(getting the team where they want it personnel wise) and now they are just wanting to touch base with your daughter to help her understand. I would assume positive intent and hope that this is just a great coach who understands the kids are people and might want to know WHY behind being cut. I wouldn't expect this to be a re-invite to the team; rather perhaps the coach may have heard through the grapevine via current players that your daughter was perhaps confused and hurt etc - and the coach is reaching out to explain and allow questions.

Cutting kids is always a hard thing to do; being one of the players cut is a hard thing, but a good coach owns it and just explains reasons why.

When I was at the Y (years and years ago), I went through the walk-on process for one of the sports teams (I had dealt with knee injuries my first 2 years at school); went through try-outs and performed rather well. The coach at the time then sat me down, and explained the reasons he just couldn't give me a spot on the team even though my performance (even directly against the current team) out-performed about 75% of the current players. These reasons included my grade at the time (Junior), years of eligibility left compared to other kids on the team, scholarship/spots on the team dynamics, and politics/money he gets from donors for allowing certain spots to be given to certain players etc.

While I may not have agreed with every decision or rationale, I greatly appreciated the up-front and honest breakdown he gave me. I was able to prove myself against the existing team, and I got a quick view into the delicate balancing act that is smaller collegiate sports coaches have. Coming from a family of college/high-school coaches myself, I had always thought "Best 10 (or however many players are on the team) make it" - and maybe at certain levels that is the case.

I left that walk-on experience with a positive outlook, not at all depressed or feeling sorry for myself. It was a good real-life lesson that not everything is as you might think it should be, and some good coaches are always honest and straight-forward with the players - leveling expectations and reasons, not trying to hide anything.