Little League and parent arrogance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not specific to LL... soccer, football, lacross... I've seen it everywhere

there's a lot of craziness in the other sports, but baseball brings out a special craziness in dads for some reason.

+1

Happens in every sport but baseball is the absolute worst for this- so many crazy dads. The Little League years are the height of it- gets better as the kids get closer to high school.

Other team sports there are sometimes opportunities to make something happen. If a kid is on a basketball team with a daddy ball coach whose son always gets to be point guard at least on defense another kid can get an opportunity to steal a ball and turn and take it down the court or get a rebound. Same in soccer a kid who wants to make something happen can try and cover a larger area and get the ball.

Baseball is the worst because if you are in the outfield you might never get the ball the entire game when you are 7 or 8 or 9 especially once they changed the bat regulations (kids hit the ball way further with the old 1.15 bats). Then if you bat at the end of the line up you might only get two at bats. Let's say one time at bat you get 4 awful pitches and walk then get hit by the ball the next at bat. Or maybe the kid gets a good pitch and hits the ball into the outfield. If you are batting behind the slowest player on the team who barely runs you aren't getting a double or triple because the kid who is on base in front of you runs so slowly. So you had zero opportunity to show you can play. Meanwhile the coaches kid playing second base has 6 pop ups and 5 grounders hit to them. On one they dive for the ball and get it and make a play. Even if they missed catching 3 fly balls and overthrew first base twice that kid's dad who is a coach will make a big deal about the one good play the kid made. So in the coaches mind his kid should play infield.

Exactly. This has been our experience in both baseball and softball. You also know you’re in trouble if the head coach’s kid is playing 2nd. It means the coach knows the kid isn’t good enough (or desires) to be the main pitcher/catcher/ss, but he doesn’t want to put his kid in the outfield. Chances are that kid will have 2nd locked down for all game every game, the best 3 kids will rotate between pitcher, catcher, SS and a tall kid will be at first.

I also think the diamond sports are the worst for crazy Dads because they see it as a sport where their not quite athletic kid can excel. With an early start, lots of extra practice and early private instruction the kid can look really good at a young age. Daddy then starts going a little crazy when his kid isn’t looking quite as good because other kids have started catching up.

I'm with you on everything except that. You definitely need a tall kid at 1st.

I remember we played a team, in 13u, where the 1st baseman had to at most, be a little over 4 feet tall. They had 5-6 kids there wall 5'6 and up.

It was so weird. But that was the coach's kid. And also a lefty, so it was really 1st or OF. And I'm sure coach couldn't have his dear baby boy in the outfield.

Needless to say, at least 4-5 balls soared over his head. Balls every other 13u first baseman would have caught.

That coach was honestly making it worse for his own son.

Except often the “heavier” kids that can hit the ball a mile at 12 but can’t move very fast, are also put at 1B.

Very true. As an aside- The biggest surprise to me watching my DS play over the years is the trajectory of the heavy kids. At 12-13U everyone vies to have them on their team for pitching and hitting- and stick them at 1B usually. Kind of stereotypical for baseball. But at 14U+/high school, these kids tend to trickle out of the game if still heavy. Watching HS baseball all spring, I think I’ve seen ONE genuinely kid on a HS varsity team and he was a PO. More kept in JV as kids are still changing and growing at those ages. All the 1B players are either lefties or weaker fielders who rake.

Parents of lefties are usually adamant about getting time at 1B during youth ball and I’ve never quite understood it unless it is a kid who is heavy. 1B is easy enough to learn later on- better to focus on pitching and OF reps IMHO. 3 spots in the outfield to get you in the game later, after all…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not specific to LL... soccer, football, lacross... I've seen it everywhere

there's a lot of craziness in the other sports, but baseball brings out a special craziness in dads for some reason.

+1

Happens in every sport but baseball is the absolute worst for this- so many crazy dads. The Little League years are the height of it- gets better as the kids get closer to high school.

Other team sports there are sometimes opportunities to make something happen. If a kid is on a basketball team with a daddy ball coach whose son always gets to be point guard at least on defense another kid can get an opportunity to steal a ball and turn and take it down the court or get a rebound. Same in soccer a kid who wants to make something happen can try and cover a larger area and get the ball.

