[Pancake]

I'm a believer that you should always make the best of a situation...and the situation your friend is in doesn't have to be a negative one.

First of all, she shouldn't be ungrateful for making the Freshman team. This is likely the reason she isn't getting any playing time. I, as a coach, also would not reward this behavior. Since she is far more talented then the rest of the team, she should be a leader. Leaders don't whine and pout. She should volunteer in demos and ask the coach if there is anything she could do to help the team. If she is on the bench, she should support the players on the floor - wouldn't she expect the same if she was playing? I guarantee that if she improved her attitude, she will play more...a lot more. If she can help her fellow teammates improve, she will find this to be much more rewarding that winning a few more games.

Whereas winning a game is an obvious goal to achieve, the personalities and integrity of team spirit may be devoid. The coach has already recognized the fact that there is a very competent player who should be playing a level up or two. That is also to say that the coach will recognize the type of attitude a player portrays too. In most sports societies being the best player doesn't always mean that you will be the star player. Attitude and discipline plays an equally important role. Recognizing this and accepting your own shortcomings will allow a bridge of understanding and trust to be developed between a player and a coach.

If the coach's philosophy is to just have fun, then try to do just that. That may be the goal of the game. The coach is gonna put people in the game who will have fun and portrays that. Those players share the same vision as the coach. If the only goal is to win, that's going to be a long and empty road to achieve. You won't make to many friends this way.