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Reply to "Let them play, let them fail, let them play other sports"

Re you suck …

One Saturday in LL my son had a bad game. He commented he sucked. When I responded he clarified. He said he didn’t mean he sucked. He meant he sucked that day. He said next game he would play better. He said if he played his best he would be great that day.

At that moment I realized I didn’t have to worry about his mental approach to the game. He understood everyone has bad days. If you’re a good player keep your head up and put it behind you.

What doesn’t help kids is when dad gets in the car with junior and breaks down the game when the kid doesn’t want to.

Coaching 10u travel when the last out in the last tournament occurred one of my players mumbled, “Thank f’n God it’s over.” The kid was a solid 10u player. I chatted with him. He said this would be the last ride home where his game gets picked apart by his father.

Dad publicly referred to his kid as one of the Fantastic Four on the team.* Dad had big dreams. Dad didn’t play past LL. He lived through his kid. No money went unspent on lessons. But when a kid gets to the 60/90 he must have talent. This kid didn’t have that much talent. He was a smallish kid who could smoothly handle the small field. It crushed dad.

* Only one of the Fantastic Four played last middle school. My son was one of the dad’s Fantastic Four. My kid had the talent. But I would never arrogantly refer to him publicly this way.

Last edited by RJM
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