Classless or part of the Game?

[chinamigarden]

They arent boys why are you insisting on comparing them to boys?

I compare them because they are athletes. I don't care if my team chooses to cheer and dance in the dugout. I don't judge them as better or worse teammates because of it.

I have 2 main expectations of my teams, play and practice hard, and pay attention to the coaches, the game and what your teammates are doing. If a kid can pay attention and give me her/his all, thats what I want. How they dance and sing doesn't factor into my opinion of them one bit.

And yes boys and girls are different, but not in some of the ways some coaches think. I have coached with guys who have low expectations of the girl's ball playing because you know they are girls. And guess what, their teams play below their ability, but boy could they cheer and dance.

 

[chinamigarden]

I can speak from my experience as a player. My teammates and I we will sing, cheer, use props and all of the other stuff in our dugout. We never do it to the point of being obnoxious or annoying. We never raise the volume of our antics when the opposing pitcher is about to throw the ball. We never hit the roof of the dugout with bats and balls. Granted we will use our batting helmets or we will use the small megaphones as noisemakers by clapping them together. For instance, we were in a tournament at the Virginia Shore over the summer. As a team, we went out and bought sombereros to wear as rally caps. Our coaches knew we were just having fun. They will however step in if we are getting too rowdy or we are starting to get to a point where we are about to cross a line.

I'll tell a story that happened over Labor Day weekend. A couple of teammates and I had just had cheer the night before for our high school football team's season opener on the road (which we lost). We wanted to just get out and play some softball on Saturday morning. We won our first game 9-7 and was in the midst of playing our second game. Our second game was in the top of the third and we were winning 4-3. Our new pitcher was having some confidence issues as she wasn't sure of herself, but...she was starting to find her groove. Our opponent's cheering and noisemaking wasn't bothering us. But starting in that inning, a father of one of the opposing players started blowing a air horn when our pitcher was about to pitch or when we were at bat and we were getting ready to swing. It got really annoying and it got to the point that our coach complained and he's not a complainer. Ultimately, the dad was kicked out...but we lost 9-7.

I guess parents can be more annoying than the girls in the dugout.

Thank you Gabby, not just for this post but for all of your inside the lines views of the game that you give us here. It is nice to have a player's perspective.

 

[Top_Notch]

At a National Tournament my daughter waived "bye bye" to a batter she struck out while standing in the circle because of the opposing team's classless antics. Was her response classless? Sure it was. And she was admonished by the home plate umpire immediately. Interestingly nothing was done about the obnoxious jeering of the opposing team though. But behind my shocked and disappointing outward appearance, I was smiling inside a little. Something I'll never forget. Sometimes if you mess with the bull you'll get the horns.

 

[WHEREAMI]

Explain it to me in a way that explains why you would expect female athletes to dance around and act like a cheerleader squad for their team when you wouldn't expect that from a boy's team. Oh and while you are at it, tell me again why its OK to tell a girl she needs to smile more when she plays but no one would never say that to a boy.

IMO I think the game of Fastpitch needs the cheering, its a faster game than baseball. It's more energetic, gets the crowd into it more. As for the "smiles", I've told my baseball kids to smile and have fun too. And why not? I've I heard several baseball coaches say " relax, smile, and have fun. Even in the High School level. It's a different game.

 

[Classof2020]

"Explain it to me in a way that explains why you would expect female athletes to dance around and act like a cheerleader squad for their team when you wouldn't expect that from a boy's team. Oh and while you are at it, tell me again why its OK to tell a girl she needs to smile more when she plays but no one would never say that to a boy." (Quoted from Chinamigarden on previous page)

My DD loved moving to 16's where this team didn't have to do a bunch of canned cheers all the time and you could root for your teammates when appropriate without having to act like it was a pep assembly.

AND her and I HATE it when people tell her to smile and look like she is having fun. Pitching in a game is about the most serious thing she does her entire week. Many of hours of work go into this 90 minute game. They are working hard and thinking even harder and paying an incredible amount of attention to everything going on around them. Why would they be expected to go out there with a grin plastered on their face like this is school picture day. Her older brother has been a pitcher for 10 years. I have NEVER ONCE heard someone tell him to smile on the mound. Not that you won't catch a grin between her and her team mates or catcher once in a while during a game but that's normal emotion and not trying to be fulfill someone else's desire for a what cute girl playing a sport should look like. You can see plenty of fake smiles and the dance team competition at the convention center.

 

[grcsftbll]

AND her and I HATE it when people tell her to smile and look like she is having fun.

Even in non-athletic situations there's just something gross about telling women/girls to smile. Look bud, if I wanted to smile, I would. Go away.

 

[ang2bmd]

My high school coach used to say if "if I wanted cheerleaders I would have went to that try out". He expected us to be involved and supportive of our teammates but no organized fru fru stuff. God I loved playing for that Coach.

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[CoachJD]

I heard the "too high, too high, hit a birdie, birrrrd killer" cheer for the first time this year, from my team, and I gotta be honest, I thought it was hilarious. We put a stop to it because we don't want our girls doing the negative chants, but it still makes me smile. I'm easily amused, I suppose.

A few people have mentioned yelling "Got it" on pop ups. That's not just bush league. It's dangerous. You can cause a player to get hurt by doing that, and imo it should be an automatic ejection. Most of the stuff mentioned here is classless, but learning to deal with it is a good thing. I have no patience for putting players in harm's way though, and doing that to a fielder who is looking toward the sky absolutely does that.

Overall though, the cheers are fun. If they want to do 'em, why not? I'm not spending practice time teaching them how to do it or anything, but I'm not going to stop the positive ones. Maybe baseball players should lighten up a bit and try it.

 

[ang2bmd]

The point: Why are there different standards for boys and girls? Do girls have to cheer and jump and down to prove they're having fun? Why can't they just play the game and give high fives for a homerun or a great play like the boys?

Another more obvious example of the double standard.

A ball player throws their helmet in the dugout after a strike out.

Girl- she's a cancer on the team, can't have that attitude in the dugout.
Boy- he's a fiery competitor that won't settle for failure.






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Totally agree...


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[ang2bmd]

funny how a few of the people posting here have a general problem with the cheering... even questioning why its ok to ask a girl to smile... I see a softball dugout and what I see is a bunch of girls having a blast and having fun! I look at a baseball dugout and all I see are a bunch of bored slobs spitting, crotch scratching, and in general just sitting there trying to figure out what to do... you tell me whats more annoying? (and yes I agree the jeering is bushleague and uncalled for, right there with noise makers, etc.. )

As a coach personally I could live without the screaming in my ear but its not about ME as a coach - its about the players, their game and their FUN! if going a little deaf is the price to pay for having the honor to participate in this sport with them so be it... for those of you trying to make it look like a baseball dugout: put a smile in your face!

That's fine if that's the personality of your team...but it should also be fine to be a serious team that's watching the game learning and being supportive in a less boisterous way

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