Little League and parent arrogance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, I know kind of the reverse. Dad barely played his son and chose son's best friend to keep him company on the bench. I think the coach not playing his son was to teach him a lesson, or something. Or son was never that interested. Dad really wanted to coach. Son didn't want to play. Our son worked-around this by pushing to be goalie, which the team needed, and no one wanted that position. DS didn't like being goalie but at least the coach put him in.

Change teams next time. We never let one particular sport become so important. Change sports. We did rec teams only.

I should clarify - there were two different teams, two seasons in a row. Different coaches, same attitude. We left VLL after that experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I know kind of the reverse. Dad barely played his son and chose son's best friend to keep him company on the bench. I think the coach not playing his son was to teach him a lesson, or something. Or son was never that interested. Dad really wanted to coach. Son didn't want to play. Our son worked-around this by pushing to be goalie, which the team needed, and no one wanted that position. DS didn't like being goalie but at least the coach put him in.

Change teams next time. We never let one particular sport become so important. Change sports. We did rec teams only.

I should clarify - there were two different teams, two seasons in a row. Different coaches, same attitude. We left VLL after that experience.

You could've volunteered to coach the next season.

[Anonymous]

I don't begrudge coaches (in any sport) starting/playing their own children AT ALL. It is a huuuuuuuuuge time committment to coach, the least they should get is a perk for their own kid.

You want your kid to play more? Make them a better player or volunteer to help out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I know kind of the reverse. Dad barely played his son and chose son's best friend to keep him company on the bench. I think the coach not playing his son was to teach him a lesson, or something. Or son was never that interested. Dad really wanted to coach. Son didn't want to play. Our son worked-around this by pushing to be goalie, which the team needed, and no one wanted that position. DS didn't like being goalie but at least the coach put him in.

Change teams next time. We never let one particular sport become so important. Change sports. We did rec teams only.

I should clarify - there were two different teams, two seasons in a row. Different coaches, same attitude. We left VLL after that experience.

You could've volunteered to coach the next season.

People vie to become coaches at this age in VLL. It’s a coveted position. To restate, each team had FOUR coaches already. We had no “hook” to become a main coach, so we helped out where we could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't begrudge coaches (in any sport) starting/playing their own children AT ALL. It is a huuuuuuuuuge time committment to coach, the least they should get is a perk for their own kid.

You want your kid to play more? Make them a better player or volunteer to help out.

So it’s ok for the coaches’ kids, at age 8, to play the entire game every game and have other kids ride the bench except for the one inning they play left field? I hope you never coach anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't begrudge coaches (in any sport) starting/playing their own children AT ALL. It is a huuuuuuuuuge time committment to coach, the least they should get is a perk for their own kid.

You want your kid to play more? Make them a better player or volunteer to help out.

So it’s ok for the coaches’ kids, at age 8, to play the entire game every game and have other kids ride the bench except for the one inning they play left field? I hope you never coach anything.

What did the coach say when you brought it up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't begrudge coaches (in any sport) starting/playing their own children AT ALL. It is a huuuuuuuuuge time committment to coach, the least they should get is a perk for their own kid.

You want your kid to play more? Make them a better player or volunteer to help out.

So it’s ok for the coaches’ kids, at age 8, to play the entire game every game and have other kids ride the bench except for the one inning they play left field? I hope you never coach anything.

What did the coach say when you brought it up?

Both coaches, both seasons, said they’d “try” to play all the kids more. When I brought the issue to the Commissioner after nothing improved, he said he’d look into it. Nothing ever changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't begrudge coaches (in any sport) starting/playing their own children AT ALL. It is a huuuuuuuuuge time committment to coach, the least they should get is a perk for their own kid.

You want your kid to play more? Make them a better player or volunteer to help out.

So it’s ok for the coaches’ kids, at age 8, to play the entire game every game and have other kids ride the bench except for the one inning they play left field? I hope you never coach anything.

What did the coach say when you brought it up?

Both coaches, both seasons, said they’d “try” to play all the kids more. When I brought the issue to the Commissioner after nothing improved, he said he’d look into it. Nothing ever changed.

This is kind of important info that you should have included in your OP. The fact that you bubbled it up and nothing changed doesn't say anything good about the organization as a whole, unless your perception was wildly off. When people bring playing time discrepancies up to my commissioner DH, he immediately emails the coach in question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't begrudge coaches (in any sport) starting/playing their own children AT ALL. It is a huuuuuuuuuge time committment to coach, the least they should get is a perk for their own kid.

You want your kid to play more? Make them a better player or volunteer to help out.

So it’s ok for the coaches’ kids, at age 8, to play the entire game every game and have other kids ride the bench except for the one inning they play left field? I hope you never coach anything.

What did the coach say when you brought it up?

Both coaches, both seasons, said they’d “try” to play all the kids more. When I brought the issue to the Commissioner after nothing improved, he said he’d look into it. Nothing ever changed.

This is kind of important info that you should have included in your OP. The fact that you bubbled it up and nothing changed doesn't say anything good about the organization as a whole, unless your perception was wildly off. When people bring playing time discrepancies up to my commissioner DH, he immediately emails the coach in question.

I’m glad you had a different experience. Respectfully, my question isn’t “Were the coaches shitty by barely playing 1/3 of the team so their sons could play the entire game?” I know they were shitty. My question is whether coaches ever regret being shitty. By the blaming behavior I see here, basically “It’s your fault if your kid had a shitty coach!” I can conclude that no, coaches don’t regret anything. Thanks all!

[Anonymous]

The way you’re going at this old slight so hard makes you sound a tad dramatic, OP.

[Anonymous]

That’s too bad. We play babe Ruth and they are very into playing everyone, to the detriment of winning, but eveyone plays. Little league imo just wants to run

[Anonymous]

The coaches definitely don't care. They're still socially engineering their own kids' futures in some other activity and won't understand why the helicoptering comes back to bite their own child later in life (already has, perhaps).

[Anonymous]

Little League in general is bananas. Vienna Little League is especially bananas. In fact, I would pay to see a VLL-NWLL brawl star game, with achievement-minded coaches and parents losing their minds and the kids (generally) just wanting to get out and play.

OP, I'd say I suspect I know the coach you're talking about. Except some years, there are so many to choose from...

[Anonymous]

We've been in MLL and haven't experienced this, are you sure its not just a few here and there

[Anonymous]

My son is playing his 7th season of LL and I am so glad there is only 1 left. Several dads have absolutely ruined it for him, and other kids his age, just to get their "future major leaguers" a boost up. Last season DS ended up on a team with kids 3 years younger than him just so those dads could have their kids skip a level. The president of the LL and the various commissioners are horrible and give BS answers to everything. Honestly, I will be incredibly curious if these kids end up sticking with baseball. FWIW I have told DS he doesn't have to play, but he loves baseball so much he's willing to put up with the drama.