The flute player

[Long Baller]

great post overall, but the above has to be modified at times for reasons of safety and/or to keep the game moving. ie 1B, P, 3B all have to be players that pay attention, and can field somewhat decently, and 1B needs to at least try and catch a ball thrown to them, not cover their heads with their hands and turn away

I know what you are saying. I have to cover my eyes when it's my son's inning to play first base.
We play 5 run max innings for a reason.

 

[Westwind]

I coached my DD in rec basketball and would go into every game with a chart telling me when every kid would play so they would get equal playing time. I had to do that otherwise I would get caught up in the game and forget who had played and who hadn't. Now I won't say that I didn't make sure that my best players were playing in the 4th quarter but everybody got equal time

I did too! I am a complete bonehead when it comes to keeping track of who plays where, who has been in the game and other minor details like what day it is.

 

[_MIA_]

I did too! I am a complete bonehead when it comes to keeping track of who plays where, who has been in the game and other minor details like what day it is.

I also did it to make sure I didn't play my kid the whole game as taking her out wasn't always easy since she scored about 90% of the team's points

 

[The Man In Blue]

I also did it to make sure I didn't play my kid the whole game as taking her out wasn't always easy since she scored about 90% of the team's points

I think I mentioned this on here before ... but I benched my oldest daughter right after she cranked a home run. The same parents that complained about playing time complained that I did that. When asked why, I said "It was her turn to sit." We were clear on that at the beginning of the season. It just happened to be the game she was designated to play minimally.

 

[_MIA_]

I think I mentioned this on here before ... but I benched my oldest daughter right after she cranked a home run. The same parents that complained about playing time complained that I did that. When asked why, I said "It was her turn to sit." We were clear on that at the beginning of the season. It just happened to be the game she was designated to play minimally.

I didn't like coaching her tbh....I was much too hard on her. On otherhand all of her other coaches have been too easy on her imo (in terms of coaching her up..not screaming and yelling)..need to find a happy medium.

My son is starting t-ball this spring and I don't plan on coaching him either. I would love to coach and think I would be pretty good at it....just not if my kid is on the team.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Rec at young ages has to be equal playing time. I don’t care what sport. You have to develop players. Lots of them. We keep trying to develop 8 year old superstars but what happens when those superstars quit getting better? What happens when the bigger boned kid turns into a speedster in a few years? What happens when that “three sport athlete” destroys her body to the point where she plays ALL her varsity sports as a freshman and sophomore and can’t finish her last two years of any sport?

Our high school is mired in mediocrity for more reasons than I can list but a big part of it is an overemphasis on creating superstars at a young age at the expense of creating teams. It all starts in rec.

So... even bigger picture: You have to develop COACHES. If you develop coaches, you develop players.

I cut that down for brevity, but it is all spot on, IMO. Looking back, I would have focused on the coach development much earlier in my "career" there. The first step of that should have been a clear communication on the goals and purposes of the organization. (I did start that, but way too late in my time.)

This is probably another good distinction between rec and competitive (in my definitions): competitive = team first; rec = good of the organization first.

At 8u, developing player skills should be the second lowest thing on the list (above winning). Before we can develop those 8u all-stars, we have to provide them with a desire to want to play. We have to make them a player first ... then we develop through teaching the knowledge about the game and developing the ability (mental and physical) to build/enhance skills. I forget who said it here before (sorry!), but long-term success is defined not by any statistic such as win-loss record, batting average, or RBIs; rather success is measured by how many players are still in the game 10 years later. Longer-term, how many are passing the love of the game on to their kids?

 

[Westwind]

Before we can develop those 8u all-stars, we have to provide them with a desire to want to play. We have to make them a player first ... then we develop through teaching the knowledge about the game and developing the ability (mental and physical) to build/enhance skills.

This is an awesome point. I can picture myself making the mistake of emphasizing skills development too early especially since I had never considered it before.

My buddy and I had an absolute blast coaching rec. I sometimes wonder if we could recreate that but I kind of picture us over drilling and over coaching players that haven't developed that love of the game yet.

edited to add- I sure have seen a lot of kids that played 9u travel fizzle out before the kids that started later. Dd #2 started at 10u and it was plenty early.

 

[bmakj]

I would simply explain to my daughter (like I do in other situations) that unfortunately we do not get to pick our parents and some kids are in worse situations than her so sometimes exceptions need to be made in order for those kids to be given a fair shot.

favorite quote to my kids regarding this is "there but for the grace of God go I"

 

[uncdrew]

How about that night where you wanted to have a beer or 10 and didn't want to bother to bring her to practice? How was she going to get to practice that night?

Uber. And bring a cooler with a 12-pack. Watching 8U rec practices are a lot more fun when you're drunk.

 

[sluggers]

rather success is measured by how many players are still in the game 10 years later. Longer-term, how many are passing the love of the game on to their kids?

Exactly.

Most of us are or have played in a slow pitch rec league or two or three. Why? They are fun.

When Joe "Boom Boom" Bomber misses a practice, he still bats fourth. He goes on vacation for a week and misses a couple of games, he still bats fourth. No one even thinks of punishing him.

Boom Boom and the team have tequila shots between innings from that special "Lemonade Thermos". Will Boom Boom be benched? Not hardly.

But, an 8U little girl dependent on someone else to get her to and from rec league games, people think she should be benched because otherwise it would "send the wrong message"?