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Join Date: May 2010
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My son is 12 too I have the same situation my has 2 years playing ll ball every time we got to a game he only plays 2 innings out of 6 I talked with the coach and I told him that my son wasn't comfortable only playing 2 innings and he told me that I wasn't playing because they were practicing the all stars I really don't like this and I don't think its fair because I'm paying 80 dollars and I think everyone should play no matter how bad they play
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 16
I think this is a problem that should be addressed with your league's board of directors. The right balance between fun and competition needs to be found. In my son's division(AAA minors 9-10), everyone must play at least four innings and everyone on the team bats, whether they are playing the field or not. If the coach is following the rules established by the league, you are getting angry at the wrong person, to a degree. In many majors divisions, the rules change, and players are not guaranteed the same level of playing time. At some point, competition needs to begin to overtake fun. Doing well, and playing well, whether your teams wins or loses, is almost always fun. Doing poorly, because you are poorly prepared is never fun, for the child, the coaches, or the parents. The same would be true if it was a sandlot game without any parents or coaches involved. I would cut the coach a little slack.
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 6
CoachV wouldn't be coaching in my league.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoachV-NC
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Personally, I believe if a coach has the majority (all is the goal) of his players return the following year, then he did most of his job. Kids at that age should learn the FUNdamentals of the game. With that said, and I don't know how your league conducts the draft, but was your son on the coaches tryout draft list, or possibly assigned your son to his team by the league?
Again, my goal isn't to offend, as i've been head coaching multiple teams (I have 3 sons who play at different age levels)football, basketball, and baseball. So sometimes a coach sees things from a slightly different angle than a parent. I was assigned 2 9 year olds on my team this year (my team has 10 players--8 returning). The 2 players actually went up to bat and stood on the middle of the plate during their turn to bat at tryouts. They new absolutely nothing about throwing, hitting, or running. We get an 1 hour and 15 mins to practice 2 times a week, so obviously dedicating time to 1-3 slow kids is not realistic.
Here's the problem. The vast majority of our kids have been practicing\playing since they could hold a $5 Wal-Mart wiffle bat and ball. The 2 new kids just decided to give baseball a "go". I knew both parents from years of coaching in a basketball league. They never exposed their kids to baseball in any way, then decided to sign them up and figured that a team with only a few hours of practice time a week could do wonders with them.
A team cannot, and should not, practice at the level of their 2 slowest players! This is a parent responsibility, a responsibility to NOT put their kids, vastly unprepared kids, in a position to fail. I believe if a parent has $50-$80-or $100 to sign their child up and buy new equipment, then a little bit more money would go a long way in private lessons or other alternatives.
I am not an "everyone should get a participation trophy at the end of the season" coach. I believe opportunity should be earned, yes, even at that age, just like we earned it when we were young. (back when not everyone made the team..kids today are taught that happiness is something that should be given to them, and not earned).
Coaches at this age should "train" their players for the day when they have to earn a spot on a team (middle school, JV, Varsity), and SHOULD make it fun for them at the same time.
Now I know it sounds like i'm agreeing with everything the coach did, although I do agree with parts of it, your son should still be able to play outfield for at least 2-3 innings in a 6 innings game, and should be batting at least once also.
But if I were a new baseball dad in a league with a C or D skilled son, I would make sure to give him tangible skills to succeed, before buying expensive equipment and sending them to a team.
Also, paying a registration fee does not mean you get a say in team rules and practices. I would definitely try to transfer your son to another team, and if possible, a team without many veteran returning players, so that he will be able to grow with kids of his equal caliber. They may not win much, but at leat he'll get the opportunity to play.
Again, my goal isn't to offend, as i've been head coaching multiple teams (I have 3 sons who play at different age levels)football, basketball, and baseball. So sometimes a coach sees things from a slightly different angle than a parent. I was assigned 2 9 year olds on my team this year (my team has 10 players--8 returning). The 2 players actually went up to bat and stood on the middle of the plate during their turn to bat at tryouts. They new absolutely nothing about throwing, hitting, or running. We get an 1 hour and 15 mins to practice 2 times a week, so obviously dedicating time to 1-3 slow kids is not realistic.
Here's the problem. The vast majority of our kids have been practicing\playing since they could hold a $5 Wal-Mart wiffle bat and ball. The 2 new kids just decided to give baseball a "go". I knew both parents from years of coaching in a basketball league. They never exposed their kids to baseball in any way, then decided to sign them up and figured that a team with only a few hours of practice time a week could do wonders with them.
