[Alberta's Child]

I gave up coaching Little League because I could see that the parental involvement had gotten out of hand.

I wish I had the knowledge back then that Mike Matheny had when he wrote this "open letter to Little League parents," and the guts to lay it out there for the parents of my team's players:

Letter to Parents of Little Leaguers

[FrdmLvr]

I don’t think my mom or dad ever went to one of my brothers’ little league games - they rode their bikes to the field, played their games, and came home and told us if they won or lost. This was in the 60’s. That was a great time to grow up.

[workerbee]

In a day and age where everyone rings their hands over childhood obesity, kids not playing outside, sitting in front of tv/computer/video screens, etc.... What's so amazing is the lack of opportunity for kids to play sports "for fun" or "just to try it out". If you don't have your child in a sports program from the age of 4 or 5, if they haven't "proven" themselves on the field as an elementary schooler -- you can pretty much forget about high school or even middle school sports. It is not about fun, exercise, or (ha ha) "sportsmanship", it's about crazy parents living vicariously through only the "best" players.