Baseball is the worst because if you are in the outfield you might never get the ball the entire game when you are 7 or 8 or 9 especially once they changed the bat regulations (kids hit the ball way further with the old 1.15 bats). Then if you bat at the end of the line up you might only get two at bats. Let's say one time at bat you get 4 awful pitches and walk then get hit by the ball the next at bat. Or maybe the kid gets a good pitch and hits the ball into the outfield. If you are batting behind the slowest player on the team who barely runs you aren't getting a double or triple because the kid who is on base in front of you runs so slowly. So you had zero opportunity to show you can play. Meanwhile the coaches kid playing second base has 6 pop ups and 5 grounders hit to them. On one they dive for the ball and get it and make a play. Even if they missed catching 3 fly balls and overthrew first base twice that kid's dad who is a coach will make a big deal about the one good play the kid made. So in the coaches mind his kid should play infield.

Exactly. This has been our experience in both baseball and softball. You also know you’re in trouble if the head coach’s kid is playing 2nd. It means the coach knows the kid isn’t good enough (or desires) to be the main pitcher/catcher/ss, but he doesn’t want to put his kid in the outfield. Chances are that kid will have 2nd locked down for all game every game, the best 3 kids will rotate between pitcher, catcher, SS and a tall kid will be at first.

I also think the diamond sports are the worst for crazy Dads because they see it as a sport where their not quite athletic kid can excel. With an early start, lots of extra practice and early private instruction the kid can look really good at a young age. Daddy then starts going a little crazy when his kid isn’t looking quite as good because other kids have started catching up.

I'm with you on everything except that. You definitely need a tall kid at 1st.

I remember we played a team, in 13u, where the 1st baseman had to at most, be a little over 4 feet tall. They had 5-6 kids there wall 5'6 and up.

It was so weird. But that was the coach's kid. And also a lefty, so it was really 1st or OF. And I'm sure coach couldn't have his dear baby boy in the outfield.

Needless to say, at least 4-5 balls soared over his head. Balls every other 13u first baseman would have caught.

That coach was honestly making it worse for his own son.

Except often the “heavier” kids that can hit the ball a mile at 12 but can’t move very fast, are also put at 1B.

So true on my team. The kid gets thrown out all the time because he can barely run the bases but the coaches love when he hits a double or triple. Not sure why it matters so much to him because the kid is almost always picked off. it's an easy out. He also plays first and can't jump and misses throws that a shorter 1B could easily catch. Not the coach's kid either. Coach just loves the sluggers who can't play defensive whatsoever.

I posted above but FWIW this only seems to apply to youth ball. Once they move to the big field, speed is very important. Usually they’ll pinch run for the kid for awhile, but eventually he finds himself on the bench. Plenty of other kids to choose from- and most of the other kids eventually catch up on strength and can hit for extra bases too if they are making varsity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not specific to LL... soccer, football, lacross... I've seen it everywhere

there's a lot of craziness in the other sports, but baseball brings out a special craziness in dads for some reason.

+1

Happens in every sport but baseball is the absolute worst for this- so many crazy dads. The Little League years are the height of it- gets better as the kids get closer to high school.

Other team sports there are sometimes opportunities to make something happen. If a kid is on a basketball team with a daddy ball coach whose son always gets to be point guard at least on defense another kid can get an opportunity to steal a ball and turn and take it down the court or get a rebound. Same in soccer a kid who wants to make something happen can try and cover a larger area and get the ball.

Baseball is the worst because if you are in the outfield you might never get the ball the entire game when you are 7 or 8 or 9 especially once they changed the bat regulations (kids hit the ball way further with the old 1.15 bats). Then if you bat at the end of the line up you might only get two at bats. Let's say one time at bat you get 4 awful pitches and walk then get hit by the ball the next at bat. Or maybe the kid gets a good pitch and hits the ball into the outfield. If you are batting behind the slowest player on the team who barely runs you aren't getting a double or triple because the kid who is on base in front of you runs so slowly. So you had zero opportunity to show you can play. Meanwhile the coaches kid playing second base has 6 pop ups and 5 grounders hit to them. On one they dive for the ball and get it and make a play. Even if they missed catching 3 fly balls and overthrew first base twice that kid's dad who is a coach will make a big deal about the one good play the kid made. So in the coaches mind his kid should play infield.