A team cannot, and should not, practice at the level of their 2 slowest players! This is a parent responsibility, a responsibility to NOT put their kids, vastly unprepared kids, in a position to fail. I believe if a parent has $50-$80-or $100 to sign their child up and buy new equipment, then a little bit more money would go a long way in private lessons or other alternatives.
I am not an "everyone should get a participation trophy at the end of the season" coach. I believe opportunity should be earned, yes, even at that age, just like we earned it when we were young. (back when not everyone made the team..kids today are taught that happiness is something that should be given to them, and not earned).
Coaches at this age should "train" their players for the day when they have to earn a spot on a team (middle school, JV, Varsity), and SHOULD make it fun for them at the same time.
Now I know it sounds like i'm agreeing with everything the coach did, although I do agree with parts of it, your son should still be able to play outfield for at least 2-3 innings in a 6 innings game, and should be batting at least once also.
But if I were a new baseball dad in a league with a C or D skilled son, I would make sure to give him tangible skills to succeed, before buying expensive equipment and sending them to a team.
Also, paying a registration fee does not mean you get a say in team rules and practices. I would definitely try to transfer your son to another team, and if possible, a team without many veteran returning players, so that he will be able to grow with kids of his equal caliber. They may not win much, but at leat he'll get the opportunity to play.
1st off the Rentention of players at the minors level is truly a joke and after this year's Little League Congress..retention is OUT. Players will be either blind drafted or placed back into a pool each season for redraft. Since last year's managers and coaches are NOT retained either, it would be up to the President to nominate and board to approve those managers and coaches yearly (that part isn't new btw..no manager/coach has tenture).
That having been said, Little League Baseball was chartered by the U.S. Congress not to teach baseball to youths as a medium to become professional baseball players, LLB exists to teach character, loyalty, and teamwork to young boys and girls THROUGH baseball/softball. Two 9 year old boys who play other sports are exactly where they should be, in a developmental level that's teaching those baseball fundamentals while teaching them that just showing up isn't enough. No one should assume 3 hours a week pre season is going to turn them into All Stars but by the time games start. They should have pretty basic play down. They're 9, not 9 months old. Work with them and encourage the parents to work with them in the backyard.
CoachV, we're not asking your permission to give players a momento of a season riding your pine. We're giving them something that might encourage them to return next season. Your players are in division that honestly should have little or no bearing at all on if they get a trophy for winning. They're all going to make more errors than *you* want, strike out more looking than *you* can stand, and throw the ball around like it's a 3 ring circus and make *you* insane. You want competition at 9? Go play club ball and drive all over your state. Let these kids play ball, have fun and hopefully forget about playing for you or against you by the time they're buckled in and driving home.
Back on point, When I pay my registrations I don't specifically have a say in rules or playing time but if I was those 2 families, next season I'd be voted on with my friends and family and ensure that the proper level of attention is payed to interviewing the managers and coaches who want to work in the league and help you find your seat in the bleachers or make sure you worked your shift in the snackbar as a parent who has a kid on a team.
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Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 3
Great Discussion
Hey everyone. Good points being made here. I was surfing the web and come across this article. Thought it fit the subject really well. Coaching Baseball Teams
Little Leaguer
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 5
It's been almost a year since I visited this thread, and never new PVLLPA's post existed. This response may a waste of internet bandwidth, but here it goes.
PVLLPA, short and to the point. For the most part, there are 2 types of LL parents..1. the competetive parent = A-B players-including travel ballers..2. the FUN parent = your C-F player. From your response, it sounds like you fall into the #2 category.
For the life of me, i'm trying to find where I went wrong with the following words from a year ago
"I am not an "everyone should get a participation trophy at the end of the season" coach. I believe opportunity should be earned, yes, even at that age, just like we earned it when we were young. (back when not everyone made the team..kids today are taught that happiness is something that should be given to them, and not earned).
Coaches at this age should "train" their players for the day when they have to earn a spot on a team (middle school, JV, Varsity), and SHOULD make it fun for them at the same time.
Now I know it sounds like i'm agreeing with everything the coach did, although I do agree with parts of it, your son should still be able to play outfield for at least 2-3 innings in a 6 innings game, and should be batting at least once also.
But if I were a new baseball dad in a league with a C or D skilled son, I would make sure to give him tangible skills to succeed, before buying expensive equipment and sending them to a team.
Also, paying a registration fee does not mean you get a say in team rules and practices. I would definitely try to transfer your son to another team, and if possible, a team without many veteran returning players, so that he will be able to grow with kids of his equal caliber. They may not win much, but at leat he'll get the opportunity to play.
EVERY kid\parent I have coached over the last 10-15 years has come back the following year (those who didn't were the ones who either moved away and\or moved up to middle\high school). This applies to all 3 major sports that I coach (baseball, basketball, football). I am very lucky to have parents who grew up knowing what it was like to actually earn the accolades they recieved, and the more work and dedication it took, the more it was appreciated.
