Politics in High School Baseball

Coach Evans and Freedom High

 

Coach Evans, I think these guys are calling you old. :newsmile38:

 

I am not as old as these folks think!!! IF I recall correctly, BIGBYRD is the one "retired" right now...

 

I have seen the pressure brought to bear on coaches at all levels of the game. Alot of parents see their kids as little angels that do no wrong. Therefor its impossible to for them to understand subtle things like bad practice habits, bad mechanics, poor work ethic, and on and on. A good coach just ignores the meddlesome parent as best he can and try not to let it affect his opinion of the player.

 

:newsmile40:

 

my take

different sport, but last year in girls HS softball, my daughter lost a starting slot about 1/3 through the season. obviously this was upsetting to her. she asked me what to do. My response to her was to go out at practice each day and "bust your butt" all the time if you were really serious about wanting the playing time.

I wanted to talk to the coach myself, not to question her lineup selection but to ask what my daughter needed to do to improve her chances. I spoke to my daughter on this first and she asked me not to talk to the coach, so I did not.

anyway, all this has not worked out like I would have wanted as a Dad but I don't regret my actions. comments?

 

Why is it when a decision about playing time or the choosing of a team against our sons/daughters that it becomes a injustice or travisty? Is coaching not using knowledge about the players and team to make these decisions? The coach or staff base it on their opinion. As the old saying goes: "Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one....." We as parents don't always need to voice ours however. Choices will be made against our children, in sports and outside during school, but isn't this where we start to let our children grow and prepare for life? Our children will be cut from teams, left off lists, turned down....the list is endless. Some are more painful than others. I see someone talking about Ryan Basham not making the State Games, that was 3 to 4 years ago. I'm sure Ryan has gotten over it and used it to make him stronger. It was a bump in the road for someone that talented. I also see younger fathers coaching their sons during Little League and travel ball. This is where alot of problems start. The team revolves around the son or sons of coaches, depite their talent level. It's no wonder when a kid doesn't make a High School team. The parent's immediate reaction is that his son always started for him......or "I've spent thousands of dollars on lessons..." Come on folks, drop the ego. No one wants to see their child disapointed. My disapointment would be seeing one of my sons not being able to handle the set back......

 

A few thoughts that go with this thread...

I've always wondered when the last person complained that Cal Ripken only got his chances because of his daddy...
I remember when Brian Roberts was a sophomore at Carolina and during a game, two kids about Brian's age talked the whole game about how Brian wasn't "all that" and only played cause his Dad was the coach. Look where Brian is now!
Lastly (and I've heard this from guys that have been there) you have two guys in the minors, skill, talent, ability,and desire all equal. The difference is one is a 20th round pick and the other is a 2nd rounder. Even if the 20th rounder is a little bit better than the other guy, the 2nd rounder will be given more chances to move up. This is the politics of money. We have taken as our motto for our son this season something a 20th rounder told us. He said that the most common phrase he heard from pro ball managment was "PROVE IT!" If you work harder and perform better than the other guy you will get the results that you desire!

 

I heard the same things when he played against us while at Chapel Hill HS, from players, etc... The only problem there was the fact that he played injured through alot of his HS career, so he never reached his full potential until college.

I have always tried to live by the fact that players earn their playing time ("hence the phrase 'prove it' "). But parents who try to play the political game can stir up a hornets nest if they want to, simply because some think they run the athletic programs within particular high schools. I coached a game where we had 11 players available to play, 1 missed practice the day before (was a starter), and did not start the game. As it turned out the way the game played out he did not get to play. With limited numbers available I had to be careful when to use him. This dad was furious and will only speak to me now if I speak first. BUt guess what... I have lost no sleep over what happened because it was the right thing to do, but he wanted to play the influence game on me, which showed me where he really stands (everything is okay as long as things are in my son's favor). I hope that one day parents will let coaches coach, and that there are things in high school baseball & athletics more important than championships, and that is to build character. By playing political games, what character traits are you building anyway?