How to handle almost entire team showing up late for game?

[lancer360]

Did they at least apologize for being late?

Not that I heard. One girl hitched a ride with another to get there a little sooner (but still 20 mins late), but she had nothing to play with since her stuff was locked in her mom's car.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Eric F]

Girls told me at practice the other day that you aren't late until you are 15-20 minutes late.

Nope. If you aren't there 15 minutes early, you're late.

 

[_MIA_]

Girls told me at practice the other day that you aren't late until you are 15-20 minutes late.

That isn't something a 11 or 12 YO girl would likely say on their own....

 

[Eric F]

That isn't something a 11 or 12 YO girl would likely say on their own....

Maybe not, but it's the kind of thing that they hear from one of their teammates, and it spreads like COVID.

 

[_MIA_]

Maybe not, but it's the kind of thing that they hear from one of their teammates, and it spreads like COVID.

My point was they probably heard it from their parents...

 

[CoachJD]

I had that nightmare well past the time I stopped taking classes..I think it only stopped when I had kids and stopped sleeping well enough to have dreams..

I never had those dreams while I was in school. I have those types of dreams all the time now.

Of course now I also have dreams about how there's a softball game to be coached but the entire team isn't there yet.

 

[Sweet Lou]

I've been know to write in girls into the lineup as the arrive at the field. Granted that was usually at rec and not travel. Never had a big issue with more than 1 or 2 players on the team and sitting the first game usually ended that pretty quick.

 

[Eric F]

My point was they probably heard it from their parents...

I understood that. One girl brings it into the dugout, and in a hearbeat, half the team is saying the same thing.

 

[_MIA_]

I understood that. One girl brings it into the dugout, and in a hearbeat, half the team is saying the same thing.

I suppose..depends on the type of kids and if they have heard otherwise from their parents...

 

[RichK]

You're either a team that lets players show up late (and that players/parents feel ok showing up late for) or you are not. There's really no in-between. I don't say that to be a hard-*ss it's just true, there's no in-between, just degrees of lateness. I've been a coach that worked HARD to put in place and enforce no-late rules AND a parent with a kid on teams where you wouldn't dream of being late. The great thing is that if you are a team that you can't show up late for, you'd be amazed how NOBODY ever shows up late but rather starts showing up early and not begrudgingly because honestly there's a lot of valuable things that can and should happen in the 15 minutes BEFORE a pre-game or practice formally starts....

It's tougher when kids aren't driving themselves, but let the team (even 12Us) agree to this and set clear rules and consequences and let THEM beat up their parents for running late, not you. If half the team keeps showing up late well then you don't really have a team at all...just a bunch of individuals who will do the same on their next team and their next team until their daughter stops (prematurely) playing because every situation they move onto 'doesn't work' for them...