Hey all!
I’ll start by mentioning I am not a coach. I am simply a 10u parent learning the in’s and out’s of TB. I’ll try not to ramble here - please bear with me.
Is it common in 10u for teammates to compete against each other? Furthermore, is it common for parents to partake in the competition? My daughter is a 2nd year 10u. She pitches, plays center and 1st base. We’ve been having issues with another family on the team, of a pitcher, who tends to try to cause drama over who pitches more often, whose faster, etc. This is the family that sits alone, way out near left or right fields during games. Our daughter is fast - but not the fastest on the team. She is however, the most consistent on the team. Our daughter throws strikes 9/10 and is the only one on her team who knows the Change Up right now. Coaches, I think, have been very fair in rotation of starting pitchers. If our daughter doesn’t start a game, she is often pulled in for relief. This other family absolutely cannot stand that our daughter sometimes sees more innings on the mound than their daughter does. They state it’s unfair and that my husband and I are @ss kissers in lack of better terms. This is entirely untrue. We have a positive parent-coach relationship but we are absolutely not ‘@as kissers” Our daughter puts in work. She has an hour long private lesson every week. She also attends a position specific team pitching practice every week and practices regularly at home. She loves what she does. There is SO much tension around these parents it’s often hard to sit at practice in the same facility or field as them. It feels so toxic. It feels as if they’re trying to turn other parents against us for absolutely nothing. Their daughter also often tells my daughter “I’m a better pitcher than you because I’m faster.” My daughter knows to ignore it.
This same family made horrible comments about another family last season because the other families daughter was a strong pitcher and saw a wee bit more mound time than theirs did. The kicker here is that this ‘families’ daughter is a super fantastic Short stop, the strongest on the team, and often plays there if she’s not pitching. This family thinks their daughter needs the mound ALL THE TIME and will stop at nothing to drag down other pitchers on the team. Anytime their daughter does have the mound, our daughter is always cheering her on, even if she and her family isn’t so nice to our daughter. Our facility is built on ‘no drama’ ‘no bullying’ type feel. I’m unsure whether I bring my concerns up with the facility lead or not. I don’t want to create more drama by sharing my concerns or be viewed as ‘that parent’ if you know what I mean. I hope this make sense and I’m more than willing to clarify on things. I’m just completely shook by this to be honest. This is a TEAM and I feel these girls are supposed to be competing as a team, not against each other.
I’ll start by mentioning I am not a coach. I am simply a 10u parent learning the in’s and out’s of TB. I’ll try not to ramble here - please bear with me.
Is it common in 10u for teammates to compete against each other? Furthermore, is it common for parents to partake in the competition? My daughter is a 2nd year 10u. She pitches, plays center and 1st base. We’ve been having issues with another family on the team, of a pitcher, who tends to try to cause drama over who pitches more often, whose faster, etc. This is the family that sits alone, way out near left or right fields during games. Our daughter is fast - but not the fastest on the team. She is however, the most consistent on the team. Our daughter throws strikes 9/10 and is the only one on her team who knows the Change Up right now. Coaches, I think, have been very fair in rotation of starting pitchers. If our daughter doesn’t start a game, she is often pulled in for relief. This other family absolutely cannot stand that our daughter sometimes sees more innings on the mound than their daughter does. They state it’s unfair and that my husband and I are @ss kissers in lack of better terms. This is entirely untrue. We have a positive parent-coach relationship but we are absolutely not ‘@as kissers” Our daughter puts in work. She has an hour long private lesson every week. She also attends a position specific team pitching practice every week and practices regularly at home. She loves what she does. There is SO much tension around these parents it’s often hard to sit at practice in the same facility or field as them. It feels so toxic. It feels as if they’re trying to turn other parents against us for absolutely nothing. Their daughter also often tells my daughter “I’m a better pitcher than you because I’m faster.” My daughter knows to ignore it.
This same family made horrible comments about another family last season because the other families daughter was a strong pitcher and saw a wee bit more mound time than theirs did. The kicker here is that this ‘families’ daughter is a super fantastic Short stop, the strongest on the team, and often plays there if she’s not pitching. This family thinks their daughter needs the mound ALL THE TIME and will stop at nothing to drag down other pitchers on the team. Anytime their daughter does have the mound, our daughter is always cheering her on, even if she and her family isn’t so nice to our daughter. Our facility is built on ‘no drama’ ‘no bullying’ type feel. I’m unsure whether I bring my concerns up with the facility lead or not. I don’t want to create more drama by sharing my concerns or be viewed as ‘that parent’ if you know what I mean. I hope this make sense and I’m more than willing to clarify on things. I’m just completely shook by this to be honest. This is a TEAM and I feel these girls are supposed to be competing as a team, not against each other.