Coaching Little League: Does Baseball Have The Most Obnoxious Coaches/Parents?

I'm surprised there haven't been more complaints here about hockey parents. The high cost and ridiculous hours parents put into it, combined with the physical nature of the game, seems to bring out the worst in people.

 

Some areas don't have hockey leagues. I know there isn't one within at least 50 miles from where I am, and for that I am thankful.

 

The level of asshattery among parents seems to go up with respect to (1) the price of the sport/team in question (2) the level of talent (good or bad) the kid/team in question and (3) the number of "softball guy"-like parents running the organization/team in question.

The worst parents are those with unrealistic expectations for their kids.

You know, the ones who have little johnny, all 4-foot-2, 56 pounds of him, taking private lessons and hope some day he'll get a scholarship even though he is too small, too slow, isn't particularly talented or interested in playing competitively.

Then there are the douches that think because little johnny is dominating rec leagues, he has a future in the bigs.......

And Poindexter brought up rec league flag football -- I coached it one year -- I was given the absolute worst of the worst kids -- the guy who ran the league mysteriously had by far the most stacked team -- they'd win every week by 30 or more and he was a football head who wore Oakley's, hi-top spikes and had a flat top (he was a white guy) like he was Johnny Unitas and he'd scream things like "yeah, that's power football" and "yeah, that's that smashmouth game we play" and there was about four or five other fathers connected with that team who were cavemen in their approach --- particularly since I had a team that would make most of the Littlle Giants players look like future NFLers and he was getting his jjollies by having his guys take cheap shots and thrrow touchdown passes in the fourth quarter leading by 42.

 

Oh, god. Zag's post reminds me: I officiated youth football for one year. One year.

Last week of the season, I called a game between two U-12 teams. The coaching staff for one team had matching polo shirts and coaches' shorts and were all wearing ... head sets. Head sets! For 11-year-olds! Man, fuck that shit. Needless to say, they were assholes for the entire game. Challenging every holding call or infraction. Obnoxious as as hell.

I declined to return. Stuck with umpiring baseball and basketball until the real job got in the way and didn't have time to officiate anymore.

 

Re: Coaching Little League: Does Baseball Have The Most Obnoxious Coaches/Parent

Well, like anything else, you can't generalize about hockey parents.

The time and the money only become ridiculous if your kid is playing elite level, say, AA or higher.

If they're playing house league it's a couple of nights a week. Not a biggee.

The physical part of it is kinda irrelevant.

 

I always figured hockey parents were too tired from getting up at 3 a.m. for ice time to be obnoxious.

 

Original poster here...

Thanks for the battle stories on this.

Oh, and it gets better. I found out that the Sensei's team did win the tournament this morning.

How did I find out?

Sensei took out a small ad in the sports section of the newspaper today, trumpeting the team's three victories, including a small picture of the team holding the trophy.

Even my wife, who is as mild-mannered as they come, said ten minutes before the game last week.

"Oh no. You're playing THAT guy tonight? He's a tool."

 

The coaching staff for one team had matching polo shirts and coaches' shorts and were all wearing ... head sets. Head sets! For 11-year-olds!

I'm laffing...and crying.

 

Update...

Heading to playoffs on Saturday and playing out regular season.

Last week, our 6-7 year olds played a great game. Best of the year.

Last night, they were awful. I can handle losing but they weren't even trying. Not hustling, standing as ground balls went by them.

I told them afterward that I was 'disappointed' because I thought they had improved a lot. I did point out the positive, such as the least-skilled kid getting 3 line-drive base hits when our bats became toothpicks.

One more game left on Wednesday before playoffs. For those with experience -- ride the kids hard or ease off before Saturday? I've seen their potential and want to see them play well in the playoffs, obviously.

Thanks!

 

You've chewed ass, so that base is covered. See how they do Wednesday. If they come out and play well, do a short practice -- basic hitting and fielding -- on Friday.

If they come out and lay another egg, do a longer practice Thursday.

Either way, get 'em some rest one of the two days. It's hot out. They want to go swimming.

 

Ease up. They're 6- and 7-year-olds. As major league managers surely know, it's hard enough to get grown men to have their heads in the game every day. There are just days with young kids that they just don't care, and there's nothing you can do about it. Just keep up your usual routine and stay positive. I've seen too many youth coaches send their teams and themselves into the tank mentally because they got so worked up over playoffs.