anyone else coaching youth sports?

I know your pain :scream:
I coached seventh grade boys basketball and the kids were great. It those darn parents that ruin everything !!

Have fun and try to stay sane.

Originally posted by Mx Dude

. It those darn parents that ruin everything !!

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You otta do it for a living.:eek:

I've done some (wrestling club) and my biggest problem is that I'm probably hardest on my own kid. I finally had to stop so he would enjoy himself more. Maybe I'll try again later when we're both a little older :D

Yeah the parents screw up everything. I co-coached my sister's soccer team
and the parents were always whining about something.

547,
Ive found from experiance that if you have a parent & player meeting at your first practice , and lay it on them thick about the comitment, that you are putting in and what you expect from them, they give you less excuses. let them know if they want they still can get their money back and some kid who wants to be on the team will gladly fill in. It might sound a little mean and tough, but then when your not that tough on them later, youll be the nice guy!

Good luck, Walt

i used to coach retarded kids,ages about 8 to 10, in baseball...fill in joke here...it was great! i coached the kids just like any other little league team.the parents came in 2 flavors, great chearleader/fans in the stands, and the drop offs(push the kid outa the car and come back in about 2 hrs) i had a great time. i think the kids did too. we had alot of laughs( the game was ussually one big blooper reel, but the kids new it was funny,laugh with,not at.they know) only problem was,the local tv news came out to do a story, i had the other coach out working w/ the outfielders and i was working infield drills with the others.the camera's rolling and i go to hit a grounder to the second baseman(big double play ball) i got under it, and hit it right at the kids face:mad: "whack" the ball hit the kid in the nose,knocked him over,and he's laying on the ground crying.holding his face. i drop the bat,go running over,pick him up,and he's gotta a bloody nose! ooops, i look over to the bleachers in horror, expecting his mom or dad to be coming at me with a bat, i see the camera man filming the whole thing, and then denny's (the kid) mom stands up in the stands and yells "he's ok, your ok denny, keep playing" ha! i took the kid over,gave him an ice pack on the bench, but i swear to god, he was back out to his position by the time i'd hit the second ball, still bleeding a bit, but hey, the kid wanted too play. those are the kind of kids that make it worth while:D btw, they didn't show the "incident" on the news, god bless discression.

Parents can be a pain when they decide their kids aren't playing enough or the star of the team.

My wife coached thekids flag football team when he was in 4th grade. I think it was a great experience for both of them in that she knew nothing about football other than sitting and watching it for entertainment. The league called and said that if one of the fathers wouldn't coach there would be no team. I worked weekends so couldn't coach and Trudy half heartedly said if no one would do it she would. The first couple practices were disasters as she tried to teach what my dad and I had just shown her but several fathers sheepishly stepped forward to help out and became active participants. The season went on with the league always pointing out that this was the first time a mother had coached and look They were in first place :eek: . They stayed in first until the last game when they werre beaten and ended up tied for first. At the awards my son couldn't have been prouder as the boys all insisted she go up for the trophy. The next season every kids father (still no other moms) committed to be a part of the team at least 2 games.
In the end the one way to silence critical parents and get help was to shame them by her undertaking the responsibility so the kids could have fun.

I coached little league baseball for a few years. It was the most fun the first 2 or three years and every year after that it got to be a bigger pain in the neck (parents complaining, all star games, screwed up vacation plans ect. ect. ect.). Now he's in High School and I don't have to coach anything :)

Inline hockey

I coach inline hockey and everyone loves it! The only thing the parents complain about is the cost of the hockey gear. I try to make everything as affordable as I can and still keep the kids safe.

Brenda