+1

Generally coach’s kids (or coach’s buddies kids) are on a long leash, while “disfavored” kids on a very short one. Baseball is a very mental game with confidence being important. Here is what happens:

-Little Billy (assistant coach’s son) starts the game at 2B and boots 2 easy grounders in the first inning. He is still sent out to play 2B the next inning. If he makes further errors- maaaaybe they will decide it isn’t his day and send him out to play CF. But Little Billy will still start at 2B next game. No problem- “things happen- get ‘em next time”. VS
-Little Larlo (disfavored kid) gets rotated into 2B and makes a nice play but also makes an error. Coach thinks “ahh yep just as I thought- Larlo isn’t ready to play infield” and it will be quite awhile before Larlo sees any more infield time.

This type of scenario is common & really messes with kids’ confidence. Little Billy will play loose and confident- secure that he will get his chances. Little Larlo will play tight and nervous- knowing if he makes an error- he will be relegated to rotating in corner OF for the next 5 games.

Same with batting- coach’s kid can bat #2 & have a bad game & go 0 for 3 with 3K, no big deal. If he struggles for many games, he may be moved down the order a bit- no biggie. “You’ll get ‘em next time”. Coach’s kid is loose and confident at the plate. He knows he has a pretty secure spot. But if another kid were to have a bad day at the plate - he will be moved down the lineup for next game for sure. This jars the kid who is then nervous at the plate- looking for walks or pressing too much. Resulting in poor performance.

That is how it goes typically. Eventually Little Larlo thinks “I suck at baseball…it obviously isn’t my sport…I don’t want to play next season”

This is pretty much how it goes, after watching 2 sons play baseball growing up (and mine are both still playing- one in HS, one in MS). A lot of kids quit are very put off early by coaches who crush their confidence- when if they had stuck around, could’ve turned out to be pretty good players.

Nailed it. My 13yo is dealing with this now. He's saying he wants to quit because he can't take the pressure. Half the team is favored and can do no wrong (despite all their errors and low batting average) the other half is not allowed to make a mistake. They always bat at the end of the order despite having higher averages than others. It's a total mind **ck. They are 13. We're going to take a break.

Yuck, I’m sorry. A break isn’t the worst idea but I’d encourage looking at other teams (usually teams with non-parent coaches are better at this age). A lot of the dadball/buddy teams will start a team with their 6ish “core kids” and find another 6 to fill in the team so their boys can play & not have to compete for playing time. Typically they have little intention of developing any of the “filler” kids- they will compete among themselves for innings in corner OF or perhaps gets thrown a bone and get to play some IF in a blowout. Usually most don’t stick around for next season but that is no problem- they can always find more. So most of the bottom half of the roster turns over every year. Pretty typical of bad teams.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for making me feel badly about my tall 14u 1B 😬

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not specific to LL... soccer, football, lacross... I've seen it everywhere

there's a lot of craziness in the other sports, but baseball brings out a special craziness in dads for some reason.

+1

Happens in every sport but baseball is the absolute worst for this- so many crazy dads. The Little League years are the height of it- gets better as the kids get closer to high school.

Other team sports there are sometimes opportunities to make something happen. If a kid is on a basketball team with a daddy ball coach whose son always gets to be point guard at least on defense another kid can get an opportunity to steal a ball and turn and take it down the court or get a rebound. Same in soccer a kid who wants to make something happen can try and cover a larger area and get the ball.

Baseball is the worst because if you are in the outfield you might never get the ball the entire game when you are 7 or 8 or 9 especially once they changed the bat regulations (kids hit the ball way further with the old 1.15 bats). Then if you bat at the end of the line up you might only get two at bats. Let's say one time at bat you get 4 awful pitches and walk then get hit by the ball the next at bat. Or maybe the kid gets a good pitch and hits the ball into the outfield. If you are batting behind the slowest player on the team who barely runs you aren't getting a double or triple because the kid who is on base in front of you runs so slowly. So you had zero opportunity to show you can play. Meanwhile the coaches kid playing second base has 6 pop ups and 5 grounders hit to them. On one they dive for the ball and get it and make a play. Even if they missed catching 3 fly balls and overthrew first base twice that kid's dad who is a coach will make a big deal about the one good play the kid made. So in the coaches mind his kid should play infield.

+1

Generally coach’s kids (or coach’s buddies kids) are on a long leash, while “disfavored” kids on a very short one. Baseball is a very mental game with confidence being important. Here is what happens:

-Little Billy (assistant coach’s son) starts the game at 2B and boots 2 easy grounders in the first inning. He is still sent out to play 2B the next inning. If he makes further errors- maaaaybe they will decide it isn’t his day and send him out to play CF. But Little Billy will still start at 2B next game. No problem- “things happen- get ‘em next time”. VS
-Little Larlo (disfavored kid) gets rotated into 2B and makes a nice play but also makes an error. Coach thinks “ahh yep just as I thought- Larlo isn’t ready to play infield” and it will be quite awhile before Larlo sees any more infield time.

