Make it part of your contract that all the parents have to sit in the OF..problem solved
I never had that in a contract, but always had that as a rule. No parents sitting anywhere near the dugout. Works out just fine.
Make it part of your contract that all the parents have to sit in the OF..problem solved
I've loved watching a few of the kids embrace the OF this year. We had two that really stood out. One of them we tried for a back up SS (she's also a catcher) and she wasn't happy there. She's a great kid, "wherever you need me coach!" but he finally sat her down and asked her what SHE wanted. She chose OF over IF and she's a beast there so why not?
Another player considered herself a 1B who played OF when we started but I think by the end she felt like a true outfielder. Our last tournament she made an incredible diving catch. This was a kid who would barely slide a few months ago. It was fun to watch them start to really claim the OF this year.
daave266- my DD's also an infielder, and she's said several times this year she wishes she could play more OF. She was really our only SS all year so she got very little OF time. I think the opportunity to make the grand save is something they want again, once they've done it the first time. You rarely hear the parents cheer for an infield play the way they do for a great OF save.
10u here also. We’ve been really lucky so far...same core group of girls and parents for the last four seasons, we’ve had success improving every year, and now starting to really play at a decent level (just won our state tournament!). But it’s precisely because we are friends with all the parents that this will be our last year coaching, handing them off this fall for 12u.
There will be playing time and position decisions we feel will get tougher next year (my DD and the other AC’s DD are our two current catchers, but the current 12u catcher is not moving up, as just one example). The coaches they will be getting are great and we trust them to take what we’re giving them and keep it going.
As much as I love coaching this group, we all agreed we’d rather stay friends. So I guess my answer to your question is, yes to a point, but at some point something is bound to break.
If the coach can they deserve the trophy.Bottom line is this: Is it possible to coach the team and be friends with all the parents at the same time?
We use stats and our observations, along with the girls' desires and goals to help us set the lineup. We are developing players and we play to win, and positions are earned. We very rarely play a set lineup an entire game, as we know girls want chances at other positions and have earned those chances with their hard work and effort. We coaches are unanimous in our decisions and it seems relatively straight-forward to us.
But we hear the chatter from the bleachers about "why are they doing this?" and "why are they playing her there?" and so on and so forth. It's causing contention.
Any thoughts or advice? Is that just how this goes? We're 10U, and are told by other coaches we talk to that this does settle down as parents get more familiar with the game.
Hahahaha. One year later, it is funny (sad actually) to read this.
Covid didn't help, but the coaches ended up being a disaster, all the parents hate them, hate each other, say horrible things about each other's kids, and the team is blowing up.
And I know, many of you have been there, done that, and could have seen this coming a mile away.
I still love them all, and am kind of sad to see them go off in different directions in a few weeks - though most sad about the friendships with parents being forever changed.