the thing I hate most about kid's sports is

[usmc-sooner]

the parents :mad:

I've been so tempted to ask a few to step outside but I don't want to embarrass my kids or my wife.

People if you are making an *** out of yourself over kids sports you need to get a freakin grip and a life.

Sometimes your kid is not as good as you want them to be or think they should be, but you know what they are you children, your flesh and blood, they think the world of you and you humiliate them in front of everyone by yelling and screaming at them in front of a crowd.

Mothereffing losers.

[jk the sooner fan]

i was an assistant coach on one of JK2's baseball teams when we lived in New Jersey........the coach was very good imo, but he had a habit of telling the kids who couldnt hit, to bunt....i sort of understood his logic behind it, but it wasnt a huge deal.......well one of the dads came over after a practice one evening and just absolutely lit up the coach, in front of the entire team

absolutely uncalled for, but i felt super embarrassed for his son.....

we won the league championship that season as the 4th seed in the playoffs! :)

[usmc-sooner]

I don't remember parents being this stupid when I was a kid. I think my generation has dropped the ball a little bit on parenting skills. Maybe it's just that we've lost our common sense.

[jk the sooner fan]

when i played little league baseball in OKC, 2d base for the Madison Magpies......our biggest concern was what flavor shasta soda we'd get after the game

nobody wanted to get stuck with the lemon lime flavor

[Sooner_Bob]

I blame ESPN.









:D

[usmc-sooner]

when i played little league baseball in OKC, 2d base for the Madison Magpies......our biggest concern was what flavor shasta soda we'd get after the game

nobody wanted to get stuck with the lemon lime flavor

exactly

little did I know later in life the shasta lemon lime would be replaced by the miniature hot dogs MRE's, there was absolutely nothing worse than the hotdog package MRE.

[SicEmBaylor]

The absolute worst thing about kids sports is that it involves kids.

[Williesan]

I know where you are coming from USMC. But the sad thing is it gets worse as your kids get older. I experienced it first hand in 7th grade when our coach played a guy with a bum arm instead of me because he felt it "gave us a better chance to win" that night. We were playing the kids from Clinton MS - the school where they seemed to play baseball all the time. Every hit went to LF - where bum arm was playing. Our SS had to run out more than 1/2 way to him to relay the ball back in. Sure fire double each time. One guy quit during the game. Another turned his jersey in before practice the next day.

I stuck around for another week, and was benched again in favor of a weaker player in the next game. Our coach got ejected for saying a few not-so-nice words to the ump, but proceeded to "coach by proxy" from behind the fence. He made the call to keep me on the bench with the tying run on 3rd, and the bases loaded with less than 2 outs. We lost. The last 2 outs: Coach's son whiffed. Coach's Son's best friend looked at strike 3. My dad asked him why he kept me on the bench - to which he replied with a very snarky and rude reply. :pop: My dad turned to me and asked me for my uniform top, which I gave him - and them proceeded to shove it down said coach's throat. :eek: (OK, he didn't succeed, but he sure tried.) I always respected my dad for standing up for me, even though it was probably a very embarrassing moment in his life.

The problem was in our school, the kids parents ran the sports program, not the school. The parents who were coaching the teams always had their kids on their own teams. It led to favoritism, and lots of disgruntled parents. I tried out for basketball all three years in MS and always did really well in tryouts - hitting my shots, making the free throws and hustling up and down the court. Each year, I was the last dude cut - much to the surprise of many of the players who were on the teams.

The next year, the whole system was flushed and they started from scratch with outside coaches who weren't affiliated with parents or kids in the school. It still didn't stop some a*****e with an agenda from keeping me from the 2nd day of tryouts to make up for the "incident" the year before. But even with missing the 2nd day, I was still selected for the team ahead of the a*****e's own kid.

Granted, there were a few "cool" parents who didn't really put their kids success up front at the expense of the other kids, but they were rare. They know who they are, and I will always thank them for their hard work and fairness every time I see them.

Now seeing that the court system was involved in a territorial dispute over the eligibility of a 3rd grade football player just makes me even more sick than ever just on general principle alone. It also makes me want to send my kid to any school besides Jenks/Union/BA/Owasso.

