This past weekend at Ohio Thunder's Fall Classic, I saw the worst thing I've seen yet (but I'm only about 3.5 years into travel at this point and Lenski65 is probably right). After one of our games, I was standing in between a couple games talking to friends. I noticed a commotion in the dugout during what I 99% sure was a 10U game judging by the size of the kids. It was a father in the dugout forcing his kid to pack up her stuff. At first, I assumed it was a guy who had a problem with some coaching decision like where his kid was playing, etc. But it became clear that it was about how she was playing. I have no idea if this father was on the coaching staff or not, I'm guessing no. What mattered was the display that just left me utterly heart-broken for this girl. Another adult, who I assumed to be a coach was trying to calm him and talk sense into him. The dad wasn't having it. He kept saying things like, "you have NO IDEA how hard I work to help her be good at this. I just can't do it any more. I can't watch her make the same mistakes over and over again." And on and on and on. The girl was very upset as she packed her bag. I started to notice people around me doing the same thing I was doing – slowly moving closer to see if they were actually hearing what I was hearing because I almost couldn't believe it. They were and I could see everyone was thinking the same thing I was thinking: "That poor kid." Eventually, it looked like the guy calmed down and she stayed in the dugout. I moved on because I was starting to feel bad for watching someone else's misery.
I've seen my share of jerky things at ball fields. I haven't yet seen this though, not that I kid myself into thinking it doesn't happen. The fact that it was at such a young level is what really shocked me I guess.
