Youth Sports (i.e. the thing we all loved which parents have now ruined)

At the Local U football stadium - as I assume at most stadiums - umbrellas cannot be taken inside. So on rainy game days, leaving the press box hours after the fans have gone, I would walk around and collect abandoned umbrellas at the stadium entrances. I can't remember the last time I had to buy an umbrella.

 

The kayak outfitter I use said this morning he’s already fished three pairs of designer sunglasses out of the river this season.

 

I've literally picked up two of these bad boys for the low, low price of other people's stupidity.

 

The baseball parents I'm around this summer have been the best I've seen.

I notice being among them at practice and games that they actually know the rules. That always helps. And usually lacking.

 

One seasons for my daughter's softball, a friend and I sat up the baseline in our lawn chairs, away from the group. The ball knowledge was severely lacking and the coach had created a high pressure atmosphere for the kids. We still all socialized together, but it was unbearable during games. In fairness, everyone was a little wound.

 

This was our first season of travel baseball and I have to say, I love the families on the team. They all know baseball well enough, all supported other kids. Wasn't just about their sons. Heck, my kid had a massive slump in the middle of the season and chatter from some of the other parents helped us help him break out of it as much as anything.

Coaches always say they look for family fit as much as anything, but how often is it true? Our coach really did a good job with that with this group. And next year pretty much everyone is coming back. It also helped the coach wasn't all high pressure either.

I knew it would be, but tournament baseball is a slog and it was much more doable knowing I liked spending whole weekends with these people. I hope we can keep most of the group together for a long time.

 

A toxic parent can definitely lead to a kid getting cut. The dangerous part is that a bad coach isn't always good at making that call - his definition of a bad parent may be one who doesn't but into the coach's BS.

I've seen kids make teams because their mom volunteered to be a manager, or just based on politics and friendships.

if you are single birth year you may have good luck keeping your core together. I've always been a little surprised at how quickly teams splinter or turn over.

 

This is a very interesting thread. I'm in rural, eastern Virginia and the veteran high school coaches agree that some youth sports are putting their programs in a major bind. Some of these non-school sponsored teams, all the kids have to do is show up for games. No consequences for missing practice. One football coach told me he had a nice looking frosh come out to the first day of practice. A good looking lineman. He told the coach he didn't want to play on the line because he was a QB in AAU football. In another instance, a fairly good high school basketball player decided to join an AAU team after high school elected not to play this past winter. So, his team is to host a game. At tip-off there are only 4 kids in attendance for his team and the coach --- who has all the epuipment, etc --- wasn't even there. A parent went to a store to purchase a basketball so the kids could play.

 

I've heard about that and expected it. I was thinking there would be more turnover for next year but we only lost two and both weren't unexpected. One was playing an age up and he did OK, but he would definitely do better staying back. The other just wasn't a fit, and I hate to say that about a kid that age because you don't know how they'll grow but he just wasn't on the same level. I don't know if he was a family or coach or both decision.

So we'll have them together at least one more year and hopefully it keeps going. I know that could be a pipedream, though.

A friend whose kid is on another team, a team that thinks they are hot stuff but no different than anyone else really, lost two players to go play freaking two hours away. I realize that's the kind of nonsense that will probably happen to my son's team eventually. I'm not sure what that even does for a 10 or 11 year old. But, as this thread strives to prove, parents are crazy. I would play rec again without even thinking about it before having my kid based on a team two hours away when there are dozens of teams closer.

 

Toxic parents are the worst, and for sure play a part in helping to decide who I'd want on a team, and who I don't want.

 

“forget” is an elastic term. Or so I’m told.

 

Keys in a bowl, let the good times roll.