Williesan

[jk the sooner fan]

yep, indeed

when we lived in San Antonio, the baseball league on post absolutely sucked, and JK3 was a pretty salty first baseman hitting cleanup......so we went to the Alamo Heights league that takes their baseball pretty seriously

he had a GREAT season and at the end of the year, the coach has to pick 3 kids to be all stars.....the coach's kid was by far the best player on the team, not a single parent would have had a problem with the coach picking his own kid......but he lets the kids pick and it turned into a popularity deal, and since he didnt go to school with the kids, he got left out.....damn shame too because he was hitting well over .500 for the year and had a hoover for a glove at first

how do you explain that to your kid? i never said a word to the coach, but i sure as hell wanted too

[tulsaoilerfan]

I saw a couple of parents about get into it at All Star in Tulsa about 6 weeks ago; there was a play at the plate where the kid slid in high and spiked the catcher and got tossed and that started a pretty good argument, but luckily the coach of one of the teams got them calmed down; pretty funny chit i thought.

[OU4LIFE]

today's parents are the reason I don't coach anymore.

For ten years I really enjoyed and loved the kids that played ball for me. 98% of them were a pleasure to coach, and absolutely absorbed everything you can give them. Unfortunately, for every good set of parents, there's 3 set's of jerkoffs.

a parents role at a sporting event is this: cheer for your child, cheer for the team, be encouraging, civil, and practice good sportsmanship in the stands. If you have an issue with the coach, meet with the coach in PRIVATE and discuss it like an adult.

DO NOT:
-complain about every call claiming it's bad
-berate other people's children for making a mistake, ever ever ever ever.
-bitch and moan about the play calling

it's not all about the win/loss record...it's about the process of learning how to work in a team environment.

I used to love coaching, thanks to parents i've learned to hate it.

[SoonerStormchaser]

Hell...just watch that one South Park episode...

[springs sooner]

Hence why after his season was over i retired from coaching. I coached competive baseball for the last 6 years. I only have a one year old daughter so it is not like i was coaching my kid. i treated them all the same, but i found myself spending more time debating with parents over stupid things than i was actually being able to coach. All of my teams finished in the top 5 in the state each year but since little Johnny was not getting scolly offers at the age of 12 it was all my fault. It is a shame too because i really like all the kids i have coached. (well except one. )

[StuIsTheMan]

Well as a Coach of Youth Soccer and Baseball, I must agree that the worst part of the Job is the Parents. They always want little "Johnny" to play every minute.
Well then why don't you take that XBOX controller out of his hand for an extra hour a day and play some ball with your son from time to time. And then maybe your Drewling, Mouth Breather of a son could actually spawn some athletic ability...because there is only so much we can do in 4 PRACTICES A WEEK!
And then when I do finally put in little "Johnny" he throws a temper tantrum because "no one is passing me the ball"....ARRRGGGGHHHH Stop the insanity! It's Fricken Baseball OK...You don't pass...You throw, Catch and hit and run...GOT IT!
And then this guy who bred this wonder child comes up to me and says "Little Johnny is thinking the other kids don't like him and wont 'Pass' him the ball" My wife says you could see the fire in my eyes a mile away as I wanted to rip this guys throat out for being such a fool...but I calmly said we will work on it.
Needless to say I do not want any child that comes to play on one of my teams to feel like they got nothing out of it regardless of their intrest or Athletic ability.
Alot of these kids are dropped off at sports cause it's cheaper than After School care, so some really do not want to be there...and those are the roughest ones to deal with and their parents want them hitting like Hank and fielding like Ichiro after the first practice.
During a Soccer game I actually had one of these type parents walk across the field during play and ask me why I took his son out of the game...I got a Red Card and thrown out for not controlling my parents.

Sorry for ranting but PARENTS SCREW UP KIDS SPORTS! LET THEM PLAY I SAY!

[Taxman71]

Parents today don't realize that little league is about (1) fun and (2) building character. First, it isn't fun to be stressed out at age 10 about sports. Second, kids need to learn that losing, not playing and being around scum is part of life and needs to be dealt with early on. That said, there is no duty to stay on a team with a horrid coach, mistreatment, etc. The positives greatly outweigh the negatives in sports, just the few negatives are always loud and in your face.

[bluedogok]

I used to love coaching, thanks to parents i've learned to hate it.
I helped out a friend who was coaching, it took that one season to teach me that it isn't worth dealing with the parents.

[jk the sooner fan]

today, it seems like every parent has ideas of his/her kid becoming a pro.....i've had to remind parents that the % of kids that make it is so small, that they should really focus on the kids learning the fundamentals and just having fun...learning to compete and be good sportsman

[OU4LIFE]

sportsmanship is EFFING history in today's society. Every parent equates their children's success to wins and losses.

[Scott D]

sportsmanship is EFFING history in today's society. Every parent equates their children's success to wins and losses.

to a degree their education is treated the same way.

