parents n a child who make it all worth it!

[steve77621]

I have been coaching kids for 10+ yrs and coaching travel for the last 4yrs and like so many teams that i have heard horror stories about inevitably every year i have had that one parent or one child who causes problems or makes it difficult for everyone to enjoy the season. No matter how many times i have tried to set expectations for everyone b4 the season i have lost a player over a bad situation but this yr i had a situation that redeemed my faith n why i do what i do. Here is what happened... we had a girl who was a very good pitcher but average bat at best n we were at a tournament and making a deep run on sunday we had won our 1st 2 games on sunday n the girl had played a little but hadnt batted yet n we were headed to the semis n i started her pitching but dp flexed her for a better hitter in the lineup n we won the game n made it to the championship where i did the same thing again. (everyone really thought we could win the championship) We ended up losing the championship but it was a great tournament for everyone as we were leaving i realized we playd 4 games on sunday n the girl never got to bat that day. I pulled her aside n told her i was sorry n i would make sure that she got to bat from now on sun. anytime we had more than 1 game n she seemed to handle it well but i wasnt too sure, so i loaded up my family n headed home. Well anyone who has ever coached a competetive travel team knows what happened next..... on my ride home my phone rings n its the girls father and like every coach i took a deep breathe n answered n prepared for the worst, he starts off by congratulating me for the deep run we made n follows up by telling me don't ever apologize to my daughter for a decision u make. If u batted another kid for his daughter its because u thought it gave the team the best chance to win and that his daughter and family wouldnt b playing for me if they didnt have confidence in me as a coach and my ability to teach and lead the team in the right direction. Stories like this r rare from my experience in coaching but every once in awhile u get reminded why we do what we do.

 

[Softballfamily]

That is awesome! Thanks for sharing

 

[FastBat]

That was nice! Reminds me that sometimes people surprise you!

 

[Westler33]

Some people do understand the choices a coach has to make and hopefully that drives the kid and parents to work on the parts of their game that are not as strong as others.

 

[FastBat]

Also, a thought, I think parents realize their child's strengths and weaknesses, some aren't willing to admit them and others acknowledge them freely.

Kids strengths and weaknesses remind me of toddlers. Some walk at 8 months, others speak full sentences by 18 months. Do most kids walk and talk early? No, because the one that walked early probably solely focused on that aspect of development.

Like this story, I would never be upset if my pitcher dd was flexed/dp'ed in a game. Why? Because she focused on one aspect of her game, pitching not hitting. Pitching 5-7 days a week makes it hard to work on other stuff! I would be proud she was able to pitch, and do it well!

Also, I wouldn't ask the short stop to pitch. I would assume that she couldn't pitch as well as my daughter, but then again my dd couldn't play short stop like that player. Same with hitting and base running.

That's why they call it a team, I guess! Every player contributes a little here and there!