Classless behavior by parents

coachjwb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
1,768
Reaction score
167
Points
63
Location
Northeast Ohio
Liberal Lion ... thanks for sharing the details, though I might recommend leaving out the number of the player whose parents were involved.

To answer your question in the final paragraph, I can tell you that I am aware of multiple players who were dropped from an organization, and/or who did not get offered a spot by another organization, because of the reputation and past actions of their parent(s). It's sad to think that a child has to pay a price for the actions of their parents, but it happens all the time, and no one can blame these organizations for doing that in an effort to maintain the good name of their organizations, and to retain the many families on the team who do act appropriately ... e.g., the lady in this case who sat separately and had to apologize for the actions of other parents on her DD's team.
 

lewam3

Active Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
498
Reaction score
64
Points
28
For the 10u parents out there, here is some advice:
enjoy the ride. you have maybe 8 more summers to watch DD sweat and grind it out there on the dirt. The last thing she needs to hear is her parents screaming and making fools of themselves behind the backstop. Your behavior has NO INFLUENCE ON THE OUTCOME of the game!!!!!!
Parents only complain about illegal pitches when the opposing pitcher is kicking their kids azz. Trust me, I HAVE BEEN THERE.
Parents only complain about the strike zone when their little DD is striking out! Trust me, I HAVE BEEN THERE.
Parents only complain about the other teams parents behavior when their DD's team loses. Trust me, I HAVE BEEN THERE.
So as Brownsfan has alluded to, it's all about maturing as a spectator and parent-and as a newbie 10u parent, of course, you will be offended by comments posted by parents that HAVE BEEN THERE, but if you are already getting your panties in a bunch during the THIRD WEEK OF MAY...well, this threads for you.
 

Louuuuu

Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
559
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Louuuuu....I never said those words, re read the thread.....you are quoting MADOGMOM ......

You could be right. My brain gets fuzzy after reading four pages of verbal ping pong. I apologize.
 

brownsfan

Active Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
460
Reaction score
56
Points
28
The coach was as bad as the fans. Not to mention that their pitcher had an illegal pitch the entire tournament and not one umpire called it. She leapt off the ground at least 2-3 inches and replanted every pitch. Hey, bretman, why do the umpires not call illegal pitches?

It seems girls are taught to explode up and not up and out. When my DD first started pitching, I took a piece of paper and placed it by the rubber. Told her if that paper does not move with you, you're illegal.
 

backstop09

Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
162
Reaction score
1
Points
18
All you big bad 14-16 u coaches crack me up with the insulting of the 10u game....I bet some of those teams in 10u could beat these big bad 14-16 u coaches teams.

As the great Carson Daly said in the classic movie Joe Dirt - "Uh, you're not supposed to drink the bong water, ma'am"
 

coachjwb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
1,768
Reaction score
167
Points
63
Location
Northeast Ohio
By coincidence, one of the topics on the weekly radio show tonight will be ... "a discussion about young and/or first time travel softball parents, and how a few act like idiots at the games ... and why they need to "grow up"!"...

OK, its not a coincidence, but I do think it is a good topic to discuss since it comes up every year ... and I think it is the responsibility of us more experienced people in the Forum to help the newbies not make some of the mistakes we made, or worse (like pointing at their butts?!?!)!
 
Last edited:

loveofsoftball

New Member
Joined
May 18, 2015
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I was at this tournament, The Breast Cancer Shootout, the entire weekend and have been following this thread w/ interest so time to chime in. There was outstanding play by all the teams involved in all the age brackets and there was a load of talent as well, but this incident concerning less than sportsmanship by parents happened at a 10u quarterfinal between Thunder Elite and The Jackson Royals.

I was watching from behind the bench of the team the parents in question belonged to, Thunder Elite, and I must say, and this is too polite, these 4 were rude, crude ( one of the females making kissing sounds towards The Jackson Royals scorer and then getting off her chair and pointing at her butt, what an outstanding role model ) instigating and obnoxiously loud towards the officials and the Jackson Royals, who displayed great restraint by not sinking to this level. To make matters worse, the father exchanged words and called out a parent from a team who was not even involved in this game, this parents team was awaiting the winner and he was simply watching the game, but became involved because the immature father (who along with his wife labeled themselves well by wearing their DD's team colors, a fluorescent green shirt that had a large number 7 on each of their backs so I must assume this is their DD's number) accused him of making a comment directed towards him so the behavior extended past the Jackson Royals and to other spectators trying to enjoy what was a great game between two teams of talented young ladies. Major props by the way to that father, from Ohio Ice, who, while not backing down from this man child, had the maturity and intelligence to set the proper example for his DD and her team and organization and not escalate an argument with an obvious fool.