This type of scenario is common & really messes with kids’ confidence. Little Billy will play loose and confident- secure that he will get his chances. Little Larlo will play tight and nervous- knowing if he makes an error- he will be relegated to rotating in corner OF for the next 5 games.

Same with batting- coach’s kid can bat #2 & have a bad game & go 0 for 3 with 3K, no big deal. If he struggles for many games, he may be moved down the order a bit- no biggie. “You’ll get ‘em next time”. Coach’s kid is loose and confident at the plate. He knows he has a pretty secure spot. But if another kid were to have a bad day at the plate - he will be moved down the lineup for next game for sure. This jars the kid who is then nervous at the plate- looking for walks or pressing too much. Resulting in poor performance.

That is how it goes typically. Eventually Little Larlo thinks “I suck at baseball…it obviously isn’t my sport…I don’t want to play next season”

This is pretty much how it goes, after watching 2 sons play baseball growing up (and mine are both still playing- one in HS, one in MS). A lot of kids quit are very put off early by coaches who crush their confidence- when if they had stuck around, could’ve turned out to be pretty good players.

Nailed it. My 13yo is dealing with this now. He's saying he wants to quit because he can't take the pressure. Half the team is favored and can do no wrong (despite all their errors and low batting average) the other half is not allowed to make a mistake. They always bat at the end of the order despite having higher averages than others. It's a total mind **ck. They are 13. We're going to take a break.

Yuck, I’m sorry. A break isn’t the worst idea but I’d encourage looking at other teams (usually teams with non-parent coaches are better at this age). A lot of the dadball/buddy teams will start a team with their 6ish “core kids” and find another 6 to fill in the team so their boys can play & not have to compete for playing time. Typically they have little intention of developing any of the “filler” kids- they will compete among themselves for innings in corner OF or perhaps gets thrown a bone and get to play some IF in a blowout. Usually most don’t stick around for next season but that is no problem- they can always find more. So most of the bottom half of the roster turns over every year. Pretty typical of bad teams.

It’s not a daddy ball team. Coach has no kids on the team. He’s a young guy I think he’s just not good with kids. We were one of the 3 kids to carry over from the team last year then somehow my kid fell from grace this year. And now he’s not having fun. Coach is very much “what have you done for me lately” for some of the kids and it’s not making them better just more stressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not specific to LL... soccer, football, lacross... I've seen it everywhere

there's a lot of craziness in the other sports, but baseball brings out a special craziness in dads for some reason.

+1

Happens in every sport but baseball is the absolute worst for this- so many crazy dads. The Little League years are the height of it- gets better as the kids get closer to high school.

Other team sports there are sometimes opportunities to make something happen. If a kid is on a basketball team with a daddy ball coach whose son always gets to be point guard at least on defense another kid can get an opportunity to steal a ball and turn and take it down the court or get a rebound. Same in soccer a kid who wants to make something happen can try and cover a larger area and get the ball.

Baseball is the worst because if you are in the outfield you might never get the ball the entire game when you are 7 or 8 or 9 especially once they changed the bat regulations (kids hit the ball way further with the old 1.15 bats). Then if you bat at the end of the line up you might only get two at bats. Let's say one time at bat you get 4 awful pitches and walk then get hit by the ball the next at bat. Or maybe the kid gets a good pitch and hits the ball into the outfield. If you are batting behind the slowest player on the team who barely runs you aren't getting a double or triple because the kid who is on base in front of you runs so slowly. So you had zero opportunity to show you can play. Meanwhile the coaches kid playing second base has 6 pop ups and 5 grounders hit to them. On one they dive for the ball and get it and make a play. Even if they missed catching 3 fly balls and overthrew first base twice that kid's dad who is a coach will make a big deal about the one good play the kid made. So in the coaches mind his kid should play infield.

