Booted From Little League For Being Too Good
 

Link to the Article

Kids need to learn that failing is part of life. It's what you do afterward that is the key.

Re: Booted From Little League For Being Too Good
 

It's funny when the 12 year old kid has the adults completely pegged - booting the team is absolutely absurd.

Although the 'safety' argument made me laugh, so that's good times.

I"m a coach in a rec hockey league and that kind of stuff just doesn't happen. If teams are winning by ridiculous scores, the teams are reorganized, because rec leagues are about fun and balance and improving skills. They are NOT about winning. Sure, every team should play their best and winning is fun, but rec leagues are not designed to be uber competitive. If kids want to compete, they need to join competitive leagues. This kids need to understand the difference between a rec league and a competitive league. They should keep practising and next year they can join a better league.

This doesn't sound like the makings of a regular "rec league" team. It really sounds like it is a "AAU traveling" team. AAU can be so competitive AND the coaches recruit or invite their team members to join the team.

The Stars coaches should explore AAU membership and build their program thusly.

My son plays frosh baseball on a HS team here in Des Moines, and I think probably 60% of his team mates also play on an AAU traveling team as well.

For the love...

When I played softball, I got hit in the face (and leg, and torso) quite a few times. Then I learned how to catch the freakin ball. I still don't always keep my body behind my glove, though. Old habits and all that.

Though the 2.5 hours of practice 4 days a week does seem a bit much.

Playing someone better then you makes you better...

That's not necessarily true. In rec leagues it often makes the kids stop playing altogether.

Rec leagues are designed so that all kids can play no matter the skill level. When teams that are ridiculously too good start playing in rec leagues, the other kids don't want to play because they stop having fun.

Our sons' middle school football team has won the region for years. No idea why.

Last year the other teams refused to play them because they said they were sick of losing! This is a public middle school assigned to its region by the GA High School Association. I didn't know they could do that!

But the kids ended up having to play the JV squads of several high schools and every time they're play, the coaches of the other team would agree to only play their ninth graders but they'd invariably sneak in starters from their varsity team just so they could win. Our guys were up against these huge juniors and seniors with BEARDS, for heaven's sake.

They managed a .500 record but if this happens again, I'm going straight to the state office. I refuse to have my kids put at risk just because some weenie coaches are afraid they'll lose to us.

So which is it? Is the game fun, or is winning fun? Is it a rec league, or is there an onus on victory?

What kind of message do you send when you say, "if we can't beat them, we'll just kick them out of the league!" . . . hint: it only meshes with one of the above.

No my point is, the team should never have been allowed in the league in the first place. What kind of message are you sending to kids if you say "we'll only play teams with lower skill levels because we can crush them and winning is all that matters?" The team that was asked to leave should have known better and I have no sympathy for them whatso ever. It was not right that they were kicked out, but thay should never have been there is the first place.

In a rec league the onus should NEVER be on winning. In a more competive league that is more acceptable. Rec leagues are for fun.

Since this is in Columbus (my hometown), next they'll be trying to ban Michigan from the Big 10 (plus one, but who's counting) so Ohio State can win more often.

First off, ban the damn parents!:mad:

They are the ones who make bad examples by cursing the Umps and Refs. and even doing bodily harm.:eek: They really set a prime example for the Kids dont they?

If a ban on parents is not in the cards, make sure that there are stiff penalitys for actions taken.

Tom, many leagues, especially rec leagues, will ban parents for inappropriat behaviour.

However, this situation has nothing to do with the parents. The parents were acting on what they thought was in the best interest of their children. All they wanted was their kids to have fun, which they weren't. The league thought it took the best approach.

In this situation I blame the coach of the team that got booted out. He knew his kids were in a rece league, he knew his kids were too god to be playing in the league. He should have told his kids to hold back so that the other teams could compete. In a rec league that is the best course of action.

Why not just quit keeping score while their at it.

I don't know how you tell a 12 year old athlete to hold back. That's not in a kids nature, is it?

You obviously don't understand the concept of rec leagues.

REC LEAGUES ARE FOR FUN.

Some rec leagues will stop counting because they have a mercy rule. For example...they will stop keeping score if there is a 5 point lead. So say the score is 6-0...the score board will only read 5-0. If the other team gets a point the score becomes 6-1. The kids points will be recorded for their individual stats, but the actualy team score will remain low. So the team could win by 24-0, but the actual recorded score will only 5-0.

Speaking for the Indiana football team, both Michigan and Ohio State should be expelled from the league to give us a chance.

We are the NCAA soccer champs, though, and we used to be pretty good in basketball. God bless Bobby Knight.

That's a stretch. I've met Bobby.

I coach little kids and you can tell them to hold back. It just depends on how you tell them. If you say "you can't score anymore", then kids aren't going to listen. If you say, and I'll use hockey as an example because that is what I coach, "you have to pass the puck three times before you can score" it's a lot easier for kids to hold back because they will try that challenge you have given them.

How do we know the parents really have the kids' best interests at heart? How do we know the parents aren't just mad because little Tommy had to endure a big loss?

Likewise, how do we know the coach went into the rec league specifically to win big? How do we know he didn't think the other teams might be just as good as his kids? How do we know the kids on his team don't just happen to be extraordinarily gifted baseball players?

We don't.

Yes, rec teams are supposed to be fun and kids of all abilities should want to play, but kids have to learn sometime about losing and playing against kids who are going to be bigger and better than they are. Otherwise they might as well be in a league where they don't keep score and everyone gets a medal at the end of the season.

My husband is in three different rec leagues for softball. During his last two Wednesday night games his team put up 19 and 20+ runs and still got 10-runned by the other team in the 5th. Thankfully, they can all go drown their sorrows about being so soundly beaten in $5 pitchers and half-price pizza instead of having to rely on their wives to bitch to the rec league about it (besides, we're too busy drinking with them).

Thank You D A!

you are right! Kids are brought up by The Parents to win at all costs, that is The American way.

When I said BAN, I ment Do Not Let Parents Attend Games. Get It?:D Just Kids, harbour Parents ina Fenced Conclave where they cannot see a damn thing.

Any Coach from "Bobby 'Duffus' Knight" down Teaches "KIDS" to win at all costs, not to have fun!:(

"HOOSIERS", Gene Hackman! A Movie that all Parents should be required to see!:)

The ones who get upset the most are Parents, not the kids!

Kids are there to have fun and The Damn Adults spoil it. They are there to learn to do fundimental skills, not only of The Game, But Of The Life!:cool:

This seems to kind of be the running trend of America today. Too many pathetic people being lied too and being told that they are as good as everyone else.

Cosign.

There's only so much damage control you can have when your team and/or it's players suck and you can't face that reality. Instead of crying about how they suck, why don't they either create a team to beat them, or how about WORK AS HARD AS THE STARS TO GET AS GOOD AS THEY ARE...

For fucks sake, it's not like these kids were a bunch of ringers who just come to the field every saturday and mash....they practice and put in the work of a true champion.

It's no longer about winning and losing....thus, what I consider an American virtue of competitive spirit has been taken out of the fabric of one of our most cherished institutions....

This fucking country....The Oz Principle needs to be required reading in the classroom....maybe these people would have realized they can look beyond their cirsumstances and actually do something on the field to these guys instead of playing victim because they won't put in the work....

Where's Vince Lombardi when you need him?

Wouldn't a W encourage and build his self-esteem then child more than an L? Of course it matters....