Does this exist everywhere? Am i crazy to think they should be removed? Am i wrong?

[3'sDad]

As a coach/parent you get used to the cheering after awhile, but as they get older, it calms down.

DD is a pitcher & she had to get used to cheers, screaching cat yells, bats pounding on the dugnout fences, cow bells(annoying), vuvuzellas (really annoying) and just awful,parents screaming obscenities. They just tune it out after awhile.

 

[Turtle]

Our 8u team loves to cheer. As opposed to a quiet dugout in rec ball, I think it helps the girls stay focused on the game. We recently played our first two tournaments back to back (finishing 4th in #2; yeay). The girls picked up a couple of cheers targeting individuals from other teams. I just had a conversation with them before our league game telling them that I loved the spirit, but we needed to build our teammates up, not spend our energy trying to tear another girl down. In our game last night, those cheers were eliminated and they kept it loud, chipmunk style.

I ignore other cheers and have not seen conflict over them, but I do hate seeing people exert negative energy. In a rec game I confronted a coach for having his girls yell chants at our lesser skilled hitters while playing as close to the batters as possible. He said it was just softball and I should get over it. I begged to differ. I think it's sad and poor coaching when a team of 8 and 9 year olds are on defense and being encouraged to waste their focus on yelling at the batter in an effort to distract. Our girls have ignored it well and I'll stick to focusing on developing their skills rather than hoping we can distract someone into poor play.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

I heard a variation of this one for the first time a couple of weekends ago (from our team): Everyone- A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y%Z Now I know my ABC's can you now hurry up please.

Leader- I see a gap and ______ is going shoppinggg
Team- I see a gap and ______ is going shoppinggg
Everyone- And Your At Old Navy!!!
It ticked off another 8U rec team and I told them not to do it again, reminding them again to stay positive. Our girls are pretty loud, they really get into their cheers, and sometimes it does get under our opponent's skin. i try to tune it out and have wanted (but haven't) to tell them to be a little quieter at times, but their kids having a good time. One of our players is also an AAU basketball player (yes, they have them at 7-8, I didn't know that until this year) and she is our leader with those things. I try to find a happy medium for them, but I really don't want to tone them down too much.

 

[Jquick823]

I heard a variation of this one for the first time a couple of weekends ago (from our team): Everyone- A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y%Z Now I know my ABC's can you now hurry up please.

Leader- I see a gap and ______ is going shoppinggg
Team- I see a gap and ______ is going shoppinggg
Everyone- And Your At Old Navy!!!
It ticked off another 8U rec team and I told them not to do it again, reminding them again to stay positive. Our girls are pretty loud, they really get into their cheers, and sometimes it does get under our opponent's skin. i try to tune it out and have wanted (but haven't) to tell them to be a little quieter at times, but their kids having a good time. One of our players is also an AAU basketball player (yes, they have them at 7-8, I didn't know that until this year) and she is our leader with those things. I try to find a happy medium for them, but I really don't want to tone them down too much.

My girls do the I see a gap and ___________ is going shopping. Never heard the Old Navy part added it before.

 

[bucket pinata]

In a one sided game I could see how lots of cheering and chants could be over the line, at some point the way up team should switch to respect for the way down team for battling. In a close game at the A level bring it on. mentally tough pitchers will feed off taunting. If you want to see the very best out of my DDs, Taunt them Please! In my opinion if you have become focused on the other teams cheers and are making excuses you've already lost. of coarse none of this should apply at developmental levels.

 

[maddball44]

My dd just came out of rec ball and made a high A TB team. Most of these girls have been in travel since they were 8 yrs old (14U now). My wife and I have commented multiple times about how nice it is to watch the games without your brain bleeding because of the cheering. They just act like they've been there. It just seems to me if you are that caliber of player; maybe you don't need the constant cheering to stay focused on the game.

 

[Jquick823]

We haven't played a lot of OPEN or "B" tournaments yet so maybe i will see more teams that don't chant/cheer as we move up levels. This game ended 5-5 and was a close game throughout. That being said we did not pitch our #1 and our #2 who is a good pitcher is only 10. With our #1 i don't think it's nearly as close.

 

[Cobb_of_Fury]

Talking about classy actions I have a brag moment. At every home game we give out a game ball to a player on our team that did a great job. Well my daughter got one and she asked if she could hurry up to catch the other team before they left. She gave her game ball to their pitcher (even though they lost)...it was the first time she had been struck out 2 times in one game all season. The other pitcher had this screw drop ball looking pitch that was just freaking awesome. It made that girl's day and they both now are friends on Facebook encouraging each other on their journey of developing pitchers.

KCM - You've done well -

 

[Cobb_of_Fury]

IMHO - Cheering is just part of the game - this is not Baseball.
Even though I'm not always crazy about it (it does get unnerving in close games), I let it go as long as it's not personal, because it’s the girls game not mine.

But... If your pitcher can't pitch because of the cheering she is probably not going to do well long term.
they need to learn to tune it out or use it to pump them selves up.

 

[parrot]

We ran into super-cheery team last night.

I ignored it until about the third inning when I had heard "She stole on you, she stole on you! While you were picking your nose she was on her toes!" aimed at my first-year catcher - who works her rear off - one too many times, and also got really tired of them just screaming mindlessly every time my pitcher started her windup.

So between innings, I gathered the team around and asked "Anybody else tired of this?" After a unanimous "YES!", I said "Well, let's give it back to 'em." We didn't do any overly obnoxious cheers like the one above, but we did crank up our decibels A LOT. We chased two clearly rattled pitchers in rapid succession. We also came from behind to beat them in the last inning. They are a travel team, while we are strictly a rec team, so it was pretty sweet. I just need to make it clear at practice tonight that we did that only in response to their behavior. I guess maybe we sunk to their level a little bit, but I think it was worth it to give them a taste of their own medicine.