Your post is an example of what a bitter, whiney modern parent would write. In this day of the "entitlement" mindset..which you obviously have, as demonstrated by your post, kids go get on the "gimme train" at an early age and don't get off until their parents are unable to support them 40 years down the tracks.
Little League teaches many great life lessons, with one of the most important being failure..and to be more specific, how to handle and overcome failure. My kids are always taught to play like they practice, and to make the effort to win every game, but are ALWAYS prepared to be a gracious loser if things to go their way.
Ronald Reagan once said, "We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”
What does this have to do with Little League baseball?! EVERYTHING!! When things didn't go your way being the #2 type of LL parent, you bark at coaches like me who actually infuse and teach these young boys and girls lessons that revolve around the desire to earn your next accomplishment without offering them the easiest way to do it. Myself and my 3 sons can, from a distance where the label can't be read, tell you how, when, and where they EARNED every trophy they have in their rooms. Those same trophies are situated next to the academic (school comes first in our home) trophies\accomplishments they earned with guidance they recieved from their stay-at-home coachMom.
One of thing, I have always been an advocate of a re-draft, the league I play in has turned down my requests 3 years in a row. It doesn't help that 6 out of the 8 board members are coaches in the league (majors division), so the tenure thing is something that some of us have no control over.
To all who read this I hope you all have a safe and memorable 2011 season wherever you coach.
PVLLPA, short and to the point. For the most part, there are 2 types of LL parents..1. the competetive parent = A-B players-including travel ballers..2. the FUN parent = your C-F player. From your response, it sounds like you fall into the #2 category.
For the life of me, i'm trying to find where I went wrong with the following words from a year ago
"I am not an "everyone should get a participation trophy at the end of the season" coach. I believe opportunity should be earned, yes, even at that age, just like we earned it when we were young. (back when not everyone made the team..kids today are taught that happiness is something that should be given to them, and not earned).
Coaches at this age should "train" their players for the day when they have to earn a spot on a team (middle school, JV, Varsity), and SHOULD make it fun for them at the same time.
Now I know it sounds like i'm agreeing with everything the coach did, although I do agree with parts of it, your son should still be able to play outfield for at least 2-3 innings in a 6 innings game, and should be batting at least once also.
But if I were a new baseball dad in a league with a C or D skilled son, I would make sure to give him tangible skills to succeed, before buying expensive equipment and sending them to a team.
Also, paying a registration fee does not mean you get a say in team rules and practices. I would definitely try to transfer your son to another team, and if possible, a team without many veteran returning players, so that he will be able to grow with kids of his equal caliber. They may not win much, but at leat he'll get the opportunity to play.
EVERY kid\parent I have coached over the last 10-15 years has come back the following year (those who didn't were the ones who either moved away and\or moved up to middle\high school). This applies to all 3 major sports that I coach (baseball, basketball, football). I am very lucky to have parents who grew up knowing what it was like to actually earn the accolades they recieved, and the more work and dedication it took, the more it was appreciated.
Your post is an example of what a bitter, whiney modern parent would write. In this day of the "entitlement" mindset..which you obviously have, as demonstrated by your post, kids go get on the "gimme train" at an early age and don't get off until their parents are unable to support them 40 years down the tracks.
Little League teaches many great life lessons, with one of the most important being failure..and to be more specific, how to handle and overcome failure. My kids are always taught to play like they practice, and to make the effort to win every game, but are ALWAYS prepared to be a gracious loser if things to go their way.
Ronald Reagan once said, "We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”
What does this have to do with Little League baseball?! EVERYTHING!! When things didn't go your way being the #2 type of LL parent, you bark at coaches like me who actually infuse and teach these young boys and girls lessons that revolve around the desire to earn your next accomplishment without offering them the easiest way to do it. Myself and my 3 sons can, from a distance where the label can't be read, tell you how, when, and where they EARNED every trophy they have in their rooms. Those same trophies are situated next to the academic (school comes first in our home) trophies\accomplishments they earned with guidance they recieved from their stay-at-home coachMom.
One of thing, I have always been an advocate of a re-draft, the league I play in has turned down my requests 3 years in a row. It doesn't help that 6 out of the 8 board members are coaches in the league (majors division), so the tenure thing is something that some of us have no control over.
To all who read this I hope you all have a safe and memorable 2011 season wherever you coach.
