coach2709,
I completely understand that you need to be in charge, but no matter what happens, no coach in the world can or should cut parents out of the loop since they’re the ones ultimately responsible for their child, assuming he’s still under age.
Like you said, not all coaches think like you do, but more importantly, not all coaches have a high degree of experience in handling pitchers. So maybe on your team I don’t have to worry about it, but on some other team my concerns might well be legitimate, but under your philosophy I can either accept it or pack my bags. Isn’t there some middle ground here?
I completely agree that a parent shouldn't be left out of the loop but there is a time and place for that. During the middle of the game is not it. These are things that need to be hashed out in the preseason or if there is an injury during the season then we meet to figure out a plan to help them. If I follow the plan then parent shouldn't come up and be mad about something. Want to adjust the plan we will / can but don't do anything underhanded to go behind my back. Just wrong and these things do happen. Long time ago I got wind that a parent was calling pitches from the stands for his kid but I was also calling pitches because I wasn't very smart at the time due to my youth. I have no idea if he was calling them or not but if he was then we had the same game plan because that kid threw every pitch I called. Probably bunch of people wanting to stir up trouble but it does happen. If I had found out it was going on I probably would have dismissed him from the team.
I don't know what the solution is to find that middle ground for everyone and probably isn't solution. All we can do is post on here and hope a new coach or parent can read it and learn from it. Or talk to others out there when we can before games, at meetings or anywhere.