The flute player

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Oct 4, 2018
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Be careful! Always remember that we do not know what we do not know!


It can be so tough. There are just a-hole parents and you know they are a-holes and the fact they are a-holes is screwing up your team and the experience for the other kids.

But yeah, sometimes you just don't know.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
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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 :LOL:

Impossible to be a good rec coach without a spreadsheet printout of some sort. :p

I had several.
 
Jan 3, 2019
85
18
Florida
Impossible to be a good rec coach without a spreadsheet printout of some sort. :p

I had several.
When I coached rec I had a spreadsheet with the lineup and positions they were playing 3-4 games in advance. I spent a lot of time making sure everyone had equal playing time, only so I didn't have to hear it from the parents. I had a system and it worked, that is until a parent or two would message me and tell me their kid's not making it that night.....10 minutes before gametime.

Sigh.....the joys of coaching rec
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
When I coached rec I had a spreadsheet with the lineup and positions they were playing 3-4 games in advance. I spent a lot of time making sure everyone had equal playing time, only so I didn't have to hear it from the parents. I had a system and it worked, that is until a parent or two would message me and tell me their kid's not making it that night.....10 minutes before gametime.

Sigh.....the joys of coaching rec
did the same, but not in advance, for precisely that reason, always someone late or not coming. I had it position by position for each inning. as game time approached, I would simply pencil in changes, and having it printed out helped make certain that subbing for missing players was spread out. and I tracked it all after too, so I knew how much time each kid played OF, IF, sat, etc. was not always equal, but pretty fair, and lets face it, you only have two MI spots to hide the girls who simply cannot play P, 1B, 3B for safety reasons.

and if someone called me out on it, I would profess ignorance, but I would have my best defensive lineup in for the 1st (only inning certain to face 1-3 hitters) and whatever was declared last inning due to time (run limits doubled) ;)
 
Aug 25, 2019
1,066
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I had the simpliest way of making sure everyone had the same at bats. I set the lineup at the beginning of the year, and left it the same. Whoever made the last out of a game, the next girl in the lineup would be up first next game. Everyone liked it.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
When I coached rec I had a spreadsheet with the lineup and positions they were playing 3-4 games in advance. I spent a lot of time making sure everyone had equal playing time, only so I didn't have to hear it from the parents. I had a system and it worked, that is until a parent or two would message me and tell me their kid's not making it that night.....10 minutes before gametime.

Sigh.....the joys of coaching rec

Or the un-announced no-show. Yikes.

The worst was this one family. They wouldn't tell us anything. So most games I'd be warming up the girls with 10 minutes left until first pitch and little Sally wasn't there. So I'd scramble and scratch her name off my spreadsheet printouts and re-configure the whole thing.

Then with 2 minutes until first pitch she'd show up.

Ugh. Hated that.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
Those players always went at the bottom of my line up, no matter how good they were. I had one parent question me on it once. Her daughter was a good player and good hitter, but she almost always ended up batting 9th or lower (bat 'em all league) because she always showed up 5-10 minutes before the game.

I explained it to her: "It's pretty easy. When you are here on time, I can write a line up and put her in the spot I'd like her to hit in. When you aren't here on time, I write a line up with the girls I have. After that, you get added to the bottom. I don't re-write line ups. I have more and better things I need to be doing than rewriting a line up multiple times."
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Those players always went at the bottom of my line up, no matter how good they were. I had one parent question me on it once. Her daughter was a good player and good hitter, but she almost always ended up batting 9th or lower (bat 'em all league) because she always showed up 5-10 minutes before the game.

I explained it to her: "It's pretty easy. When you are here on time, I can write a line up and put her in the spot I'd like her to hit in. When you aren't here on time, I write a line up with the girls I have. After that, you get added to the bottom. I don't re-write line ups. I have more and better things I need to be doing than rewriting a line up multiple times."
Uuuhhhh ooohhhh 😧
Theres that fine line punishing player for parents actions....

Or is it???...😏...Standards!
 
Last edited:
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
Uuuhhhh ooohhhh 😧
Theres that fine line punishing player for parents actions....

Or is it???...😏...Standards!

if they know they are gonna be late, a quick text to the coach (hey, work ran late, Sally will be there, but more like 5:50 (for 6 pm game) than 5:30 like you ask for) goes a looooonnnnggg way. i understand, life happens, rec ball is rec ball, but communication is key. and it is not punishment, they are still in the lineup, an it sounds like coach would rather bat her 3rd than 11th, but he has an entire team/game to manage.
 

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