The Coach's Corner/Opinions

Opinions are like noses, everyone has one but it shouldn’t be exhibited. Last year I went to a fall

league game for incoming HS freshmen. The parents in the stands were brutal. They second-guessed

every managerial move or non-move. They opined about the abilities of other players on the team.

The Mommies were the worst.

I was recently talking to some HS coaches and they told me that parents are completely out of control,

particularly Mommies. One coach told me of a mommy that barged into his office and announced that in

her opinion, the team wasn’t doing too well and that they needed to discuss some changes!

I guess that this is a product of kids playing 100+ games a year and the entire life of the family revolving

around the kid’s baseball activities. Parents become way too invested in their son’s baseball experience.

It is the kid’s baseball experience, NOT theirs!

Parents that second-guess the coach and critique players are called “A CANCER”. It takes only one

in the stands to infect the entire crowd. What should be a wonderful and joyous shared TEAM

experience becomes a morass of backbiting and self-aggrandizement. Parents need to learn to sit

back and enjoy watching the TEAM play and SHUT UP. If you just can’t control yourself go down

the outfield fence and mutter your rants, away from the crowd.

Coaches, you need to understand you are not just teaching 12 boys to play ball but shepherding families

through the baseball experience. You must spend time teaching parents their roles and how to comport

themselves at the ballpark

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LL Coach wrote on August 04, 2008

Title: Parents

Biggest issue in youth sports! How involved should the coach be with the parents of their players? Telling parents to drop their kids off and have no involvement in the activity is not the right answer either. Good communication by the coach on what the player needs to work on and his role on the team would help solve this problem. Not many coaches are willing to take this step because it take a tremendous amount of time and energy away from what he enjoys: coaching.

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Don Ervin wrote on May 19, 2009

Title: Response to LL coaches Aug 4th. comment on parent's

Great advice,LL,You are absolutely right although I find that coaches could take the time to talk with parents before and after practices and games,[As the saying goes, our computers are people friendly,][Coaches must be parent,people friendly,]coaches will never learn those very important aspects between parent, player and coach without close, open door communications, If you tell parents not to attend their activities, as I hear Gymnastics teachers do, and I always wonder what kind of communications gaps are created by them doing so, I have found that in those situations a very wide communications gap is created between coach and parents, I have also learned that when coaches and parents individually take the initiative to close those gaps that a coaches job becomes much easier, mentally in particular, I know coaches here in Springfield,Mo. in both baseball and hockey who have very little parent, coach communication, their parents barely know the coaches name,[oh,there is our son's coach]as he/ she hurries out instead of spending a few minutes communicating and becoming better acquainted.
Don Ervin.
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