[StuIsTheMan]

Being here in the NW we have alot of single mom's. Actually the majority of my teams come from single parent families.
So at the begining of the seasons I feel out which kids need the Extra Attention, do to lack of a male influance, and those who are there to learn and participate.
Now more often then not those kids that are there just for the babysitting service, I guess I also provide, seem to be some of the best players by the end of the season. I am not trying to be a "Father Figure" to these kids (you all can take a sigh of relief now) but when you see these kids start off with no dicipline or self esteme, and see them evovle into great young men...It makes it worth it to me no matter how bad the parents are.

[AllAboutThe'O']

It's why I never want to be a coach or an umpire, although the pay can be a bit lucrative. I've also seen it in my current line of work, some people getting a little out of line which is unnecessary and only embarrassing themselves and their kids.

I don't have any kids, but if me and my girlfriend decide to have one and he/she wants to play sports, we are definitely going to encourage it and I, for one, am just going to let the coaches coach and the umpire/officials do their jobs and just enjoy watching my kid play.

[jrsooner]

a parents role at a sporting event is this: cheer for your child, cheer for the team, be encouraging, civil, and practice good sportsmanship in the stands. If you have an issue with the coach, meet with the coach in PRIVATE and discuss it like an adult.

DO NOT:
-complain about every call claiming it's bad
-berate other people's children for making a mistake, ever ever ever ever.
-bitch and moan about the play calling
I'm looking forward to and dreading at the same when my daughter starts to play softball. She's 4 (5 in November) and this will be her first sport with "parents". All three of my kids are in TKD down here, and I see for the most part the type of "good" parents that you mention. I've only seen a few parents really get after the kids, but for the most part it's really civil.

[BudSooner]

That is the reason I left little league baseball, that and I wanted to leave at the top of my game.

Someone remarked days later "but your team sucked!"
I countered "Welll then, there is no pressure to return eh?" :D

[usmc-sooner]

the most pathetic thing is watching some punk who never was, totally humiliate their children in public.
I played sports in HS. I tried to to do one in college. (wasn't quite good enough)
In some sports I feel I was good, some I wasn't as good. Yet my father who was a really good athlete never pulled this crap that I see all these loser parents pulling now.
I see parents trying to live thru their kids all the time, and it really disgusts me .

[goingoneight]

A lot of people are too competitive and in the heat of any competition, people become objects to them. It's horrible that a parent would scream and hit their child for striking out, instead of just telling them it's alright and letting them know that even the best of us do so at times. Football and wrestling parents are the worst.

[usmc-sooner]

A lot of people are too competitive and in the heat of any competition, people become objects to them. It's horrible that a parent would scream and hit their child for striking out, instead of just telling them it's alright and letting them know that even the best of us do so at times. Football and wrestling parents are the worst.

I'd have to disagree, my dad played football at OU, and I wrestled the absolute worst are basketball and baseball.

[Soonerus]

If kids could just play and have fun it would be OK again but parents have ruined little league sports...

[OUinFLA]

The first year my son played in whatever that league is a step above TBall, he had a coach who had a son that was easily the best player in the league.
And another coach who's son wasn't all that good, but Coach Dad wanted him to be. He dressed him up and down on the field when he made a mistake. I watched the kid cry one night. My son sat on the bench most of the time, and at that time I wondered if it was becoming too intense for 8-9 year olds in this league.

then in the fall, he got on a different team. Great coach. Played everyone, even the kids that were not so good got playing time. Funniest time was when a turtle walked across left field. All the fielders, the 3rd baseman, ss and 2nd baseman all headed out to LF to "see the turtle". The game just got stalled while all the kids had a good time.

Best thing this coach did was in one game with a team about as bad as ours, but with a coach who didnt really coach, just was kinda in charge. Well, the opponet team had a batter up for the 3rd time that game, he'd struck out or watched 3 strikes the previous 2 times. Kid watched two strikes and didn't swing. Our coach walked to the plate, helped this kid set up better, told him what he needed to do, and WOW, the kid got his first hit EVAR! I was kinda proud of our coach. Oh, we lost the game on that hit, but no one cared. We gave the coach a standing ovation.

[bluedogok]

THAT is what kids baseball should be about, they have enough time to become competitive when they get into middle school. Kid ball is suppose to build the foundation of fundamentals. From what I remember the team 85Sooner and I were on in elementary school wasn't very competitive but we had fun. I do know that later on we used to go up to the park and just play ball, no parents, no coaches, no leagues and kids just "can't" do that anymore.