does this happen a lot?

[obbay]

Had a U18 game last week vs what was reputed to be an excellent tournament team. Sportsmanship was not in their vocabulary but the F-bomb was. the coach argued incessantly with the umpire (blue wasn't bad) and the parents all seemed to be into it.

(I wouldn't want my kid playing on a team that encourages BS over sportsmanship.)

does this happen a lot or is it more the exception?

 

[Lozza]

I watched a 11 year old girl get screamed at and sworn at by parents because she hit one of the boys on the other team (Under 12 is mixed here) I'm talking f bombs and c bombs, the lot. And she's nowhere near as fast as you guys are used to. It wouldn't have even left a bruise.

 

[MTR]

Had a U18 game last week vs what was reputed to be an excellent tournament team. Sportsmanship was not in their vocabulary but the F-bomb was. the coach argued incessantly with the umpire (blue wasn't bad) and the parents all seemed to be into it.

(I wouldn't want my kid playing on a team that encourages BS over sportsmanship.)

does this happen a lot or is it more the exception?

It is the exception. Unfortunately, a team often reflects the coach or community. There was a 14U NQ a few years ago and a team was based in a very blue collar community where it was more likely a disagreement be settled with firearms and fists than discussion. Some of these folks believe the best offense is attempted intimidation.

About halfway through the first day, the TD approached the fans of this team and asked them to calm down. They turned on him and before five minutes had passed, half the fans were asked to leave the park. The coaches being very much part of this community turned away from the field and started on the TD who simply told them to take care of their team on the field or everyone could pack up and go home.

You would think this would embarass folks, but this group hoot and hollered how they showed all those prissy softball people who is boss as if getting thrown out of the tournament was a victory.

It is really a shame as it is not going to be an easy road for those kids no matter where they go if they carry baggage like that.

 

[BB875]

I agree with MTR, it really is the exception. However, the lasting impression seems like it is more common than not.

My 13 year olds, young 14U team, played our final fall tourney in Des Moines and we ran into this exact thing against a local team both in bracket play & in the championship game. Parents and players tossing out insults. Ironically, they were criticizing our young age and small stature in a very bad manner. We beat them both games. Its amazing what people will teach their kids...

Luckily, it doesn't happen that often to us.

 

[bobbyb]

I agree with MTR too. Its an exception and is a reflection of coach/community.

We play two teams each year that are that way. One we seem to play more than once per year unfortunately. We finally beat them in a finals in a small tournament last year. Will be interesting to see how they behave this coming year.

Last year early in the season...their assistant coach came over to apologize for their behaviors. We noticed he and his dd was not on the team when we played them again. More power to the man!

 

[quincy]

Hate when I feel like I am walking on eggshells during a game. Once purposely set the other coach off and he called an infield meeting and yelled at his team for 10 minutes until the umpire broke it up otherwise he would still be there yelling at them.

Hate adults that yell at the kids by yelling at another adult, if that makes sense.

 

[obbay]

thank you for your responses-good to know.
FWIW- the team we took exception to is composed of kids from families that are economically comfortable. not necessarily wealthy, but more white collar than blue. some people were speculating that it's the nature of the beast as girls get older they get more disagreeable. But I think that's a load. I always look to the college game for example of how to play and at that level I don't ever see the low-class behavior that was demonstrated in our game and in the examples you have all cited.

 

[3'sDad]

DD is now into her 4th year of club ball. I keep a mental list of teams/organizations we've run across in our club ball travels who have made an impression on our family one way or the other. There are many more however on the negative side rather than positive side.

On the positive side, a female coach we were impressed with during DD's 1st year of club ball is now a coach of another team within DD's organization. We remembered one another from that time. She is a wonderful instructor, a nice person and fields a very competitve team.

 

[Mylil32]

Haven't encountered such and better not.

I did see a coach of another team say something extremely ugly to an umpire and almost got his butt kicked. If my DD's coach acted like that, we'd be off his team before he got the words all the way out.

 

[WinThemAll]

thank you for your responses-good to know.
FWIW- the team we took exception to is composed of kids from families that are economically comfortable. not necessarily wealthy, but more white collar than blue. some people were speculating that it's the nature of the beast as girls get older they get more disagreeable. But I think that's a load. I always look to the college game for example of how to play and at that level I don't ever see the low-class behavior that was demonstrated in our game and in the examples you have all cited.

At that level, I think that some just are a little more experienced at hiding it. . .