyone on the team has room for improvement and that is our main goal as coaches.  If you notice we have not canceled any practices and add extra when we can.  Have y’all been to all practices?

If Kassidy is not enjoying her season then I am sorry for that.  I would hope you encourage her to set goals and take steps to reach them.  I recommend you help her with hitting in addition to our team practices.  I know Sawyer, Emma, Baylee, Lily,  and Chelsea work on hitting almost everyday.  Margaret works in off season with hitting coaches.  I also encourage you to have a goal for Kassidy to listen and focus in practice and games, play perfectly when she gets opportunities in outfield,  backup infield so she gets opportunities to tag and throw outs even when starting outfield.  She can develop and earn more time playing infield by doing that.

FROM Kassidy’s Parents

Thank you for the quick response coach. Just want to let you know, I am not her mother, this is stepmom here. The one who is with her dad at the games and most practices. I know we’ve been to a practice and a game that you were absent. Practice's that were missed were not on our watch. Her mom took to them to the beach for spring break and she missed everything during that week. And I will let you know; I was not happy about any of that, but I don't have control over a divorce decree boss.

I have been to enough practices that I’m familiar with the skill sets of the girls on the team and know what you’re working with. I’ve also been to every game and have seen your strategy of setting the infield and rotating outfield every inning. I know that 2 of the non-rotating infielders are coaches’ kids so I get that. I assume the rest of them also played with y’all last year and that’s where the politics comes in, I guess.

Obviously, Kassidy needs to continue working on all of her fundamentals. I understand that she’s an outsider coming into this team and that you have no idea what she does outside of your practices, but she gets in more work every week on both hitting and throwing. I’m glad the other girls work on hitting almost every day and get off-season help from hitting coaches but to be honest none of that has really been reflective on the field. No girl outside of Sawer on the team has just been amazing at the plate. Let just be honest about that. I’d argue that Kassidy has more skill than half the girls on the team and that’s being modest.

Thank you for pointing out you have 13 girls on the team and letting me know that you as coaches determine who is benched and who's not. Obviously, coach, that's recognizable and understandable. I truly want any coach to make the right decision for their team, I've coached, I know. Trust the process, right? But the results have been embarrassing.

Position's that these girls play is completely up to you all, I completely understand this. I also understand the importance of infield and outfield, I can assure you, I don't need coaching on that.

With you saying Kassidy is not coachable. I would really appreciate more details on this because I have been to practices and there isn’t much difference between her and a lot of the other girls. I'm pretty sure we've all seen the same thing. The way I saw it is 1st game she started at pitcher, made couple bad throws and then went to the outfield rotation. I told her after the 1st game day that she has to execute on every opportunity, or she may not get another chance and sure enough she hasn’t gotten another. Kassidy has not mentioned being unhappy on this team. She hasn't recognized any demotion yet, but we'll make sure she understands what it is before her next game. I hope that you put additional thought and consideration into how you utilize her on this team. Thanks.