Most out of touch parent story

[TLUD]

Okay, def not the same stories you all have but mine is a Parent/Coach story.

8U coach pitch rec team wins their league and gets invited to a big tourney. Rec parents grudgingly agree only to end up 1/2 a state away from home for 2 days to see that their rec team that played 12 games that season is up against TB teams that have played 60+.

Day 2 game 2 the Rec Team is eliminated (of course) Parent coach is so upset she refuses to speak to her team after the game. Ends the season without a single word. Cries herself to the car. Has husband text that the pool party at the hotel everyone was staying at was canceled

BTW you can’t cancel a pool party for 8-9yr olds at a hotel pool their parents paid for. The same parents will do what they want


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[uncdrew]

I think most of the disillusionment happens prior to parents seeing top 10 type teams play. Once a parent watches in person then they get it.
I'll never forget the first time I saw a real 68mph pitch thrown by a 16 year old (now a freshman in the SEC). I knew at that very moment that my kid would never be good enough for SEC ball.

Yup.

Since I played a lot of baseball as a kid, I could tell that the level of play I've been watching with my DD just wasn't that high. Games shouldn't have many errors, any confusion, excessive walks, etc. When you see that you know there's better ball being played somewhere.

 

[uncdrew]

"We had a parent tell us her kid got a 4 on a test. "

Maybe it was an AP Calc BC or one of the AP Physics tests, in which case, nothing to cry about.

Oh, within a few minutes I actually said: "Out of 100?"

 

[_MIA_]

I know of a parent who has a hard time seeing anything positive in their kid which, truthfully, is probably worse than any of these (admittedly) funny stories...

 

[S Spiff]

Parents want to know why the team doesn't play more "A" ball. Their DD bats .000 in all "A" ball tournaments.

 

[Cannonball]

I would like to apologize for all of my posts. I know that this topic is really about me. Then again, it is good to be known for something.

 

[Recent Addict]

Lot's of background to this story, but the story is better without it. Town rec, org has a 12u B/C travel team and only 1 TB player plays rec (DD)

12u rec, 3 teams in the org - coaches are all PITAs, including me. All-star day, TB team has a tourney and DD and I are not there. Coach 1 and ump have a history. Coach says something, UMP tosses him. Typical so far.

Then Coach tells "his" team to leave the field because they won't play under these conditions. Mind you half the girls have never been coached by the guy. Arguments ensue, 45 min delay, finally one of the few actual adults at the field calms the situation down by calling attention to the 24 11/12 yr olds watching the madness.

Coach leaves, but 2 weeks later he and a couple of parents on the team tank the LL all-star team that was going to play in Districts.

 

[tim_s]

First year 14u, my group had a couple of 2nd year 14's left over from the previous group to round out our roster.....one was a stud, she started, batted lead off, kids loved her

the other had played for her dad the year before.......she was a cancer, social media queen who didn't mind talking trash or starting drama.....thought she should start because she was older, did nothing at practice to even make her case, and others were more skilled - the one or two that were a close call skill wise out worked her noticeably

mom kept mostly quiet, but wasn't happy......but harped to ex husband/ex coach considerably.......he came to me, knew what the deal was, but asked for a shot to see if it changed her attitude


she had been playing some, just not a starter for the most part.....i think we gave her a few starts early, then she missed a tourney......anyhow, in this tourney, we started her game 2 on saturday (was a double elim bracket)......she was in left field, in one inning (she already had one lackluster at bat with a weak grounder that she jogged out.....normally that enough would earn some time in the pine - she was mad because she was in the 7 or 9 hole, two spots that her skill set suit in my order).......in this one inning she had two balls land in front of her that she should have had, no effort, and then a 3rd she camped underneath, it bounced off her glove and skipped past her (if she put effort in she would have been a decent fielder....she had skill).....she stood and watched it, pissed off, as runners circled the bases....

she got pulled.....we won.....and mom LIT ME UP after for "giving up on her" and not letting her "come back from her mistakes" like i did the other girls........never did i have another player give such little effort on a single play, let alone 4 in 3 innings like that

our 2 older girls ghosted us for the last tournament, we traveled out of state with only 9, won in the semis walk off bottom 7, and walked off the championship in 8 against a 2nd year team that had beat us 10-2 in the 2nd game of that season

i've got to thank this mom and daughter for teaching my players and parents solid lessons.......but yeah, she was a little out of touch (once she started yelling, i told her if she wanted to TALK and discuss things, we could do so at a later date.....i walked away.......)

 

[diamond14]

Oh, within a few minutes I actually said: "Out of 100?"

yes, the context was clear. my response was an ironic attempt at some levity!

 

[BT3100]

Some of this stems from the sheer amount of "softball World Series" competitions that exist.
Usssa B world series winner probably couldn't beat any of the top 10 teams at the Usssa "A" world series.
And the top 10 USSSA teams couldn't last more than an inning against PGF average teams.
But when parents are new to this they see these tropies and get excited. Nothing at all wrong with that but they need to understand the level of competition out there.
Add to this the coaches who are money hungry and posting radar guns all over socials with speed numbers. Coaches who post stupid HTF times under 2.7 seconds. Come on man..lol
Dot Richardson said it best when a parent at her camp asked how she would know if her kid was good enough to play for Dot. She simply said come to one of our games and watch us play, you'll know right away if your kid is good enough.