- May 25, 2010
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This age group is NOT about the parents or winning. Who cares. Life is not instant gratification (oh I forgot this is the USA, where that is all we want). It is not about mommy and daddy's new star.
Sounds good in theory, but 6u/8u/10u ARE about the parents, especially when you're talking about a group of t-ballers. If the parents aren't enjoying themselves, many will steer their players away from softball altogether. But, with that being said, people who have realistic expectations and who understand who and what they are tend to be able to enjoy themselves when other parents of would-be t-ball 'all stars' are steaming and muttering, because they don't understand the patience required to develop a young pitcher.
We need to engage the parents of these younger age groups, but be direct with them and let them know that, despite flashes of brilliance, it takes hours and hours of repetitions to develop real ball players and even more hours and hours to build serviceable pitchers.
In this case, the parent is part of a team where the parents don't understand what they are and what they are not. There's a chance some of them - players and parents - are ready to quit softball and that's a part of the game, too.