was I right or wrong

[sluggers]

Quake softball: Please send me a video clip of someone stopping on a breakaway when someone on the other team gets hurt, or someone stopping play during a corner kick when one of the players gets mauled. In soccer, like in basketball, play gets stopped when the action slows down.

And, since World Cup Soccer has so much sportsmanship, explain the taunting of Zidane and the "hand of God".

 

[starsnuffer]

Sometimes what is best for winning is not the best thing to do.

There is no right or wrong answer. It isn't even a question of priority. Your emotional response trumped any logical response to advance the game. That isn't wrong. Nor would it be wrong for an individual to have a logical response that trumped an emotional response. People are different.

Now, if UCLA, for instance, hired a head coach who's emotions trumped logic, it would be the fault of whoever hired that coach and the coach would not be long at the job. For your case though, you're a mom volunteering to help in an organized youth sports program. It's a very different scenario.

Personally, I would have sent the girl running to home, since the injury occured at or near 1b, there was no reason not to send her. If there was an injury at home and you would have sent another runner barreling into the frucus, that's another matter. I'm not you, however. I'm pretty sure there's rules against the 3b coach running out onto the field during play, and I think that would result in an out anyway, so it really doesn't matter if you sent the runner or not, you chose to run and help the injured player over concerning yourself with the game. Nothing wrong with that.

Be secure that you went with your gut instinct, it's who you are, and no one can fault you for it. No regrets, no excuses.

-W

 

[CoachAl]

Interesting points. I've been in this situation before. If the injury appears to be serious, I don't wait for blue. I will call time and it does not matter if the injury is our team or the other team. In your particular play, hard to say if I would have had the runner keep advancing toward home. Some of our players may have kept running anyway if they didn't see what was going on or didn't see anyone signal time out.

As for the coach, I would politely let him know you are no longer coaching 3rd base. It's one thing for a coach to have a honest discussion with an asst about team philosophy, what to do when, on the general direction. But for a coach to say "it is your fault we lost" or something similar is ridiculous! We win as a team as we lose as a team and there is never any one player or coach singled out either way.

 

[Quake Softball]

Slugger: Way to take what I said and find the smallest example and try to make that what I was talking about. Obviously, you aren't worth talking to about this.

 

[Greenmonsters]

At 10U, I think you did the right thing given the circumstances. Interesting though, I would like to know where you were positioned. If you were properly positioned (i.e.. out of the box, 20 ft down the line) AND had an experienced runner intending to round the bag from the getgo, you should've been waving the runner until you've confirmed that 1B has control of the ball, in which case an average speed runner should be turning the bag with a full head of steam and end up at least 1/4 of the way home while you're trying to figure out what's going on at 1B and decide to send or stop her. Personally, at 10U, I would not stop a runner who had rounded the bag and was headed home at full speed, but I also wouldn't re-start a runner who was stopped/stopping at 3B. But that's just me, and I've watched a triple play unfold right in front of me while coaching 3B without saying a thing!

 

[andyh64000]

If the runner would have scored anyway injury or not then I think you made a mistake. If she would have scored only because everyone was paying attention to the injury then I think you did the right thing at that level.

 

[guero_gordo]

Right or wrong thing is debatable, you unquestionably did the decent thing.

 

[SoftSocDad]

We left that team after that season and haven't looked back.

...until now, you mean.

I'm not going to say it was 'wrong' to halt the runner at 3rd for the reason you've admitted, I would simply say you made a mistake. I'll take the heat for this statement, but I have a general expectation that 11-12yo's are learning to play by 'big girl' rules, which are exactly as Slugger stated. Unless the umpire has called time, the ball is still in play and if 1B is distracted by the screaming and fails to throw home, that's too bad.

Even if the umpire meant to stop the play at the point the runner went down, he/she has the authority to send the runner back.

Could all the players decide - whether by accident or by deliberate collusion - that they if they see a softball sister go down, they will stop the action on their own? Absolutely, and no one would fault them for it.

But far bigger than the mistake you made - and make no mistake, my opinion on that has nothing to do with the fact that it was a playoff game - was your head coach's reaction. While your decision might've prevented an important run from scoring at a critical time, that's not the reason the team lost. I don't like what he said to you, regardless of the circumstances. It MAY have been alright to say "I would've sent the runner in that situation" as a way of giving you constructive criticism, but to make it an out-and-out attack on you was just wrong and speaks to poor leadership on his part.

Now, what if instead of stopping, the runner had chosen to go score? Would the head coach have chastised or benched her for ignoring your signal??

 

[softballphreak]

I think World Cup Soccer is probably the highest level you can get as far as intensity and wanting to win goes. There is no rule that you have to stop play for an injury but the other team will kick the ball out of bounds on purpose to stop the play. Then the opposing team does the same thing to give the ball back. It isn't about rules it is about sportsmanship.

If I'm thinking soccer the very last thought would be sportsmanship; especially if I consider the fans! I can't say I've ever seen what you described.

 

[Quake Softball]

Well, maybe you need to watch more soccer then. It is a very common practice. And we aren't talking about the fans. And we aren't talking about the players actions EXCEPT for when someone is hurt.