+1

Generally coach’s kids (or coach’s buddies kids) are on a long leash, while “disfavored” kids on a very short one. Baseball is a very mental game with confidence being important. Here is what happens:

-Little Billy (assistant coach’s son) starts the game at 2B and boots 2 easy grounders in the first inning. He is still sent out to play 2B the next inning. If he makes further errors- maaaaybe they will decide it isn’t his day and send him out to play CF. But Little Billy will still start at 2B next game. No problem- “things happen- get ‘em next time”. VS
-Little Larlo (disfavored kid) gets rotated into 2B and makes a nice play but also makes an error. Coach thinks “ahh yep just as I thought- Larlo isn’t ready to play infield” and it will be quite awhile before Larlo sees any more infield time.

This type of scenario is common & really messes with kids’ confidence. Little Billy will play loose and confident- secure that he will get his chances. Little Larlo will play tight and nervous- knowing if he makes an error- he will be relegated to rotating in corner OF for the next 5 games.

Same with batting- coach’s kid can bat #2 & have a bad game & go 0 for 3 with 3K, no big deal. If he struggles for many games, he may be moved down the order a bit- no biggie. “You’ll get ‘em next time”. Coach’s kid is loose and confident at the plate. He knows he has a pretty secure spot. But if another kid were to have a bad day at the plate - he will be moved down the lineup for next game for sure. This jars the kid who is then nervous at the plate- looking for walks or pressing too much. Resulting in poor performance.

That is how it goes typically. Eventually Little Larlo thinks “I suck at baseball…it obviously isn’t my sport…I don’t want to play next season”

This is pretty much how it goes, after watching 2 sons play baseball growing up (and mine are both still playing- one in HS, one in MS). A lot of kids quit are very put off early by coaches who crush their confidence- when if they had stuck around, could’ve turned out to be pretty good players.

Nailed it. My 13yo is dealing with this now. He's saying he wants to quit because he can't take the pressure. Half the team is favored and can do no wrong (despite all their errors and low batting average) the other half is not allowed to make a mistake. They always bat at the end of the order despite having higher averages than others. It's a total mind **ck. They are 13. We're going to take a break.

Yuck, I’m sorry. A break isn’t the worst idea but I’d encourage looking at other teams (usually teams with non-parent coaches are better at this age). A lot of the dadball/buddy teams will start a team with their 6ish “core kids” and find another 6 to fill in the team so their boys can play & not have to compete for playing time. Typically they have little intention of developing any of the “filler” kids- they will compete among themselves for innings in corner OF or perhaps gets thrown a bone and get to play some IF in a blowout. Usually most don’t stick around for next season but that is no problem- they can always find more. So most of the bottom half of the roster turns over every year. Pretty typical of bad teams.

It’s not a daddy ball team. Coach has no kids on the team. He’s a young guy I think he’s just not good with kids. We were one of the 3 kids to carry over from the team last year then somehow my kid fell from grace this year. And now he’s not having fun. Coach is very much “what have you done for me lately” for some of the kids and it’s not making them better just more stressed.

Very similar situation except with girls softball. The coach is going by initial impression rather than actual stats. She literally doesn't track errors or OBP. It is absolutely a mindf&ck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for making me feel badly about my tall 14u 1B 😬

Why feel bad? Every sport has a position for tall kids that might not be speedy. Soccer goalie, basketball center, hockey enforcer, etc. It gives your kid a special place on the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not specific to LL... soccer, football, lacross... I've seen it everywhere

there's a lot of craziness in the other sports, but baseball brings out a special craziness in dads for some reason.

+1

Happens in every sport but baseball is the absolute worst for this- so many crazy dads. The Little League years are the height of it- gets better as the kids get closer to high school.

Other team sports there are sometimes opportunities to make something happen. If a kid is on a basketball team with a daddy ball coach whose son always gets to be point guard at least on defense another kid can get an opportunity to steal a ball and turn and take it down the court or get a rebound. Same in soccer a kid who wants to make something happen can try and cover a larger area and get the ball.

Baseball is the worst because if you are in the outfield you might never get the ball the entire game when you are 7 or 8 or 9 especially once they changed the bat regulations (kids hit the ball way further with the old 1.15 bats). Then if you bat at the end of the line up you might only get two at bats. Let's say one time at bat you get 4 awful pitches and walk then get hit by the ball the next at bat. Or maybe the kid gets a good pitch and hits the ball into the outfield. If you are batting behind the slowest player on the team who barely runs you aren't getting a double or triple because the kid who is on base in front of you runs so slowly. So you had zero opportunity to show you can play. Meanwhile the coaches kid playing second base has 6 pop ups and 5 grounders hit to them. On one they dive for the ball and get it and make a play. Even if they missed catching 3 fly balls and overthrew first base twice that kid's dad who is a coach will make a big deal about the one good play the kid made. So in the coaches mind his kid should play infield.

