What happen to teaching good spotsmanship?

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Oct 19, 2009
1,822
0
After work I went with DD to watch one of her 9 YO students (she gives pitching and hitting lessons) play in a 9-10 YO state tournament, they beat the opposing team 18 to 3. The opposing team's coach refused to let his players shake the hands of the team after the game was over. :mad:

The coach of the team DD's student plays with told his team if they play this team again to refuse to shake their hands, DD was mad saying 2 wrongs never equals a right, telling student her team should set an example and not be like the other team. The tournament is double elimination so they may see this team again before the tournament ends.

The losing team could not throw strikes, catcher could not throw to bases due to poor throwing mechanics, they had some good athletics just needed good instruction IMO. Most runs scored by DD's student's team were walks, wild pitches or passed balls.
 
Last edited:
May 20, 2016
436
63
There are always people out there that will take losing personally, and be sore about it. You just need to hope that you run into it as the exception, not the rule. My DD plays in 10U and i have never seen something like that happen regardless of the results.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Absolutely uncalled for...it does not matter what happens you line up and say good game with handshakes or high fives...sometime you mean it more than others but you go through the motions.
 
Oct 22, 2009
1,528
0
PA
Parents and coaches at 6U-10U are nuts. Everything that happens on the field the adults take personally. They do not want to see their DD's feelings hurt or "get cheated" out of something, and they react with anger. Yes, this is a wide brush, but I have been doing this a long time and have seen the madness calm down as the girls get older.
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
After work I went with DD to watch one of her 9 YO students (she gives pitching and hitting lessons) play in a 9-10 YO state tournament, they beat the opposing team 18 to 3. The opposing team's coach refused to let his players shake the hands of the team after the game was over.

Playing Devil's Advocate here. Did the winning team's coach take his foot off of the gas when they were up by a lot? The 18 - 3 score indicates they were in command the entire way. Did he stop stealing, taking extra bases and scoring on passed balls? If yes, then the losing coach is a tool. If he didn't, the same two wrongs adage applies. Is there any history of animosity between the two coaches?

Sometimes there are things under the surface the casual observer doesn't know about. Even so... The no handshake is a low-class move for any coach.
 
Mar 1, 2013
404
43
You will run into that, unfortunately. Some people cannot handle either winning or losing.

I was involved with a rec team as an AC a few years ago with coaches that had zero consideration for any of the other teams. They were pissed when we lost and pissed when we wont because we could have scored more. I stuck it out because I had made a commitment to the team and my DD was on it, but as I spent a lot of time in the dugout during games (relegated to keeping the book and such), I made sure I let my voice be heard - "Win we class, lose with class". Most of the girls (except the HC's daughter) took that to heart. They were a good bunch of kids and saw the HC for what he was.
 
Last edited:
Jun 11, 2013
2,628
113
I vote for the handshake line. I figure if Pro Hockey teams can do it after fighting with each other for 7 games our kids can do it after an 80 minute softball game.
 
May 16, 2016
946
93
Yeah, 18 to 3, losing coach was not happy to have score run up that much... And for your coach to now want to skip handshake line next time they see this team, shows he is the one lacking in sportsmanship... IMOHO
 
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
Sounds like your DD was taught well and that the HC needs to think more about what he's trying to teach his girls.

First rule is don't let others define you, by words or by action. If the other coach/team is being classless, that doesn't mean he should reciprocate. Good sportsmanship is not a sometimes thing.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
42,857
Messages
680,286
Members
21,525
Latest member
Go_Ask_Mom
Top