Allow me a little rant this
morning. For those dads and moms who decide to coach your kids in any sport,
please do NOT be THAT parent or THAT coach. Be supportive of your kids, especially
when they are 9-10 years old. Do not raise your hands to the heavens every time
they don’t swing at a pitch. Do not shake your head or roll your eyes when do
swing and miss. Do not turn your back to the field and shake your head when
they miss a grounder or fly ball. And for everything holy if your kid, your own
child, is crying after the game because you are constantly on him missing balls
or overthrowing the pitcher (he was the catcher), you need to stop coaching and
stay home from the games. FOREVER. This is little league. This is a rec little
league. Not a comp team. This is not the majors or minors or even an automotive
league. You are not Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, or Tommy Lasorda. However, when
you act that way you are more like Lou Pinnella (don’t know who he is. Google
or YouTube Pinnella temper tantrums you’ll understand). Walking down the third
base line to about 10 feet of home plate to distract the pitcher is bush league
at best and as a grown man (boy?) you should know better. Constantly berating these
boys because you failed as an athlete sometime in your life is not acceptable.
I will say this again; THESE ARE BOYS! Not men, not even teenagers playing high
school, but BOYS. Most of them are playing there first time in a kid pitch
league. What is it about coaches that as soon as the score is being kept, they
turn into this? Let the boys enjoy the game. This is a release for most of
them. Let them have fun. I know this is a foreign concept in today’s little
league but please try to grasp it.
I hope I am not being sanctimonious
on this. That is not my intent. I am not perfect either. I am still learning
this too. The main point is get to know the boys you are coaching. Different boys
respond to different ways of coaching. I have learned in the last three weeks
that my own son wants me to shut up while he is pitching or batting. I only
tell him words of encouragement but still, he wants me to be quiet. It’s hard
for me but I am working on it. I had to learn the hard way to be more
encouraging instead of constantly telling him what he did wrong. Focus on the
positive and let him know how he can improve, not what he did wrong.
Now last night again I was not
perfect. I was muttering under my breath at this other coach and baiting him at
times. Instead of letting roll off my back or politely asking him to stop being
such a distraction, I sunk to his level. For that I am sorry. Instead of being
an example to the boys on how to act, I was part of the problem. This is not
sour grapes because we lost. This is not sour grapes because he was constantly distracting
my son on the mound. Alex only gave up one hit; walked one, hit two but five of
the six outs that happened while he was on the mound were strikeouts. They
deserved to win. His kids played hard (because I think they feared the
consequences if they didn’t) and were very respectful. They out hit us, out
threw us and deserved the win but the boys deserved it, not the coach. Thank you
for allowing me this rant. I now return you to your normally scheduled blog.
I will have another
baseball/laundry story tomorrow to lighten the mood back up.
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