I also heard and witnessed one parent from the Thunder issue an apology as she left to all those affected by these parents, so obviously at least one parent from the Thunder realized these Thunder parents were out of line and was respectful enough to realize an apology was in order, and as posted previously by another person in this thread I also noticed that these trouble making parents in question were very isolated from the other Thunder parents so I also wonder if they are kept at a distance by the other players Moms and Dads. I for one would certainly not wish to sit near them.

The Tournament Director did make an appearance to diffuse the situation and I would also like to commend him for taking charge of the situation as quickly as possible, however incidents such as these tend to follow a team and their respective organization, after all the Fastpitch community is small and tightly knit and Coaches and Umpires and Tournament Directors communicate frequently and I would hate to see an organization like Thunder Elite gain a reputation of being difficult due to the actions of these few, but it does happen.

It makes me wonder if perhaps the Thunder coach, who by the way I have always observed being an excellent example for his team of girls, or any coach for that matter should cut ties with these types of parents rather than have them be associated with their organization(s). I would welcome thoughts on that and also if anyone feels that situations such as these follow the DD's of this type of parent to tryouts after a season has ended? In other words, would you as a coach overlook the reputation of a trouble causing parent and take the player or would you error on the side of caution and pass on her?

I have no affiliation with either team but was sitting behind this ordeal on Sunday after our game. It was a great game by both sides,you could definitely tell there's a rivalry between these 2 teams but well played game. I might add that the Royals coaches were calling the other teams pitches out loud which is very unsportsman like. And I didn't think the father from thunder was really out of line besides disagreeing with some pitch calls until the ohio ice parent put in his 2 sense. Which I have also heard that ohio ice has anamosity towards this father for pulling his daughter off their team. So maybe that was fuel to the fire. But i did witness the Royals score keeper and another older woman arguing back and forth which was right behind the backstop. This is a competitive sport but please parents remember they're 10 years old, not professionsls, they will make mistakes. Some parents have a long road ahead of them on travel ball.
 

wvanalmsick

Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
278
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Location
Baltimore, Ohio
Boy, I can't wait to get these 2 teams at our tournament in July.
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • emot77.jpg
    emot77.jpg
    2.2 KB · Views: 212

steve77621

Active Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2014
Messages
310
Reaction score
48
Points
28
I do not want to hijack this thread but i have a legitimate question that i would like to hear peoples opinion on, i was at the tournament this weekend but did not witness this game but have talked with several people who did watch it and have heard different versions of what happened n my question is. What do you do when the opposing team is so ignorant that they r calling out pitches and more importantly pitch location? I have my catchers set up location at the last second and a coach,parent, or alot of times a player from the other team (my age group is much older) yells out where we r setting up. What is a appropriate reaction?
 

HITTER23

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
1,140
Reaction score
364
Points
83
Location
S.W. Ohio in lil Detroit
I do not want to hijack this thread but i have a legitimate question that i would like to hear peoples opinion on, i was at the tournament this weekend but did not witness this game but have talked with several people who did watch it and have heard different versions of what happened n my question is. What do you do when the opposing team is so ignorant that they r calling out pitches and more importantly pitch location? I have my catchers set up location at the last second and a coach,parent, or alot of times a player from the other team (my age group is much older) yells out where we r setting up. What is a appropriate reaction?


This just keeps getting better and better...
 

initfor51

New Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
121
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
NEO
I am getting to be an addict with this thread. I mean we get one every year and they all have the same dialogue just a different cast, but I can't stop coming back to read more. Could someone please remember this thread and just repost it next year in the middle of May? That way we don't have to start from scratch again? Lol
 

coachjwb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
1,768
Reaction score
167
Points
63
Location
Northeast Ohio
Steve ... in travel ball in general, my opinion is that it's "acceptable" (not necessarily ideal) if players do it, not generally considered acceptable if coaches are yelling it (if they insist on doing it, they should do it in a more discrete way), and definitely not OK for spectators to inject themselves into a youth game. My opinion at 10-U specifically is that it shouldn't be done at all, for reasons I can go into later if needed.

