Ever Been Charged On The Mound....By Your Own Player?

Last night I had one of my players charge me on the mound during BP. He stopped about half way then milled around. He hadn't moved out of the way of an errant 65mph lay-it-in pitch which I threw because he was whiffing at everything. He later said he was joking, but there was no way that kid was joking. He blew a gasket. I told him, "I can only hope you WERE kidding and that's all I' gonna say." Of course he'll be benched this weekend, 'joking' or not.

Then I started thinking of the other stuff that's happened with these guys.

*Two were caught smoking behind the gym, between classes. Their student-athlete docs they signed clearly state this kind of thing would result in immediate dismissal, yet admin refused to back their own policy and wouldn't let me dismiss these players.

*I had another kid lie to my face about a class-skipping incident. When caught in the lie, he apologized for lying, but is now telling his friends at school that I "got the story wrong" even though he's the one who told me that story (confirmed by admin) during his apology!

*I had a kid moping around during BP. Saw that he was spending his warm-up-swings time going in and out of the dugout. He lied to me saying he was 'getting his batting gloves' (five times?) when I could clearly see he was checking his text messages. Probably some girlfriend problem. Called him on it, he moped even more

There's other stuff like this, but I'm already tired of typing. These kinds of things have really turned me off as I've worked so hard with these kids. It's just become a weird environment. I only have 11 players (hard to find decent players overseas) or I'd start lopping kids off the roster (though admin won't support any such actions, even if it violates their own policy - nice support, and great message to the kids, huh?)

If my other son wasn't a freshman, I would probably walk away. T.G. my oldest has found a home to play at the next level. He has had to hold himself together over four years of this kind of thing and has risen above it to soar high and move on. The younger one has the same dedication. If I pack it in, I leave him at the mercy of whatever teacher wants the money. None are qualified to actually coach the game. I can't do that to him.....and can only hope I can weed out the weirdness next year........

Is this kind of 'player management' and behavior typical of Stateside schools? Do you other HS coaches have these weird things happen? Ever been charged behind your L-Screen during BP by a kid who has no sense of the power of a 46-year old in full-blown midlife crisis? I mean....JEEZ!!