Forum All Star
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 4,249
We wish you would post here more often here 
I have no Little League experience at all. And my position is in between the two points of view given. No I don't believe everyone should be given a participation trophy at the end of the season. But I do believe everyone should be given a chance to learn and play during the season. I base this point of view on what happened to me in another sport--tennis. I wanted to learn how to play tennis so my parents signed me up for a beginners all girls' tennis class. I knew next to nothing about how to play tennis while a few of the other girls knew a little bit. But one girl could already play tennis very well. What she was even doing in a beginners class I have no idea even to this day! So what did the tennis teacher do he spent partially all his time with the one girl who could already play the game. I didn't tell my parents about this for years. They said I should have told them at the time because they paid out money for lessons I didn't really get. I realize now I should have had individual lessons, but I also realize that due to very bad hand to eye coordination plus poor depth perception I could never have learned to have played tennis anyway. I could serve, but when the ball was returned to me I couldn't lay a racket on it for the life of me! But I did learn a life's lesson with this experience because the girl that could already play tennis was very nice looking so she probably would have gotten partially all the attention anyway!
I have no Little League experience at all. And my position is in between the two points of view given. No I don't believe everyone should be given a participation trophy at the end of the season. But I do believe everyone should be given a chance to learn and play during the season. I base this point of view on what happened to me in another sport--tennis. I wanted to learn how to play tennis so my parents signed me up for a beginners all girls' tennis class. I knew next to nothing about how to play tennis while a few of the other girls knew a little bit. But one girl could already play tennis very well. What she was even doing in a beginners class I have no idea even to this day! So what did the tennis teacher do he spent partially all his time with the one girl who could already play the game. I didn't tell my parents about this for years. They said I should have told them at the time because they paid out money for lessons I didn't really get. I realize now I should have had individual lessons, but I also realize that due to very bad hand to eye coordination plus poor depth perception I could never have learned to have played tennis anyway. I could serve, but when the ball was returned to me I couldn't lay a racket on it for the life of me! But I did learn a life's lesson with this experience because the girl that could already play tennis was very nice looking so she probably would have gotten partially all the attention anyway!
Little Leaguer
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 5
Hi Dolly,
Thanks for the reply. I will try my best to join in now that I know others are reading these threads, even if I have to look at the Yankee avatar you have by your name (Indians fan here)
I can related to your story very well. I lost count on the number of kids that I have had over to my house and\or ball field for free lessons to work on a weakness they had. More often than not, these weaknesses were centered around the mental side of the game (80% of the game at this age in my opinion), and most all of these extras were on non-practice days. There just isn't enough time to work with individual players (the quality time it requires to really make improvements) during our regular allotted practice time during the season.
How a player responds to a great play is easy, how they respond to a called 3rd strike or ball through the legs is another story.
One of the things that I do (and my top 3 players enjoy doing) is to let them work with the weaker players some time during the practice. Doing this really grows a players confidence in leading, and forms a friendship that is not atheletic or perfomance base with the weaker players.
My son worked with a weaker player on bunting one day, and I overheard him say, "my dad says to square when the pitcher makes his move, but that doesn't work, wait till he releasing the ball, and you will catch everyone back on their heels" he's was only 9 when that happened and I laughed the whole practice
Thanks for the reply. I will try my best to join in now that I know others are reading these threads, even if I have to look at the Yankee avatar you have by your name
(Indians fan here)I can related to your story very well. I lost count on the number of kids that I have had over to my house and\or ball field for free lessons to work on a weakness they had. More often than not, these weaknesses were centered around the mental side of the game (80% of the game at this age in my opinion), and most all of these extras were on non-practice days. There just isn't enough time to work with individual players (the quality time it requires to really make improvements) during our regular allotted practice time during the season.
How a player responds to a great play is easy, how they respond to a called 3rd strike or ball through the legs is another story.
One of the things that I do (and my top 3 players enjoy doing) is to let them work with the weaker players some time during the practice. Doing this really grows a players confidence in leading, and forms a friendship that is not atheletic or perfomance base with the weaker players.
My son worked with a weaker player on bunting one day, and I overheard him say, "my dad says to square when the pitcher makes his move, but that doesn't work, wait till he releasing the ball, and you will catch everyone back on their heels" he's was only 9 when that happened and I laughed the whole practice
Fear the Fru
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,393
Hello coach!
We are spam free and have actual people discussing baseball, so please do join us.
We are spam free and have actual people discussing baseball, so please do join us.
Forum All Star
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 4,249
Well if you can put up with the avatar we will be fine. Because I happen to like the Tribe. I have actually seen them play in person which is something I can't say about the Yankees!
Forum All Star
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 4,249
Quote:
Originally Posted by fru
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Hello coach!
We are spam free and have actual people discussing baseball, so please do join us.
We are spam free and have actual people discussing baseball, so please do join us.
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