Miserable People

I've had it with coaches who do not give a shit about a kid's feelings.  Every time an error is made, every time a kid doesn't get a hit - something is said to bring them down, not boost them up.  Why do we let people like this coach?  Then, even if you do things right, why aren't you told what a good job you've done?

Last night my eleven year old had a baseball game.  They lost 6-9.  But the loss is not what has everyone fired up today - it's the mistreatment of the kids.  Everyone is really upset about seeing my son hysterically crying coming out of the dugout at the end of the game.  You see, he doesn't cry.  He's known for that.  He cried several times during the course of a six inning game last night.  They said he missed a sign - six other kids on the team said he didn't - and he made the last out of the game.  I should tell you that he played the entire game at second base, had no errors, walked twice, got hit by a pitch and that last out of the game was a few feet away from being a grand slam.  But none of that seems to matter.  The coach who screamed at him for missing the sign, picked his bat up when the outfielder caught his ball and threw it at a fence.  Son asked him why he did it, coach said he was frustrated and son told him, "It doesn't belong to you."  Isn't that simple - "it doesn't belong to you". AND you should set a good example.

The lesson I told my son last night: a man is not jugded by the way he reacts to things during good times, it's when times are tough that a man is truly tested and judged.  It's easy to make the right decision when we are happy and life is great.

I think at this point, a parent may go nuts tonight if one of these kids gets yelled at and starts crying.  And to all of the coaches out there: you won't get a child's respect and best playing efforts when they're scared to death.  Be a good example and the kids will want to win for you, not because they're afraid of you!  Of course this does not apply to people who are coaching their own kids - that's a whole different story!

I've vented,
NeuroticMom