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Member
I am of 2 minds here. On one hand I have always agreed with the idea that is not my job to slow my team down it is yours. On the other hand it is OK to have mercy. I do not think 15-0 is running up a score. Until you get to the mercy threshold you can not act like the team is being un-sportsmen like. Now once your get to a 15+ lead then we can all sit down and discuss what is the agreed upon or proper next move.
My wife who has coached for years and has been run-ruled once or twice and I can honestly say that there is pretty much nothing the other team can do at that point that she is going to find acceptable. She is just too "unhappy" with her own team to find or see happiness anywhere. At 10U I think stealing home is not acceptable once you are up big. At 12U I can not remember really being throttled but again once you are up big calling off the additional bases seems to be the proper thing to do. And at 14U any time you lose by more than 2-3 it feels like you got throttled regardless. So once you reach old 14U and up it really is the responsibility of the other team to stop you, it is not on you to slow your team down.
Now that I have been through the lower age groups with 3 kids I can honestly say that parents take 10U and 12U waaaaaayyyyy too seriously when it comes to winning and losing. Your number 1 priority at these age groups is to develop your DD and make sure she is learning proper mechanics and work ethic. She needs to be playing at a level that if she does not work hard away from the game day she loses. Because if they do not learn the relationship between hard work and success at these lower age groups they will really struggle to break through that barrier at 14U. And the parents must be careful not to judge a good team and bad team or coach strictly by how much they win. Many times winning becomes fools gold.
My wife who has coached for years and has been run-ruled once or twice and I can honestly say that there is pretty much nothing the other team can do at that point that she is going to find acceptable. She is just too "unhappy" with her own team to find or see happiness anywhere. At 10U I think stealing home is not acceptable once you are up big. At 12U I can not remember really being throttled but again once you are up big calling off the additional bases seems to be the proper thing to do. And at 14U any time you lose by more than 2-3 it feels like you got throttled regardless. So once you reach old 14U and up it really is the responsibility of the other team to stop you, it is not on you to slow your team down.
Now that I have been through the lower age groups with 3 kids I can honestly say that parents take 10U and 12U waaaaaayyyyy too seriously when it comes to winning and losing. Your number 1 priority at these age groups is to develop your DD and make sure she is learning proper mechanics and work ethic. She needs to be playing at a level that if she does not work hard away from the game day she loses. Because if they do not learn the relationship between hard work and success at these lower age groups they will really struggle to break through that barrier at 14U. And the parents must be careful not to judge a good team and bad team or coach strictly by how much they win. Many times winning becomes fools gold.
