At one point during a game, the coach called one of his 9-year-old baseball players aside And asked
"Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?" "Yes, coach", replied the little boy. "

Do you understand that what matters is whether we win or lose together as a team?" The little boy nodded in the affirmative.


"So," the coach continued, "I'm sure you know, when an out is called, you shouldn't argue, curse the umpire, or call him an asshole.
Do you understand all that?" Again, the little boy nodded in the affirmative.


The coach continued, "And when I take you out of the game so that another boy gets a chance to play, it's not a dumb-ass decision or
that the coach is a shithead is it?" "No, coach."

"Good", said the coach. "Now go over there and explain all that to your grandmother.”

Unfortunately that is more true than funny.

I used to coach junior roller hockey for 10-12 year olds. The year before I started coaching the team finished 7th in the league (out of 8 teams), my first year we finished fourth and my second year we lost the league championship 5-4 in overtime.

But, according to a number of the parents I didn't know how anything about hockey and even less about coaching.

That was my last year coaching youth sports.

I coached girls softball back in the early 70s in Abilene. The girls were 10 to 12 years old. They paid me $5.00 a game. I got tired of coaches and parents in my face. They could see things from 200 feet away that I couldn't see from five apparently. Few of them understood the rules of the game.

By rule, the coach of the girls teams had to be a woman. The Asst. Coach was always a softball genius guy; that in fact knew very little.

I developed a practice of stopping the game and calling the coaches over to explain what had just happened. I would also stop the game and go into the "crowd" or back to the backstop to explain a ruling. Made for a slow game that would often end on a time limit call. People yelling, "let them play". It took a few games, but the bitching slowed a little.

I quit after the first year.

The girls (players) were very nice and respectful. They also learned a lot about the game, as I would explain to them what happened whenever it seemed they didn't understand the ruling. Usually the Asst. Coach was also running out on the field and needed the same explanation.

I wouldn't be a part of youth sports now if you paid me $1,000 a game.

I help coach a junior shooting team. Problem parents are rare. But since most competitions are held on private property, range officials don't have a problem with telling a difficult parent to leave the range.

Hockey parents in this country have to attend a class explaining this, before their little one is allowed to play.

Grizz

quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly Adams:
Hockey parents in this country have to attend a class explaining this, before their little one is allowed to play.

Grizz

You forgot the part about the refs getting in fights and receiving death threats from parents, which was what instigated the mandatory classes. Cuz heaven forbid little Johnny ain't gonna make the NHL.

Back in the good old days when I played 2nd base in Little League our star right fielder was a chubby black kid named Willie ahd his mother came to every game.

His mom weighed more than the combined weights of both teams and could stop traffic when she yelled mostly in support of Willie but she never missed a chance "suggest" one of the umpires must have been blind to call a strike on her son and every time I hear the name Willies decades later I remember the time I hit a shot with the bases loaded and two outs to center field that the center-field caught to end the inning. I batted third and Willie was cleanup so Willie lead-off the next inning with a 1st pitch line drive over the flag pole and the first thing I heard was Willie's mom yelling "If #1 could hit hus weight that would have been another Grand Slam for Willie"