What is an ideal softball parent?

[Country Boy]

The problem with the volunteer part is that volunteers take advantage of that, as in, being lazy and doing things late, becoming dictators, doing a bad job, etc. (I don't know why because you would think you would want to do a better job.) If they were paid, there is more incentive to do something the right way, quickly and efficiently. For example, my kid's team had an assistant coach whose kid got hurt for the whole winter workout. Never came once to lead the workouts, never mind the kid could have come and done something with the remaining working parts....

As an employer, I can tell you that getting paid is completely irrelevant when it comes to the traits you describe. I have numerous former employees that were lazy, late, etc. People are either hard working and conscientious or not. If they are not, a couple thousand dollars will not alter their behavior.

 

[KCM]

I am not even attempting to read all this.

Perfect parent would be one waiting on me between games or at least at end of the day with an ice cold Budweiser...prefer in the bottle with ice crystals rising out the top.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

The problem with the volunteer part is that volunteers take advantage of that, as in, being lazy and doing things late, becoming dictators, doing a bad job, etc. (I don't know why because you would think you would want to do a better job.) If they were paid, there is more incentive to do something the right way, quickly and efficiently. For example, my kid's team had an assistant coach whose kid got hurt for the whole winter workout. Never came once to lead the workouts, never mind the kid could have come and done something with the remaining working parts....

Really? Volunteers lazy ? Not sure where you get off on calling volunteers lazy? Your choice of words are done poorly. Very disappointed in you OILF

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

So all volunteers are saints because they volunteered? The reason pay works is because you can make them agree to a contract and you fire them if they don't live up to it (ie the parents who pay or the organization who pays). No one makes volunteers sign any agreements as to what they will actually do nor does anyone fire a volunteer that I can see. Volunteers are rarely required to have credentials, such as ASA in softball. No one submits anything that says they are qualified.

And yes, lots of volunteers do really bad jobs, especially in coaching, but everyone feels sorry for them. Late to games, drunk at workouts, verbal abuse, stealing money, grabbing kids by body parts and yanking them down the line for errors, arguing and threatening umps, seen it all. They keep the coaching job and the parents have to leave.

What world do you live in? High school is the same thing ....

 

[JJsqueeze]

I am not even attempting to read all this.

Perfect parent would be one waiting on me between games or at least at end of the day with an ice cold Budweiser...prefer in the bottle with ice crystals rising out the top.

Poor form KCM. Not the desire for beer at a tourney (Styrofoam cups are mandatory in my pregame packing)..but Bud? really? I find it hard to believe that despite your location in the south that there isn't a better choice to be had.

 

[Eric F]

So all volunteers are saints because they volunteered? The reason pay works is because you can make them agree to a contract and you fire them if they don't live up to it (ie the parents who pay or the organization who pays). No one makes volunteers sign any agreements as to what they will actually do nor does anyone fire a volunteer that I can see. Volunteers are rarely required to have credentials, such as ASA in softball. No one submits anything that says they are qualified.

And yes, lots of volunteers do really bad jobs, especially in coaching, but everyone feels sorry for them. Late to games, drunk at workouts, verbal abuse, stealing money, grabbing kids by body parts and yanking them down the line for errors, arguing and threatening umps, seen it all. They keep the coaching job and the parents have to leave.

Once again, you seem to have had experiences vastly different than I have.

As a parent and board member of a volunteer-run rec league, I have seen a lot of people give a hell of a lot of effort, a lot of their own time, and a lot of their own money to make sure the girls are given a good experience on the ballfield. I'm very proud to be a part of this organization. At least in our league, when necessary for the good of the organization, volunteers have been removed - one just from coaching, another from the league completely. Although our league does not REQUIRE any kind of coaching certification, most of the coaches have gone through at least the first level of the ASA coaching certification.

 

[JJsqueeze]

why even bother? it's just a good old fashioned pig wrestle.

 

[riseball]

OLIF's perspective on reality is certainly unique.

 

[#10]

One positive note to add ... Here's what an ideal softball parent would say when asked if his/her DD was happy with her PT:

"Yeah, DD is a catcher normally but the team has three other catchers who are all very close in talent. DD is a better outfielder than all of them and another happens to be pretty slick at 3B, so the other two girls split all the time behind the plate while DD and the other kid are starters in LF and 3B. The coach is using his players extremely well and my kid gets to play 80% of the time. We're all very, very happy."

That's the biggest pile I've ever read on DFP. You're not describing an ideal parent - that's a doormat.

 

[riseball]

That's the biggest pile I've ever read on DFP. You're not describing an ideal parent - that's a doormat.

No! It is dead on. We are talking about the ideal softball parent. Like unicorns they do not exist. We are playing make believe.