Now, with that being said, there is no appropriate "reaction", other than shaking one's head and doing things the right way. I personally learned a lot about how to do things the "right way" by reading this forum, as well as in observing and talking with coaches and teams who have been doing it for awhile.

Just my opinion ...
 

Run26

Active Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2014
Messages
468
Reaction score
168
Points
43
They're 10! How many pitches could they have to be called out? "Fastball in, out, middle". I know I'm probably not giving them credit for the occasional "rise ball" but come on.

And to the poster that wrote this 10U team could compete with a 14 or 16U squad - you are insane. I'd say most 10U pitchers would have a real issue with even throwing it 43 ft let alone pitch it.

Do yourself a favor and park it behind the backstop of a qualifier and watch a 14 or 16U game and you'll definitely see an enormous difference. The biggest difference is you'll probably be arguing with yourself versus another parent.
 
Last edited:

steve77621

Active Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2014
Messages
310
Reaction score
48
Points
28
run26, can you read? I said my girls r much older where they do throw 4 to 5 different pitches and more importantly can hit there spots much more accurately. i was using this thread to get a opinion because the stories i heard was that they kept calling out the 10 yr olds change up which is extremely effective. So before you "stir the pot" why dont you try reading and comprehending the entire post.
 

wow

Active Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
836
Reaction score
53
Points
28
Location
Right over here!
They're 10! How many pitches could they have to be called out? "Fastball in, out, middle". I know I'm probably not giving them credit for the occasional "rise ball" but come on.

And to the poster that wrote this 10U team could compete with a 14 or 16U squad - you are insane. I'd say most 10U pitchers would have a real issue with even throwing it 43 ft let alone pitch it.

1. Fastball ( two seam and four seam) inside/out; up/down, drop, curve, drop curve, horseshoe change, choke change, flip change, screwball, backdoor screwball, cutter, and of course the preverbal rise...

2. See there was a rise ball in there!

3. I am not sure insane is the best adjective for comparing 10U to 14-16u....But its in the right direction...
 
Last edited:

Run26

Active Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2014
Messages
468
Reaction score
168
Points
43
Yes, I can read. You eluded to being at the tournament and hearing different stories about what happened. You then asked about how we would feel about someone calling out pitches. Since you decided to "stir the pot" on another topic I guess I assumed one of the stories you heard was someone in the game in question was calling out pitches.

"I do not want to hijack this thread but i have a legitimate question that i would like to hear peoples opinion on, i was at the tournament this weekend but did not witness this game but have talked with several people who did watch it and have heard different versions of what happened n my question is. What do you do when the opposing team is so ignorant that they r calling out pitches and more importantly pitch location? I have my catchers set up location at the last second and a coach,parent, or alot of times a player from the other team (my age group is much older) yells out where we r setting up. What is a appropriate reaction?"

If you actually want my opinion on what you should do with your players then I say put them in better tournaments so you won't have this issue. Problem solved.
 

wow

Active Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
836
Reaction score
53
Points
28
Location
Right over here!
At 10u if the pitcher can hit spots and has an effective change who cares where the spot is. Great pitching at 10U is everything. Heck call out the spot and throw it in the opposite direction....

Show me a 10U who can keep hands back/ wait on a change, especially in that emotional train wreck that was, and I will show you the better team.

Not taking a position just saying at 10U batters don't have the emotional experience or fortitude to really understand everything they need, even knowing the next pitch/location. Think about it.. Emotions are high, parents yelling, coaches yelling, teams chanting at the top of their lungs... The batter is focused on the third base coach and the pitcher.. Everything else is just Charlie browns teacher, at that moment...
 

yossarian

Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Messages
286
Reaction score
0
Points
16
I say we solve this with some old fashioned American ingenuity. Who wants to invest in my product idea?

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • PRICS.jpg
    PRICS.jpg
    73 KB · Views: 363
Top