I coached my younger brother's soccer team when I was in high school (he's 9 years younger than me). I was always floored by how competitive some parents could get. There were a couple of times that parents nearly came to blows because one of the kids hadn't passed to their wide open son. One game we lost because of a terrible call, and I praised the kids afterwards and said they nearly won and probably would have if that call hadn't gone their way. Immediately a father read me the riot act because I gave these 7 year olds a cop out. Obviously they needed to be taught that losing a game makes them a loser, and if they want to be men, they need to learn to win. Each team in that soccer league had to find a sponsor and provide a referee for so many games. I wound up being the ref, and I was stunned how much grief I got from parents. I was a skinny 16 years old, and I was challenged to a few fights by irate parents because of calls I made. I'm sure I made a few mistakes, but I thought I was pretty fair overall. I'm kind of wondering what this will be like when my kids play sports, and I'm a parent and not a teenage older sibling.
Have parents changed that much? I'm 42 now and I played football from 3rd through 10th grade. I cannot remember one altercation involving parents during that whole time. However, I did have a couple of scumbag coaches who pushed us to cheat or intentionally hurt players on the other team. Very disillusioning for a little kid.
Crap dude, that is just pathetic.......sorry, that sucks. As someone that gets excited - which I do - I have to temper my emotions because the kids don't know any better, and they are doing their best...... Sometimes it is frustrating when they throw to 3rd base from the OF, when all year we have been working on throwing it to 2nd........ I guess laughter is the best medicine. DD
I'm 40 and I remember in my 7th grade basketball league the parents of our arch rivals yelling and screaming at us while we were at the free-throw line. To tell you the truth, it made the game more fun. It felt like we were in a real NBA arena. And there is nothing like the rush of sinking a big free-throw while half the gym is screaming obscenities at you. Of course, we were 7th graders not 7-year olds.
That was 20 years ago. In some ways I imagine parents have gotten worse, but leagues have also implemented a lot of rules on them as well. I could see a lot of BS between the coaches and parents, but I'd expect to see behavior at games to be better. Or at least beligerent parents being asked to leave and not come back. You do have to laugh. I started coaching my brother's team when he was 6, and those first few years were challenging. Pretty much the best we could hope for was to keep left and right positions on their side of the field, but after five minutes every single kid would be bunched up around the ball. As long as the kids are having fun and implementing teamwork to the best of their ability, parents should be happy.
When I was a kid, the only organized sport kids played was baseball, and only a few of us played in little league. However, all the kids in my neighborhood played lots of sports. We just got together after school and played baseball, football, basketball, kickball, or whatever we wanted to play. We built our own baseball and football fields in vacant lots. No adults were ever involved and we all had a really great time. When I attend organized sports events for kids nowadays, it looks like the kids are trying to have fun, but the parents spoil everything by standing on the sidelines yelling out instructions at the top of their lungs. I think the kids would have so much more fun if the adults were not involved at all. These organized youth leagues today are really more for the adults than the kids.
My daughter is going to start t ball this fall and I already told my husband I hope she's on a sucky team and just has a lot of fun.
Times have changed, you just don't let your kids roam around the neighborhoods any longer. We did the same thing....tennis baseball, street football, wiffle ball, etc..etc..etc.... Dang...it was good to be a kid. DD
I manage a 8-9yr old kid pitch team in Pearland and have been very involved in all my sons baseball teams. The fact is there is a tremendous amount of competition and politics in Little League. It really should be about the kids and letting the kids have fun. It should be fair and have kids play all positions. It should be fair and all the kids see the same amount of play time. It should be fair and scores should "not" be keep and everyone always win...... and the parents that believe that, have their kids go play baseball at the YMCA, not little league. I have a boy now on my team who just left YMCA because he was the best one on his team and wants better training and better competition. The fact is that life isn't fair. The fact is life is competitive. The earlier my son knows he gonna have to work hard if he wants to be at the top the better IMO. As you being in Little League and not the YMCA, you are surrounded by parents that are competitive and want their kid to be the best. So here comes the jocking. Having helped on all my son's baseball I learned the politics at the ball field, and it can get dirty. If you think the coaches have some power or egos, imagine the power the board members have. And imagine some being a board member and a coach at the same time. Guess who gets the best schedule or fields and favors. I took a stance of "if you can't beat them join'em". So I threw my hat in the coaching ring,(and that's not easy considering the "board" has to vote in the coaches, more politics). But anyhow, If your son is good continue to keep pushing him. If he does hit a rough patch and just gets tired from too much ball give him a break, but never stop pushing him. If you hear all the great athletes they always talk about how hard they worked and pushed and their parents pushed them and supported them. The reason alot of the coaches kids make the all-star team is because those kids normally get the best and most practice. Coaches kids live baseball, where as parents "the fans" are just that, fans. Parents don't go out and work with their kids in the same way as coaches, or as much. A parent might work with their son for 30 minutes once a week where as a coach will work with their kid at least 1hr 4-5 times a week, there is a difference. We'll fortunately I did a good job in the draft and the Pearland PW-Phillies white are undefeated in first place with no one close enough to catch us. So that means "We" get to coach the all-star team, if the board approves us(more politics). So we have 4 games left, then our team will get to play in District 15 tournament. Then we'll get to pick the all-star team. So let the jocking begin... BTW DD, Sounds like it's time for you to throw your hat in the coaching ring as well.
TCad, I already coach Football, basketball & Soccer and am assistant coach in baseball. BTW - undefeated in soccer the last 3 years, undefeated in basketball this year and won the championship 70-29, my son got MVP of the league and led it in scoring and steals....and in football we won the division but had one tie... But yeah, the commissionar said....dude, just take a team.....and I was like....ok... And you are right, I work with my son every single day, we went out to the fields today, hit some pitches, took some infield, and fly balls. The little scratcher also throws ground balls to me, only fair, right? And he made me go WAY to my right, I got the ball and tumbled all over the infield....dirt and loss of skin on both knees.....but I got the ball...hehe.... All the kids on the all star team, or most had fathers as coaches....lots of kids that did not were actually BETTER than those that made it......but, hey...they are putting in the time..so..... DD
Sweet!, Working with the kids is alot fun. Good Job on all those nice seasons. Having a good group of kids always makes a coaches life easier. I couldn't be happier with the team we got this year. We have 6 kids that can pitch, 3 kids from select, two kids that made the all-star team last year and just a overall good set of boys. Even our last pick had never played before, but is one of the best listeners and workers, and that takes him along ways. It seems like it gonna be a special season.
