Thank you.
And, AMEN!
If he thought it was just right he wouldn't be remembering it after all this time.
My father played semi-pro baseball and encouraged me to play little league. He would be at every game and practice, watching my every move. I got 1 hit all season and after every game I was lectured to for at least an hour on everything I did wrong. Needless to say the next season I found an excuse not to join little league. I still love my dad, and when he comes to visit he likes to watch me play softball in the league at work (thank G-d there have been no lectures).
Good article that's full of common sense. These soccer moms, and baseball dads get on my last nerve. If they want to create a relationship with their kids, get them out of the house and have them help you garden. These days, modern cars need to be taken to a mechanic for tune ups, but even though I was a girl, I would be under the hood with Dad handing him tools. We would also watch World At War on Sunday afternoons. I was never in organized sports.
My husband's Little League team this year had just the opposite problem: parents who thought baseball was just free babysitting for a few hours every week. It broke my heart to see boys getting dropped off, searching for the mom or the dad after he got the big hit or made a great catch, and looking glum when he realized nobody was there because they didn't care. Our team finished last, and I think it was in large measure because not enough parents were there to encourage their boys. These boys would often show up late, without parts of their uniforms, hungry and not fed before the game, etc. etc. It was all I could do to keep from lecturing a few of the parents. I come to the games because my son wants me to see how hard he has worked and how much he has improved! Baseball is a big deal to him. How can I talk to him about his life if I don't understand this major part of it?
Now common sense tells me that most kids are not going to be good enough at any sport to get a scholarship, but these parents seem to really be banking on this!
There are fathers who berate referees for picking on "my kid." Fathers who threaten unpaid coaches for "not playing my kid more." Fathers who insist that a high school "treat my kid better" or he'll transfer to the school across town.
Now there's a pile of silly stereotyping if I ever read it. Sure, there's the rare knucklehead who behaves this way, but I have been coaching (baseball and some soccer) for some 15 years and I never once saw any of the behavior described above by this author. Maybe a little jawing at the ump from time to time, and a little complaining about lots of things, but never any "threats", "fistfights", or "shoves". Nothing abusive, ever.
Coaching kids is fun and rewarding as long as you always keep in mind that it's about.... the kids.
The vast majority of coaches I have encountered understand this.