Youth baseball parents put on notice

[YankeeFan]

A conversation starter from a source other than the Times:

 

[Uncle.Ruckus]

Awesome.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Print's too small.

 

[albert77]

I just clicked my cursor over the photo and it zoomed in for me. Well worth reading.

 

[exmediahack]

As a damn baseball parent, I find this outstanding. Good on ya, Buffalo Grove.

I do credit the high school coach of the district we live in with putting out a 55-page "handbook" on player and parent behavior expectations. 55 pages.

 

[Starman]

As a damn baseball parent, I find this outstanding. Good on ya, Buffalo Grove.

I do credit the high school coach of the district we live in with putting out a 55-page "handbook" on player and parent behavior expectations. 55 pages.

Meh -- it shouldn't take 55 pages to explain how to behave. It probably shouldn't even take 55 words.

Because remember, those most in need of behavior advice are not very likely to be willing, or for that matter able, to read 55 pages.

 

[Mark2010]

A former boss said he appreciated all the nonsense he had heard/seen from parents over the years because it served as a reminder of how NOT to act when his kids were old enough to play.

 

[Mark2010]

One of the all-time greatest quotes in any paper where I worked. HS softball playoffs, elimination game, 17th inning, star pitcher hanging on. During a break, coach and HER DAD come out to the circle. Dad is concerned about her arm.

Quote of the year: "I told him to go have a seat behind the dugout and shut up."

 

[HanSenSE]

As well-intentioned as the sign is, it's unfortunate it had to be put up in the first place.

 

[britwrit]

Meh. This sign is GARBAGE! No punk is going to tell me how or how not I'm going to root for my kid!

(...I actually don't have a kid but - as creepy as it is - I'm going to start following some random 9-year-old around and cheer like a maniac whenever he comes within fifty yards of an organized sports contest. So there!)

 

[dog eat dog world]

The coordinators of Nike Team Camps and (name your specialty national championship tournament) organizing chiefs think this is all well-meaning bull****. There's scouts at 12-14 year-olds games as we speak.
And parents will say it might not impact their careers one day, but it impacts mine now.
Plenty of these dweebs saying this under their breath.

 

[KJIM]

Have you really never seen a sign like this before?

 

[Starman]

Have you really never seen a sign like this before?

yeah, I have seen similar signs at high schools and youth sports facilities.

The sign shown above, and CERTAINLY the 55-page handbook, are overkill, to some extent redunant and possibly counterproductive in the end.

Because you know the real dickslapper parents are going to read that 55-page handbook and comb it with a fine-toothed comb to figure out ways they can still be assholes and yet not technically be in violation.





K.I.S.S.:

1) No audible or visible (gestures, etc) criticism of game officials or disputing their decisions. Repeated audible attempts to influence officials' decisions will fall under the scope of this rule.

2) No audible or visible criticism of ANY player on either team. "Sarcastic cheering" may be interpreted as a violation of this rule.

3) No audible or visible criticism of coaching decisions (including PT) during the game. If you have strategic or PT concerns with the coaching staff, contact them on a non-game day to discuss these issues.

4) Any violation of the above rules will result in immediate suspension of play and public warning of the violator(s) by the game officials, after which play will continue.

5) A second violation of any above rule will result in immediate ejection from the event venue for the violator(s). If a parent or guardian, their child must leave with them. Any violator(s) so ejected from any game shall be liable for immediate ejection without a warning for ANY conduct violations for the rest of the season. Any violator may be ejected at ANY time for flagrant acts of unsportsmanlike behavior.


So there. Five Commandments. Make It So.

 

[HanSenSE]

Here's something that a Facebook friend tipped me off to. A good read on the subject.

http://mikematheny.com/sites/default/files/docs/MathenyManifesto.pdf

 

[Bob Cook]

The travel team coach scouted my daughter's softball game. She's 7.

Here's the thing: we all want to pretend it's "just a game," and for a lot of kids and parents, it is. But a lot of irrationality is a rational response to a highly professionalized youth sports system where decisions on who gets spots rests on how much parents will spend on development, how much time parents dedicate to it, and how well they can manipulate a system that is under more and more pressure to deliver elite-level talent, healthy development be damned, so their kid can get a scholarship because how the **** are we supposed afford college?

It's telling that this sign is up in an upper-crust suburb, because the parents of the upper 10 percent discovering sports as something more than a hobby has helped feed this system. You know, like how families of means with no reason to seriously worry about their child's eventual station in life lose their **** if their kid doesn't get in the right preschool.

 

[bydesign77]

The "not criticizing officials" is fine, as long as those officials know the rules. Like a runner can advance to first on an uncaught third strike. Then when I yell for my girls to run, they shouldn't come over to me and tell me that I don't know the rules.

I don't mind judgment call mistakes, or even getting complex or obscure rules wrong. But basic knowledge rules mistakes? There should be no protection. They are being paid to be out there. Do it right.

 

[Starman]

Officials in kids sports are usually not getting paid much -- or sometimes anything.

You get what you pay for.

If the refs foul up a really obvious rules situation, obviously the coach should call time out and say to the ref, "just want to double check the dropped third strike rule is still in effect so I can tell my players when to run or not run."

(Not 'you ******* idiot, haven't you ever heard of the ******* dropped third strike rule?' )

If the league is hiring officials who consistently screw up basic rules situations, your coach needs to contact the commissioner or league president or whoever is hiring them and give THEM an earful. "What the hell are we paying our league entry fees for?"

But it should be established at least in theory parents aren't supposed to ***** at the refs -- and if they do, they get ONE warning.

Here's something that a Facebook friend tipped me off to. A good read on the subject.

http://mikematheny.com/sites/default/files/docs/MathenyManifesto.pdf

Yeah, I think I've seen that one before. Nobody much can argue with the general message of the piece, but once again, those likely to read, understand and buy into it are probably not your problem parents anyway.

 

[nmmetsfan]

The "not criticizing officials" is fine, as long as those officials know the rules. Like a runner can advance to first on an uncaught third strike. Then when I yell for my girls to run, they shouldn't come over to me and tell me that I don't know the rules.

I don't mind judgment call mistakes, or even getting complex or obscure rules wrong. But basic knowledge rules mistakes? There should be no protection. They are being paid to be out there. Do it right.

If youth league officials don't know the rules, bitching about it from the sideline won't help anything. It will make you look like an ass. Take it to the organization.

 

[bydesign77]

The "not criticizing officials" is fine, as long as those officials know the rules. Like a runner can advance to first on an uncaught third strike. Then when I yell for my girls to run, they shouldn't come over to me and tell me that I don't know the rules.

I don't mind judgment call mistakes, or even getting complex or obscure rules wrong. But basic knowledge rules mistakes? There should be no protection. They are being paid to be out there. Do it right.

If youth league officials don't know the rules, bitching about it from the sideline won't help anything. It will make you look like an ass. Take it to the organization.

Believe me. I spoke with the rec director immediately.

And as far as not getting paid? I'd say $35 for a 1:15 is a pretty good rate.

I didn't yell at the guy. He came to the fence attempting to explain the rule to me. I told him that he was wrong and should read the rule book. Not to sound childish but he started it.

But, as an official, the idea that criticizing the officials is verboten is crazy.

 

[nmmetsfan]

Never said it was verboten. Just that it makes you look like an ass.