Last year my then 12 yr older, had a coach who made all of the players stand right up on the plate...so they could milk a walk instead of learning how to hit a baseball.
Some coaches want to win at all cost, at the expense of the development of young baseball players. They are trying to relive their past until of letting young kids have their time to learn, have fun, win and lose on their own accord.
Sad really.
Tell me about it, I have a 19, 18 and 13 yr. old. The older ones played sports in HS. My youngest plays travel ball and has since he was 8. Over the years he has had many offers to go with more competitive teams, and sometimes it is very tempting but then my husband and I pull back and figure, he is with his buddies, he is still playing good ball and he loves his coach and teammates. At this point in time that is the important thing.
I have seen the most horrific behavior from parents, from fighting with the other teams, berating their own kids and just plain cheating!!
I would rather my son be with a coach who teaches not only the game but values as well instead of a cut throat team.
Our t-ball league gave you a certain amount of Coach pitch and then you would get a chance on the tee. It was my husband’s goal to get all of his team hitting a pitch. We even had an older 3 yr. old on the team. My husband also wanted them to throw the ball instead of running kids down. By the end of the season, all of our kids were hitting coach pitch. We lost in the playoffs because some of the other coaches went straight to the tee.....never even bothered to pitch. We were knocked out in 2 games. Who cares, the kids were more interested in the after the game snacks anyway and the pool party!!!!
BTW, that little 3 yr. old, ended up getting an in the park HR, off the pitch!! 8 yrs. later and I still see the Dad around town once in a while. He still comes up to me and talks about that team, LOL! The Yankees!!