Cant stand being around little league sports parents

I am a totally hands off parent when it comes to my kids sports. My son plays football. He is 11. His team is undefeated. I will be the first to Tell you that my son is not the most talented athlete, but he is my son and I love him more than anything. There are 31 kids on his football team, so playing time is tough to come by. Our town is just building its football program, and has only had youth football for a few years. The high school team did not win a game this season, so it is kind of a big deal that our youth football is doing well. At the beginning of the season the coaches did well at getting every kid playing time. As they continued to win that has all changed. Now the coaches are so focused on winning that a lot of the kids, including my son, get maybe 3-4 plays in a game and there is a core of players who Play the whole game on both sides of the ball. I know this will be my sons last year playing, he has been so upset that he has broke down crying at home because he does not play much in the game. He has only missed one practice, in the 3 years he has played, and they practice 3 days a wekk for 2 hours a piece.There is not much we can do other than tell him how proud we are of him for sticking it out and going to every practice. It is hard keeping my mouth shut, but I do not want to embarrass my son, and at the end of the day it is only youth football.

 

The recreational leagues are fun when you're a little kid. But there comes a time when the urge to win, the competitiveness kicks in. I've always been very small, (24 years old, four foot, seven and 72 pounds) so sports was never really an option for me. It was pretty obvious that I was not going to be a valued contributor to the team. Our daughters have basically come to the same conclusion.

Even at the professional level, there are guys who know they'll be sitting on the bench, getting very little playing time unless one of the starters needs a rest. I think realizing that you are not going to be a star athlete is just part of growing up. Some kids aren't good enough to make the team, some will make the team but hardly ever play.

I never hunted or fished until I was sixteen and my husband introduced me to it. I discovered that the ability to think is what is most important in those sports. Yaaaayyy! Our daughters, (they're small like me) have accepted the fact that team sports are not for them and have thrown themselves into hunting and fishing. We have a blast out there in the woods. When I was in high school and would talk about my hunting experiences, I found that the guys actually envied me. Hey, the little shrimp goes out there and shoots deer, rabbits, and woodchucks and takes them home and eats them.

I'm not suggesting that hunting and fishing should be a second choice. I'm suggesting that we are all born with different abilities. You need to concentrate on your strengths.

 

It's the main reason I coach or assist all my kids sport whenever possible. My #1 priority is to have fun...then it's to teach the basics, and I always end the season asking the kids who will sign up next year...100% is the goal.
Now, I want to win more than anybody, it can be a terrible quality, but coaching these kids has helped me more than ever with learning to do the right thing. We stick to basics, but also working on "getting after it" and competing.

In the end, I always hope I can teach these kids some perspective...it's just a game. Go as hard as you possibly can, and once the game is over - both teams should are friends. I think hunting is a huge part in kids gaining perspective also...kids should try a little bit of everything...your youth is too short to pick one sport and play it year round in multiple leagues...that rarely pays off.

...but everyone is correct - there is always "that parent" that you just want to slap!

 

Try being a ref, LOL

Best line i have heard from a parent, told a 11U girl player(soccer), "Can you at least get a touch by accident"

 

Youth bat,, that the handle rotates seperate from the barrel so you can't hit pop ups and ground balls. Can you imagine the types of parents who would buy this, and the yelling when the kid fly's out. I hate youth competitive parents. One of my sons friends, spent over $13,000 on travel baseball last year. All for the believe of having him get a scholarship to college. I told him if he saved the $13,000 in a 529 every year he would have enough for undergrad at harvard and grad school, plus a plush fund for starting life. He got pissed at me.
Easton Mako Torq BBCOR Bat 2015 (-3) | ****'S Sporting Goods

 

Ive been around sports my entire life. I remember when sometimes parents would be really tough on their kids and it would be way overboard. Today, and I think it is people in general, are so judgemental and think the worst of everything. It them manifests into foul mouth jerk parents. The stuff they say used to cause fights. Nowadays people think they can say whatever they want without any repercussions. Terrible.

Ihunt.....im sorry to hear about that. Although I love him dearly, my dad was "that dad" many times and it was competely embarassing.

 

Coaches are this way now too, I am shocked on what some coaches say to kids. My son wanted to play for a club here in town, I would not even let him tryout, being I witness the coaches behavior on the sidelines,

 

Lol! If he saved that much every year for 30 years , you might be right. But, his kid might be a little old for college then. Base tuition there is $44K per year and that doesn't touch room and board.

 

I wasn't going to go here. BUT since you touched on it.... there lies the problem. I've been blasted on this topic over countless debates. I've come to learn that I simply have my philosophy about it and others have their own. That is fine.

