I am an assistant coach for a second year 10u travel ball team. I have always believed when you take a kid in they are family, I have been coach for 3 years now and despite what people say it takes a lot out of you. We put a new team together this fall, our first 5 tournaments the team did really well.
Only issue we had was one of this kids we took at tryouts who had a really good tryout, made quite a few errors, this girl was slower than we liked as well but we loved this kid so we wanted to keep her and thought with time we could really develop her, after all her bat wasn't ridiculously bad it was serviceable she was just a liability of the bases and the field.
However her father was talking among other parents, that she should be playing more, or playing here even went so far as to talk to the head coach and talk down other players to build his up. He had had to talk to the father 5 weekends in a row after the tournament about playtime etc.
So last night, we made the decision to let the child go, it was a vote and not 100% but 4 coaches started the team and we will do what's best for the team. My child was really great friends with the girl, loved her. My son was really good friends with their son as well when he found out the news he was in tears.
The thought of that baby girl getting that news, just makes me not want to be involved with coaching anymore, I just don't love it enough to feel that an 11 year old kid has to hear that news. The father called and talked to me, I tried to be honest but he wouldn't hear it, it was all conspiracies against his child. When everyone loved the child but we couldn't take the cancer anymore, what do you do.
Does this ever get easier?
Only issue we had was one of this kids we took at tryouts who had a really good tryout, made quite a few errors, this girl was slower than we liked as well but we loved this kid so we wanted to keep her and thought with time we could really develop her, after all her bat wasn't ridiculously bad it was serviceable she was just a liability of the bases and the field.
However her father was talking among other parents, that she should be playing more, or playing here even went so far as to talk to the head coach and talk down other players to build his up. He had had to talk to the father 5 weekends in a row after the tournament about playtime etc.
So last night, we made the decision to let the child go, it was a vote and not 100% but 4 coaches started the team and we will do what's best for the team. My child was really great friends with the girl, loved her. My son was really good friends with their son as well when he found out the news he was in tears.
The thought of that baby girl getting that news, just makes me not want to be involved with coaching anymore, I just don't love it enough to feel that an 11 year old kid has to hear that news. The father called and talked to me, I tried to be honest but he wouldn't hear it, it was all conspiracies against his child. When everyone loved the child but we couldn't take the cancer anymore, what do you do.
Does this ever get easier?