+1

Generally coach’s kids (or coach’s buddies kids) are on a long leash, while “disfavored” kids on a very short one. Baseball is a very mental game with confidence being important. Here is what happens:

-Little Billy (assistant coach’s son) starts the game at 2B and boots 2 easy grounders in the first inning. He is still sent out to play 2B the next inning. If he makes further errors- maaaaybe they will decide it isn’t his day and send him out to play CF. But Little Billy will still start at 2B next game. No problem- “things happen- get ‘em next time”. VS
-Little Larlo (disfavored kid) gets rotated into 2B and makes a nice play but also makes an error. Coach thinks “ahh yep just as I thought- Larlo isn’t ready to play infield” and it will be quite awhile before Larlo sees any more infield time.

This type of scenario is common & really messes with kids’ confidence. Little Billy will play loose and confident- secure that he will get his chances. Little Larlo will play tight and nervous- knowing if he makes an error- he will be relegated to rotating in corner OF for the next 5 games.

Same with batting- coach’s kid can bat #2 & have a bad game & go 0 for 3 with 3K, no big deal. If he struggles for many games, he may be moved down the order a bit- no biggie. “You’ll get ‘em next time”. Coach’s kid is loose and confident at the plate. He knows he has a pretty secure spot. But if another kid were to have a bad day at the plate - he will be moved down the lineup for next game for sure. This jars the kid who is then nervous at the plate- looking for walks or pressing too much. Resulting in poor performance.

That is how it goes typically. Eventually Little Larlo thinks “I suck at baseball…it obviously isn’t my sport…I don’t want to play next season”

This is pretty much how it goes, after watching 2 sons play baseball growing up (and mine are both still playing- one in HS, one in MS). A lot of kids quit are very put off early by coaches who crush their confidence- when if they had stuck around, could’ve turned out to be pretty good players.

Nailed it. My 13yo is dealing with this now. He's saying he wants to quit because he can't take the pressure. Half the team is favored and can do no wrong (despite all their errors and low batting average) the other half is not allowed to make a mistake. They always bat at the end of the order despite having higher averages than others. It's a total mind **ck. They are 13. We're going to take a break.

Yuck, I’m sorry. A break isn’t the worst idea but I’d encourage looking at other teams (usually teams with non-parent coaches are better at this age). A lot of the dadball/buddy teams will start a team with their 6ish “core kids” and find another 6 to fill in the team so their boys can play & not have to compete for playing time. Typically they have little intention of developing any of the “filler” kids- they will compete among themselves for innings in corner OF or perhaps gets thrown a bone and get to play some IF in a blowout. Usually most don’t stick around for next season but that is no problem- they can always find more. So most of the bottom half of the roster turns over every year. Pretty typical of bad teams.

It’s not a daddy ball team. Coach has no kids on the team. He’s a young guy I think he’s just not good with kids. We were one of the 3 kids to carry over from the team last year then somehow my kid fell from grace this year. And now he’s not having fun. Coach is very much “what have you done for me lately” for some of the kids and it’s not making them better just more stressed.

Very similar situation except with girls softball. The coach is going by initial impression rather than actual stats. She literally doesn't track errors or OBP. It is absolutely a mindf&ck.

That's the issue. If he looked at Game Changer, and he probably does, but won't admit it, it would be obvious that some of his favorites don't deserve the playing time and at bats they get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is not specific to LL... soccer, football, lacross... I've seen it everywhere

there's a lot of craziness in the other sports, but baseball brings out a special craziness in dads for some reason.

+1

Happens in every sport but baseball is the absolute worst for this- so many crazy dads. The Little League years are the height of it- gets better as the kids get closer to high school.

Other team sports there are sometimes opportunities to make something happen. If a kid is on a basketball team with a daddy ball coach whose son always gets to be point guard at least on defense another kid can get an opportunity to steal a ball and turn and take it down the court or get a rebound. Same in soccer a kid who wants to make something happen can try and cover a larger area and get the ball.

