Out of control youth baseball coach

[jay santos]

I read the article and some of the discussion on CB yesterday.

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_4154850

I really don't know how to react. I've coached at this level recently. Even at this age, the competition level in a championship game setting can be very intense. This coach shouldn't be picked on as much as he is, because this is pretty common thing. This story could be written in Utah every week a few times over.

I'm not sure what I would do as a coach. I wouldn't intentionally walk a kid in a regular league game, but if it came down to a championship game I might. Not sure.

I can guarantee you almost 100% that some sort of competitive coaching jockeying was the reason that the situation ended up with the best hitter followed by the worst hitter. I'll bet you a month's salary that this wasn't how the coach put in his lineup. He probably benched the one kid and then was forced to stuff him in the last inning. Either that or there was a rule about a pick up player that he manipulated to get an extra at bat for the good hitter.

I don't know what's right, but in the discussion I've read, the normal competitiveness of these leagues has been extremely downplayed. You get your team to a championship game in any league in any sport in Utah, and I bet you've engaged in some sort of competitive activity that some would frown on--whether it be yelling at young officials, stacking your team unfairly at the beginning of the season, benching bad players, etc.

[fusnik11]

They are nine and ten year old kids, why is there any pressure involved at all in their Little League experience?

Why do coaches yell at 16 year old umpires who are calling balls and strikes for kids who barely get the ball over the plate?

Why do coaches yell at 16 year old referees when they aren't calling three seconds?

I am willing to bet that at least one of the kids playing in the game still struggles with tieing his shoes, peeing the bed, and walking around his house in the dark, yet coaches think it's of the utmost importance to intentionally walk, complain, substitute, jockey, etc.

The best experiences I had in Little League weren't the competitive leagues I played in, they were on the locally sponsored Blue Jays team that won one game in two years.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

They are nine and ten year old kids, why is there any pressure involved at all in their Little League experience?

Why do coaches yell at 16 year old umpires who are calling balls and strikes for kids who barely get the ball over the plate?

Why do coaches yell at 16 year old referees when they aren't calling three seconds?

I am willing to bet that at least one of the kids playing in the game still struggles with tieing his shoes, peeing the bed, and walking around his house in the dark, yet coaches think it's of the utmost importance to intentionally walk, complain, substitute, jockey, etc.

The best experiences I had in Little League weren't the competitive leagues I played in, they were on the locally sponsored Blue Jays team that won one game in two years.

I'm not commenting on the big picture question which is how competitive we should allow these leagues to become.

I'm just saying that it's probably unfair to single out the one coach.

Also, that's great for you the best experience for you was a crappy team. One of the best experiences for me was when I won a first place trophy as a seven year old.

There is value in competition.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I'll tell you what's embarassing. Watching the parents of this kid whine about the whole mess and play it up in the media. If you are going to put your kid in sports, teach him to be a good sport and not cry when he doesn't get special treatment. So what if they pitched to him? He could have gotten a hit and been the hero.

[fusnik11]

Originally Posted by jay santos

I'm just saying that it's probably unfair to single out the one coach.

Also, that's great for you the best experience for you was a crappy team. One of the best experiences for me was when I won a first place trophy as a seven year old.

There is value in competition.

You said in your initial post that you can see this same thing happening a few times all over Utah. If that is the case than yes it's fair to single out a coach as hopefully that brings change. What are we teaching our kids when we show them that winning is more important than decency?

Naturally there is value in competition, that's why there are more competitive leagues for the kids who are physically and emotionally ready for a heightened level of stress.

I see the value in the Little League system, Baby Ruth, and Pony League, I don't see the value of showing little kids the crappy side of sports at nine and ten.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

You said in your initial post that you can see this same thing happening a few times all over Utah. If that is the case than yes it's fair to single out a coach as hopefully that brings change. What are we teaching our kids when we show them that winning is more important than decency?

Naturally there is value in competition, that's why there are more competitive leagues for the kids who are physically and emotionally ready for a heightened level of stress.

I see the value in the Little League system, Baby Ruth, and Pony League, I don't see the value of showing little kids the crappy side of sports at nine and ten.

I gotta disagree with you here fusnik. I've been involved in coaching youth baseball for the past 16 years and I've found that it's best to teach kids the right way to play it. Sometimes, the right way is to bypass a better hitter to get a weaker hitter at the plate. Would it have been fair to their players to not make the right coaching move?

It may have been the decent thing to pitch to the kid who had already hit a homerun and triple and risk him doing it again, but then the kid who had defeated cancer would not have had a chance to be the hero. What more could a kid ask for?

The coaches of the other team decided to treat this kid as any other kid - not as a cancer survivor. Isn't that what the kid and his parents wanted in the first place? He had a chance but came up short. There is no shame in that.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

You said in your initial post that you can see this same thing happening a few times all over Utah. If that is the case than yes it's fair to single out a coach as hopefully that brings change. What are we teaching our kids when we show them that winning is more important than decency?

Naturally there is value in competition, that's why there are more competitive leagues for the kids who are physically and emotionally ready for a heightened level of stress.

I see the value in the Little League system, Baby Ruth, and Pony League, I don't see the value of showing little kids the crappy side of sports at nine and ten.

If they don't want it to be competitive why have a championship game? Why keep score?

I would measure decency in coaching in a case like this as complying to societal norms. What this coach did seems to be at or very close to the societal norm for 9/10 year old championship game setting.

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

You said in your initial post that you can see this same thing happening a few times all over Utah. If that is the case than yes it's fair to single out a coach as hopefully that brings change. What are we teaching our kids when we show them that winning is more important than decency?

Naturally there is value in competition, that's why there are more competitive leagues for the kids who are physically and emotionally ready for a heightened level of stress.

I see the value in the Little League system, Baby Ruth, and Pony League, I don't see the value of showing little kids the crappy side of sports at nine and ten.

Even though there is little you and I agree, I'm 100% with you on this one.