Little League Question

Sorry to ask.... but I've got to.

1. How political is Little League baseball in other areas? In our town, it's always the same guy coaching, and he stinks at it.

2. Who governs Little League in your area? In our area it's the Optimist Club.

3. What would be a good way to try and break up the politics of the "good ole boys" running the same dog and pony show all the time?

Little League is really suffering in our area. Even worse, the kids suffer when the same guy who tries to coach screws up.

Thanks

 

IMO

How do you elect the board? I would try to speak to the board as to how coaches are selected. I assume that you are refering to an Allstar team. We did it by what coach won the regular season. I would not use he is a bad coach. You will come off as a unhappy dad that just wants it thier way. If their are other parents that feel the way you do. Go as a group. Just remember it is about more than the kids today. Whatever changes today will effect kids after you are gone.

 

Miracles do happen

I am so disappointed this morning to find out that Plate Dad is finally making sense after two years of reading his posts. Must be Christmas in July!!!!

 

Treat players with respect

(The below is in our anonymous Speak Up column in the local paper this morning)


What is Little League baseball all about?

Is it to cut down the young boys, destroy egos, insult, deflate self-esteem, threaten to talk down to parents?

All of these things and more happened during the recent All Stars Tournament in Wendell.

I am more than disappointed with the American Little League All Star coaches.

One did not even have to ask which players belonged to the coachesr or special friends of the coaches because these players seldom sat out.

In my opinion, when adults stoop to cut down a budding child, they have stooped to a very low level. Perhaps their own egos and self-esteem are not very high and that is why they treated their players in such a manner.

 

He must have down loaded the new version of "spell checker", it has the "makes sense checker" included which replaces "PD translator".

 

.

 

We used to allow the coach with the best record to be the Allstar coach, but now the Optomist Club selects the coach. For us, it's the same guy for the past five years. The Club selects their baseball board, which this coach and his father are members. As far as him being a "bad coach", could you imagine a 13 or 14 year old doing nothing but batting practice for three weeks. The players never worked on pitching, rundowns, cutoffs, or any other situation. His son is our sixth best catcher and never came out of the game. Even when he missed an 85 mph fastball was hit in the head, and was lying on the ground, the coach/dad put his kid from left field. His kid shouldn't have been on the team; however, when you're the coach, your son is on the team. We had a four hour parent meeting before the first practice and even sent a protest group to talk to the Club's baseball committee. It had no impact. After the teams last game, there were many parents who vented their frustration about how this will probably continue.

 

obvious answer

the obvious answer is to start your own usssa team. why put up with this situation?

or bring your son to tryout for an existing team in your area/region.

 

And people wonder why some kids turn to USSSA or other travel options. Aguyyouknow has a point. If you can't improve the situation then recognize that and change your own situation. If the program doesn't change then it will eventually die.

 

From what I hear, West Raleigh has one of the most successful youth programs in the state in terms of participation and success on the field. They are not affiliated with LL but play Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth league.
You might want to contact them and see how they are doing it.

http://www.eteamz.com/west_raleigh_baseball2/