Parents

Good Coach

Cheeze You are my kind of coach I"ve seen coaches nuckle under to this kind of parent meddling and playing favoritism because of who the parents are and not by talent,attitude,hustle,& coachability I think you did the right thing by talking to the girl to get her views chanches are she already knows she is not top of the totem pole. keep up the good attitude and be fair

 

Thanks for the thoughts Cheeze105

I will say GREAT For YOU, as a coach, that does things the fair/right way! But trust me you are in a very small group! I was not trying to say that coaches, that do it right, don't exist, because I know they do! And those coaches should get a whole lot more applause than you get!
I think a lot of the problem these days, is parents all think there princess is the best! And best is the only option for their princess! Prema-Donnas are created in 10 and under and by the time they are in 16 & U, they are ruined!
So to all you parents out there reading this take note, Don't Be Afraid to tell your kid to work harder! Don't always give in to those tears and whinning! Even if they are the best, they should be the last one to know it! It will be better for them in the long run! Also learn early to let the coach do the coaching on the field and you do the coaching at home. You are not doing your kid any favors by coaching them until they go to college! Then they don't have a clue how to deal with anyone else teaching them!
But I also don't think a parent should just drop their kids off at practice from the time they are 10 and never be there either! You should be there for lots of reasons (use comman sense)! It is ok if you sit and watch, offer to help or even stay in the car. But you are there, and believe me that matters to your kid! And if you are there then you won't have to wonder what happened there! Oh well play softball, have fun, be the best that you can be (coach, player, parent)!!

 

I think softball4ever1987 is my long lost soulmate! Great post and you have a knack for seeing the big picture, even if it hurts a little (or a lot).

And to cheeze105, I trust you are doing everything you say, but unfortunately, there will be those who will accuse you of being unfair, playing favorites, not seeing their child's full potential and on and on and on and on and on! I've been in this a long time behind a fine coach, and not matter what you do, you'll eventually get burned (and probably by the ones you gave your best to!). Life's not fair (and if we are honest, sometimes it's not fair in our FAVOR), sports aren't fair, but it's all about perspective. We're talking about games - recreation - the part of our lives that ought to be fun! It's not life and death - and there are some fine athletes dealing with life and death today. As the mom of one of those kids always says - "hug your kid today".

 

Thank you Observer

It is always nice to know, that there is that special someone out there, to agree with! Anyway, It sounds like you may have played a few innings of political ball yourself, either as a player or parent or even a coach! Regardless no matter what your own situation, you should always be able to see the other person's side, even if you aren't actually involved. Everyone should ask theirselves, what would I do if that was my kid, my best friends parent, the coach of my team? Whether you have personally had a bad situation or not, you may one day! How would you want your teammates to react? Your coach to react? Your parent to react? It is harder than you think to sit back and keep your thoughts, opinions to yourself, when it is your kid that's involved. I have even seen coaches spouses get involved, because of their feelings for their spouse! I have a little thing I like to remember, IMPORTANT DECISIONS CALL FOR IMPORTANT THINKING!!!

 

Love Fest....

 

I can assure you that Observer knows personally everything that has been said...and has been on both ends of this discussion. I respect Observer's opinion alot...thanks for posting

 

Hey, say what you will but someone, even 1/2, agreeing with me, on this subject, rarely happens! Cheeze, I agree with your make the rules known upfront, attitude! That is a good plan but remember there is an exception to every rule!
People today say that parents aren't spending time with their kids! Whatever, I see parents lips attached to coaches butts all the time! Wait a minute, that isn't spending time with their kid, is it? And if it isn't the parent, the parent has usually taught the kid this approach! But anyway like already posted, if coaches just play fair, and kids do their best, and parents act like adults and not left-over teen-agers, then the world of sports would be just another play ground filled with fun!!!
And on this jumping from one team to another! Well all the prima-donnas can't possibly play on the same team, they have to spread themselves around, so that everyone gets a load of their stardom! And everyone can't possibly play for the only good teams around, you know the LB's, Cardinals, CChallengers! And before you start posting hate messages to me I personally have nothing againest any of these teams. But to hear people talk you'd think that there was only three teams, east of the mississippi, worth playing for, NOT TRUE!!!!:newsmile57:

 

Well I might have gotten slightly off track on that last post but whatever! Peace, Love and Happiness!