Close enough... daddy ball...

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ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
I know it's not softball but...

My son just made the 12U Travel All-Star baseball team with the local association. He made basically the same team last year. Like last year he's essentially "playing up" because of the league's birthdate cut-off but is the same grade as most of the other players. He's one of the top 5 players on the team but not by a large margin either way... in other words the team is fairly balanced 1 thru 12. His bat is always in the top 3 depending on the day and his fielding is top 1/2. On the defensive side, he's the 2nd best catcher, best first baseman and 3rd best pitcher on the team. In any case, if last year is any indication, he will probably only play 60-70% of the time, be relegated to the outfield 95% of that time, never pitch or catch and bat 6-9 in the batting order.

WHY? Well, at least in my opinion, it is because there are 7 coaches kids playing on the team. YES you heard correctly, there are 7 spots already filled with coaches kids. The 2 remaining spots left over in the outfield will be fought over and split up with the 5 non-coach kids. Gotta love youth sports err I mean daddy ball!!! Over the years, we've dealt with some daddy ball with my older daughter in softball but never anything like this... IMO 7 coaches kids is crazy.

Sorry I had to vent somewhere. LOL
 
Apr 11, 2017
12
0
Unfortunately, we have probably all dealt with this to some degree or another, and some of us have been the Daddy coach (myself included). When I coach my DD, I intentionally try to be harder on her than the rest of the team and of course she doesn't like that either. It's a no win situation. Wait until Daddy is coaching and Mommy is keeping stats, fun stuff!!

We moved to travel ball (son first and DD second) in an attempt to get away from some of this, but again, unfortunately politics and favoritism is there also. The tough part is now you are paying to play on the team. We finally moved to a travel team (son) that allows very little interaction between parents and coaches. If there is an issue it goes through the organization's owner/manager. Politics are not completely gone but much better.

I really try to make these situations a life lesson for my kids. I tell them to always out work/hussle the other players and let it motivate them to get better. I also preach about not letting the coach's attitude/poor behaviour affect theirs (don't stoop to their level). The problem is they are kids and sometimes don't have the maturity to understand these things. Hopefully, someday, they look back and try to instill the values of integrity, work ethic, and merit based decision making in their kids.
 
Jan 28, 2017
1,661
83
That's tuff! My kid is in the top 15 players in his league. He is a catcher and fundamentally the best catcher but doesn't have the strongest arm. Probably the 2nd or 3rd best catcher. I'm an assistant coach for his team and we won the league. I don't want him to make the team because I coach and I don't want him not to make it because I treat him unfair. I'm probably going to excuse myself from picking players. If you need three catchers you pick him but if only 2 you wouldn't. Both the other catchers pitch and weird rules about pitching and catching. Also, the HC wants me to help but if my son doesn't make it I'm going to decline. I don't want that to be an issue either.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
It sucks and one of the reasons why I tried to coach (or at least assistant coach) my two kids' baseball and softball teams. The other option is make the move to travel ball teams with no family members as coaches. My D was on one such team and it is much, much better.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Seven coaches is ridiculous. I bet the kids' heads are constantly spinning from all the conflicting info. No way the HC can keep 6 other coaches in line with his way of doing of things. There ARE coaches with kids on the team who aren't daddy ball. You can usually tell who they are when you watch them play.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
MO 7 coaches kids is crazy.

Now you know who voted how to select the All-Star team. No surprise. I bet there are at least 5 coaches on the team in the dugout.

Many years ago my DD's played Babe Ruth softball. Babe Ruth limited each team to only 3 coaches in the dugout during a game.
 
Aug 12, 2014
644
43
It sucks and one of the reasons why I tried to coach (or at least assistant coach) my two kids' baseball and softball teams. The other option is make the move to travel ball teams with no family members as coaches. My D was on one such team and it is much, much better.

I coached my son's baseball team for a couple of years because I realized it was the only way he was going to get a fair shot. DD had much better luck with coaches. I was an AC for her team for three years, and the HC was a really good guy and treated all the players fairly, IMO.
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
The other option is make the move to travel ball teams with no family members as coaches. My D was on one such team and it is much, much better.

One of my DDs insists she will only play on non-parent coached teams. I absolutely agree, much, much better.
 

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