What is an ideal softball parent?

[WARRIORMIKE]

OLIF's perspective on reality is certainly unique.

More like ...moronic

 

[csmda5]

Go watch a game that your child isn't playing in and see how the parents act. Then remember that next time you're watching your child play. It helps a lot!

 

[Jr10234]

i agree with OILF on this one.

I have personally witnessed several organizations with drunk coaches, parent/coach indescretions, female players hooking up with random boys at tournamnets, (13-14 year old girls), players drinking, etc.

Outside of select/travel I've seen coaching going crazy at 9-13 year olds for errors, bad pitches, strikeouts etc. I have only seen one coach removed by our local LL, and it wasnt the psycho coach--it was the coch who chewed out a parnet for NEVER showing up for single game to support his DD-another parent drove him to every practice wihtout so much as a thank you.

My personal experience the a**hole coach trying to run off a player all the while his 13 year old was having sex, making out with random boys at hotel tournaments, failing out of school, booted off the school team, and his conduct towards another coach when the spouses weren't around...no org or location is free of humans. Being a great player parent guarantees nothing.

 

[YOCOACH]

i agree with OILF on this one.

I have personally witnessed several organizations with drunk coaches, parent/coach indescretions, female players hooking up with random boys at tournamnets, (13-14 year old girls), players drinking, etc.

Outside of select/travel I've seen coaching going crazy at 9-13 year olds for errors, bad pitches, strikeouts etc. I have only seen one coach removed by our local LL, and it wasnt the psycho coach--it was the coch who chewed out a parnet for NEVER showing up for single game to support his DD-another parent drove him to every practice wihtout so much as a thank you.

My personal experience the a**hole coach trying to run off a player all the while his 13 year old was having sex, making out with random boys at hotel tournaments, failing out of school, booted off the school team, and his conduct towards another coach when the spouses weren't around...no org or location is free of humans. Being a great player parent guarantees nothing.

Although I have witnessed the same, it has been predominantly HS around here as far as the girl/boy thing goes. Not saying the girls are promiscuous but that I have seen it much more at the HS level on away trips than anywhere else which should be expected since many are just finding their sexuality at that age. That being said, where are the coaches and parents who should be stopping this?

As far as drunk coaches/parents, IME this is far more common in rec ball than TB or select. I've had to deal with far more drunk parents and luckily never a coach. I think this has to do much more with the fact that even at the All-star level in rec, most tournaments are within a twenty minute drive. At the TB level, no one in their right mind will put their "stud" DD in jeopardy by drinking and driving from a tournament an hour and a half away from home.

However, we are an old steel town. For decades, the entire goal of our city and it's occupants' children was to graduate HS and go to the mills for a high paying job with benefits so they could get married and start their own family. College entered the equation for very few. Therefore, the end-all-be-all of sports for my area was at the HS level. You were King of the Hill if you were the HS stud player in whatever sport.

Even today, after all of the mills closed down, the community still lives and breathes HS sports. It's not uncommon to see 5,000+ people at a HS football game. That's dozen's of games each Friday night in a town of 80,000 people.

These same people recognize that most feeder programs for the HS system are the rec programs we have established. Thus, they keep a sharp eye out for those "drunk" and "abusive" coaches and will not permit them to interact with the girls in any fashion. In fact, one year I had an AC that came home from work, had one beer and showed up for practice a half hour later. I could barely smell it on his breath when he was talking to me from 3 feet away but one parent caught a minute wiff and the BOD banned him from coaching the rest of the year.

I have to say that the blanket statement that OILF has made and supported by others, is at the very least, completely untrue in my area.

My version of the ideal softball parent is the one who sits back, entrusts the coaching to me and mine and allows us to do our jobs without interference from the sidelines or stands. They cheer for everyone on the team and not just their DD. If they have a problem with the way we coach/ playing time/ batting order/ etc., they have their DD come talk to us and allow us the chance to explain. If it's the younger ages, I would love to have them join the conversation so that there are no misunderstandings. The ideal softball/TB parent pays their dues on time, if not beforehand; especially if they are on an installment plan. I would love to have parents volunteer for certain duties. Our TB organization holds two tournaments a year and it's usually the coaches that end up working the gate in between games. A few volunteers would help us out quite a bit at the gate as well as scorekeeping duties if they knew how. I would love to have parents volunteer for team mom, webmaster for our organizational site, organizational uniform director, organizational scheduler for practices on our fields, and numerous others. Most of all, I would love to have parents "buy-in" to the coaching philosophy of improving the girls' skills and performance over the long haul and not to expect immediate results.

 

[ArkFastpitch]

I am a transitioning softball parent. I coached TB for several years and decided to turn the reigns over to someone who had more time and patience than me. I try very hard not to interject my opinions unless asked. Some habits are hard to break though. I pace constantly, and I carry a ball which I am constantly spinning. The only time I am ever still is when iI am hanging on the fence talking to DD about a play or picking another pitcher apart. Maybe there should be a 12 step program for former coaches turned bucket dad.