The simple fact is, some kids just arent good at sports or good enough to warrant playing time over other kids. This is a big problem for the parents of the kids. I've never been much of one to be politically correct. I call it like I see it. At the end of the day, like it or not you play to win. You play to compete and beat the other team. There are some good life lessons in sports. You work/practice to succeed and become better at what you do. If you arent' good enough you need to work harder to get where you want to be (life/sports). Pampering kids only teaches them the opposite. It's ok to lose and you don't really have to out work the other guy because it will be fine. You'll get your playing time. It is what it is. Somehow everyone in the ballpark or stadium is aware of the circumstances except the parents of some players that frankly just arent' that good.

I'm by no means saying blackball them or kick them to the curb. In fact you need to work with them harder and push them along to try your best to make them succeed. I've taken more pride in improving a less talented athlete throughout a season then a blue chip athlete. Either way by the time I'm done coaching a player that comes to me (good or bad), I can guarantee you they will be a better player and person. Call me whatever you want or label me, but ... no I dont' teach that it is a good thing to lose. Not the end of the world, learn from how and why it happened and apply it to overcoming the next time. Nobody goes into any kind of contest hoping to lose.

 

My dad always stood by himself when ever I was playing hockey, he knew he wasn't a hockey coach and he knew his voice wasn't going to change any calls. Im willing to put money on the fact that hockey moms are the most annoying ones out there! I hate cow bells.....

 

Please dont take this wrong way, but you clearly dont understand compounding interest and the ability to save money.
Starting saving at age 8 and contributing 13,000 in year one would give you 10 years to save till college. If you received 7% a year on your investments and continued to contribute $13,000 per year until age 18 he would have approximately $207,000. More then enough for Harvard. I figure those are prime years for spending on Travel ball and athletics.
However start that same exercise at Birth and a parent would have nearly half a million dollars saved. You can try my numbers in the calculator below if you don't believe me. Paying $13,000 a year in the hope of a scholarship is financial lunacy. You are clearly better of investing it for the kid and let them participate in moderately priced athletics.
Compound Interest Calculator | Investor.gov

 

My dad almost got thrown out of a game and made us forfit. He was ragging on the umpire so bad that he started to scream at my coach and told us we would have to forfit if he didnt stop. This just fueled my father more and he got worse. The other umpires were laughing so hard at him. He tried to make us forfit but the other umps made him go back and call the game. It was imbarasing

 

This is it^^^^^
I'll never forget getting question by parent for pulling their kid, my response was simple, the other player was better, LOL You would have thought I ruined her entire reason for existence.

 

I probably have forgotten more about it than most people will ever know. I have been in the insurance and finance business for over 24 years. I was just kidding you . I know exactly what investing can do. My portfolio made over 24% last year. I am 47 and wont be working for many more years. But, I doubt that the family has spent that amount for much more than a couple of years. My point was merely that undergrad and grad school at Harvard would run you much closer to a half million dollars and that would be tough for anyone to ever save up. I agree completely that it is crazy to spend more than you can comfortably afford on a chance at a scholarship. We spent a lot of money on my oldest son for bike racing. I would guess that we may have spent close to 30 grand. Lucky for us, he is going to college on a bike racing scholarship. I will come out about a hundred grand ahead. It wont always work out, but sometimes it may be worth a shot.

 

My dad coached my little league team for 3 years and my last year of eligibility he gave it up and I got permission to play for another team because of one set of parents being so bad. Cussing him out because there son did not get picked for the all star team and I did(all of the coaches vote and the coaches cant vote for their own players) and they ended up being arrested at the baseball field over a 9-12 year old baseball league.

 

I had a mom of one of the kids I coached in baseball tell me her son was her ticket to retirement...at age 10. I suggested she not quit her day job until that worked out. He had two kids by age 20 and is working to support them, not her. :D

 

Yeah man, I'm 21 now and always told my old man I loved playing baseball just hated all the **** that followed. Your right, it's nuts. Started wrestling and damn near all of that went away


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Humor has an odd way of coming across on the internet sometime. I apologize, I was not trying to come across as rude to you. I really wanted to show how spending big on youth athletics can be a bust for most if not all. Again,in your case I am glad the cycling worked out, but 30k is nothing compared to travel ball these days. I know personally and have family members where the 13k is a drop in the yearly bucket spent easily from 8-18. There are tournaments in Disney, weekly tournaments, "professional" instruction, equipment etc. I heard of and read recently where there was now Travel Select Tee-Ball for 5-6 year olds. Same MO. Get the parents to spend more.

 

I hear ya there! I appreciate his involvement in pushing me to be a better athlete, but after having a great high school basketball career, and getting recruited to play college basketball there was always "the little things" that I failed to do. I can appreciate criticism and recommendations, but at a certain point I think it'd be nice to just enjoy watching your kid play and not have to critique the game and refs all the time.

 

I have (2) daughters and really do not give a **** about sports (they do well though), but I put the pressure on when it comes to grades. I will never understand why kids who are not on the honor roll are allowed to play sports by the school or the parents.