Stupid Crap

[mic]

I coached little leagues off and on for 20 years. When my daughter started playing tee ball, I found out that I love coaching girls fastpitch and have been doing so for four years. I believe I'm really good at it, and have been complemented by a ton of parents. I was just told by the New Baden (IL) sports director that I can't be a head coach next year because my daughter decided not to play. I could only be the coach if they couldn't find a parent to do it.

Being military most of my life, I try not to question the local customs and rules...but this is bullshit. Little league coaches should be selected on ability first. Most of the coaches I had were not parents, but people who loved the game. They were some of the best and my favorites.

Just my two cents.

[eric1978]

I can see both sides. I'm sure the organization wants the parents to be able to coach if they want to...you know, for bonding and all that.

But a lot of times you end up with parents who coach because they think it will be fun, but don't know anything about the mechanics of the sport, and end up making it less fun because they can't win a game. All the worst coaches I had were parents, and the two best, aside from my dad, were old guys with no kids on the team.

[Jack Jones]

My opinion after seeing my daughter go through this is that parents as coaches seems to cause more problems than not. They don't always seem to have a good working knowledge of the sport and its ethics, nor do they always have a passion for it. So, how can they pass down what they don't have? Inevitably on the teams I saw, the coach's kid was one of the best players. I'm not faulting them for that. That's great. Unfortunately, I think it definitely caused issues with the other kids because they would see their coach cheering for their kid probably more than them. It may just have been a perception thing, but it made a difference. Would have been nicer if they had made the coach's kids play on a different team.

That said, I agree with mic. I think it's a byproduct of the kiddie diddler boogey man that an adult who wants to volunteer time and involve themselves in kid's lives must be inherently disordered and want to wrongly touch children. I don't recall it ever being that way growing up and I can remember some of the people who had the most impact on me were simply grownups willing to spend time with impatient, bull-headed, and rowdy kids when they certainly could have been doing something else.

In this day and age, anything that discourages volunteerism and participation just coarsens and hurts us all.

There's my .10 cents.

[Gilly]

Hey, Mic.

I've been a 'volunteer'/mentor for young folks for a long time. Started coaching soccer for my sons when they were little and assisted in football and soccer as they got older. My skill set was maxed out by the time they reached high school. I also was a Scout Master for several years. One thing you didn't mention was what level is this at. Recreational, competitive or? I'm going to assume recreational. A lot depends on who is running the league or organization. We had years that it went either way. They wanted parents only some years and if the leadership changed it could go the other way and they wanted experience. Come to find out the ones who wanted inexperienced parents didn't want someone smarter than them questioning their authority. Which is bs because this is for the kids....right?

Egos can be a detriment.