Baseball is the worst because if you are in the outfield you might never get the ball the entire game when you are 7 or 8 or 9 especially once they changed the bat regulations (kids hit the ball way further with the old 1.15 bats). Then if you bat at the end of the line up you might only get two at bats. Let's say one time at bat you get 4 awful pitches and walk then get hit by the ball the next at bat. Or maybe the kid gets a good pitch and hits the ball into the outfield. If you are batting behind the slowest player on the team who barely runs you aren't getting a double or triple because the kid who is on base in front of you runs so slowly. So you had zero opportunity to show you can play. Meanwhile the coaches kid playing second base has 6 pop ups and 5 grounders hit to them. On one they dive for the ball and get it and make a play. Even if they missed catching 3 fly balls and overthrew first base twice that kid's dad who is a coach will make a big deal about the one good play the kid made. So in the coaches mind his kid should play infield.

+1

Generally coach’s kids (or coach’s buddies kids) are on a long leash, while “disfavored” kids on a very short one. Baseball is a very mental game with confidence being important. Here is what happens:

-Little Billy (assistant coach’s son) starts the game at 2B and boots 2 easy grounders in the first inning. He is still sent out to play 2B the next inning. If he makes further errors- maaaaybe they will decide it isn’t his day and send him out to play CF. But Little Billy will still start at 2B next game. No problem- “things happen- get ‘em next time”. VS
-Little Larlo (disfavored kid) gets rotated into 2B and makes a nice play but also makes an error. Coach thinks “ahh yep just as I thought- Larlo isn’t ready to play infield” and it will be quite awhile before Larlo sees any more infield time.

This type of scenario is common & really messes with kids’ confidence. Little Billy will play loose and confident- secure that he will get his chances. Little Larlo will play tight and nervous- knowing if he makes an error- he will be relegated to rotating in corner OF for the next 5 games.

Same with batting- coach’s kid can bat #2 & have a bad game & go 0 for 3 with 3K, no big deal. If he struggles for many games, he may be moved down the order a bit- no biggie. “You’ll get ‘em next time”. Coach’s kid is loose and confident at the plate. He knows he has a pretty secure spot. But if another kid were to have a bad day at the plate - he will be moved down the lineup for next game for sure. This jars the kid who is then nervous at the plate- looking for walks or pressing too much. Resulting in poor performance.

That is how it goes typically. Eventually Little Larlo thinks “I suck at baseball…it obviously isn’t my sport…I don’t want to play next season”

This is pretty much how it goes, after watching 2 sons play baseball growing up (and mine are both still playing- one in HS, one in MS). A lot of kids quit are very put off early by coaches who crush their confidence- when if they had stuck around, could’ve turned out to be pretty good players.

Nailed it. My 13yo is dealing with this now. He's saying he wants to quit because he can't take the pressure. Half the team is favored and can do no wrong (despite all their errors and low batting average) the other half is not allowed to make a mistake. They always bat at the end of the order despite having higher averages than others. It's a total mind **ck. They are 13. We're going to take a break.

Yuck, I’m sorry. A break isn’t the worst idea but I’d encourage looking at other teams (usually teams with non-parent coaches are better at this age). A lot of the dadball/buddy teams will start a team with their 6ish “core kids” and find another 6 to fill in the team so their boys can play & not have to compete for playing time. Typically they have little intention of developing any of the “filler” kids- they will compete among themselves for innings in corner OF or perhaps gets thrown a bone and get to play some IF in a blowout. Usually most don’t stick around for next season but that is no problem- they can always find more. So most of the bottom half of the roster turns over every year. Pretty typical of bad teams.

It’s not a daddy ball team. Coach has no kids on the team. He’s a young guy I think he’s just not good with kids. We were one of the 3 kids to carry over from the team last year then somehow my kid fell from grace this year. And now he’s not having fun. Coach is very much “what have you done for me lately” for some of the kids and it’s not making them better just more stressed.

Very similar situation except with girls softball. The coach is going by initial impression rather than actual stats. She literally doesn't track errors or OBP. It is absolutely a mindf&ck.

That's the issue. If he looked at Game Changer, and he probably does, but won't admit it, it would be obvious that some of his favorites don't deserve the playing time and at bats they get.

As a parent, I get it BUT Coaches don’t really care about GC stats IME- they use the eye test. (Please don’t shoot the messenger lol)

My kid has a teammate who probably has an ok batting average but is a terrible hitter- most of his hits are flares that just barely drop on the OF grass and he is asked to bunt a lot. Other than that just grounds out all the time. Kid has another teammate who hit laser after laser last tournament- right at fielders. LOL. Didn’t help his average in GC I’m sure. But the coaches don’t care what GC says…good coaches know who has and has not been hitting well lately. Bad coaches, well…will do what they want anyway.