OP no to manager spot.

My DS was on a baseball team rec and soccer rec with neighborhood dads. He sat on the bench. The reasoning he was too quiet and nonaggressive personality.

At the end of the year we moved him to other teams. He just wanted to play. Rec again he gave up baseball (he wasn't a fan).

Years later HS, DS varsity Lax and State champion track. Divison 1 Lax. Those same kids nope.

You see boys grow a lot in MS and HS things change. Most important thing do not let others take his confidence away.

How old is he?

find him a new team, even if not travel. That would be better. It will be a memory soon. Watching this would be too hard.

A “manager” for an elementary travel team sounds awful — all of the weekend time-suckage with none of the skill-improvement upside of actual play. And what elementary kid is going to have the organizational and leadership skills necessary to corral gear, remind players of batting order, maintain focus in the dugout, etc?

If you want to, ask the coach if they can make your son part of the “practice team.” One year my kid had a few guys who for various reasons didn’t have a permanent spot on the roster, but who practiced with the team and occasionally filled a roster spot if a player was sick/hurt/traveling. It’s a good way to maintain a connection to his buddies, show the coach more of his playing style, and have a chance to improve.

Or just give your kid a hug, acknowledge that it sucks, and remind him that you don’t know why he wasn’t offered a spot. It could be that the coaches wanted to give him a year to get stronger. Or maybe he excels as a center fielder and they really needed a catcher. Life is long, and players develop at different rates. Think of the team’s decision as “not yet” rather than “never.”

There’s a terrific podcast called “Baseball Dads” that offers excellent advice and perspective on raising kids first and athletes second. Highly recommend to both dads and moms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s really kind of the coach to still want to include your son in the team. I think that would be a good way for him to continue to be part of the social scene and he won’t miss out.

an elementary school team manager would be horrible. What kid wants to watch other kids play?

If he gets to practice with the team, then it would be a wash. I think there are kids that sit out in travel anyways, so it might not be noticeable.
I'm sorry OP, the situation sucks. How old is your child?

not really, no matter how good he does in practice, he isn't a rostered player and won't play. That's a terrible position to put a kid in- they can work as hard as they want, improve as much as possible and it's ultimately futile because they aren't actually on the team. Going to games would be even worse- driving an hour and then spending an beautiful summer afternoon watching friends play, and then driving an hour home

Not to mention most travel games are double headers.

Having played a lot of sports growing up, I wouldn't have your kid be the manager. He will be miserable watching the others play as he rides the bench and none of his teammates will treat him as an equal. They will know that he was given a "pity spot."

Very sorry for your son.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s really kind of the coach to still want to include your son in the team. I think that would be a good way for him to continue to be part of the social scene and he won’t miss out.

an elementary school team manager would be horrible. What kid wants to watch other kids play?

If he gets to practice with the team, then it would be a wash. I think there are kids that sit out in travel anyways, so it might not be noticeable.
I'm sorry OP, the situation sucks. How old is your child?

not really, no matter how good he does in practice, he isn't a rostered player and won't play. That's a terrible position to put a kid in- they can work as hard as they want, improve as much as possible and it's ultimately futile because they aren't actually on the team. Going to games would be even worse- driving an hour and then spending an beautiful summer afternoon watching friends play, and then driving an hour home

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid would NEVER take the manager team- they just want to play the sport - sitting out and watching, no way! This is "travel" sports though and how it goes unfortunately. In BB it's tough b/c its not like soccer where there's 5 different teams.

This is why I prefer to pay a little more to not have parent coaches (and their kids)

Seriously, baseball is the worst with dad coaches. I think half the reason my kid wanted to quit was coaches (always way more than needed) insisted their kids play positions they weren’t good at, and bat higher in the batting order than they should.

and multiple coaches each of whom sucks up a roster spot for their kid, bonus points if the commissioner has a kid that year. They give up significant amounts of time and absolutely should get their kids placed, but I prefer to pay more and not have to deal with it

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s really kind of the coach to still want to include your son in the team. I think that would be a good way for him to continue to be part of the social scene and he won’t miss out.

an elementary school team manager would be horrible. What kid wants to watch other kids play?

If he gets to practice with the team, then it would be a wash. I think there are kids that sit out in travel anyways, so it might not be noticeable.
I'm sorry OP, the situation sucks. How old is your child?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid would NEVER take the manager team- they just want to play the sport - sitting out and watching, no way! This is "travel" sports though and how it goes unfortunately. In BB it's tough b/c its not like soccer where there's 5 different teams.

This is why I prefer to pay a little more to not have parent coaches (and their kids)

Seriously, baseball is the worst with dad coaches. I think half the reason my kid wanted to quit was coaches (always way more than needed) insisted their kids play positions they weren’t good at, and bat higher in the batting order than they should.

Aww, I'm sorry BTDT. You've gotta get him on a different team and build up his confidence. After my kid got cut (HUGE drama with the other kids) it probably took a full year to shake out, and it was incredibly painful to witness from the parent end, but it was life.

Just wondering, OP, did he actually like the baseball part, or just the social aspect? My ADHD boys didn't love baseball, and it was also not a fit for them - just too slow paced. One now plays soccer, one plays lacrosse.

Anonymous wrote:My kid would NEVER take the manager team- they just want to play the sport - sitting out and watching, no way! This is "travel" sports though and how it goes unfortunately. In BB it's tough b/c its not like soccer where there's 5 different teams.

This is why I prefer to pay a little more to not have parent coaches (and their kids)

Personally I think coaches kids should get some kind of dibs on teams. Coaches are volunteers who give up a lot of their time. There should be some benefit.

My kid would NEVER take the manager team- they just want to play the sport - sitting out and watching, no way! This is "travel" sports though and how it goes unfortunately. In BB it's tough b/c its not like soccer where there's 5 different teams.