Hello All,
I've been coaching my son's Summer league 14u team. One player on the team, for whatever reason, does not like my son. They are both middle infielders and play all the time, so playing time is not the issue. My son plays 2B and neither of the 2 makes many errors.
Although this is only the second year I have had this kid on our team, I've known him for nearly 5 years and this seems to be a pattern. He typically singles out one player and continues to attack them throughout the entire season. Another coach speculated he felt threatened and that's his defense mechanism. Last year, he continued to attack and put down our catcher that he has been friends with a long time. The catcher had a very difficult time with it. On a prior team, he messed with the ss so much that it caused the kid to quit.
Thankfully my son is mentally strong and continues to perform, but I his "non reaction" to the verbal attacks are beginning to really bother the other kid. He is now trying to include other team members on the "assault" on my kid. The good thing is that most players see it for what it is, but the catcher who was the recipient of the attacks last year has now joined in on the verbal attacks.
I have always tried not to involve myself with "kid" conflicts because the need to learn how to solve them themselves because many of those conflicts continue in our adult lives with co-workers, neighbors, etc... The quicker they learn to deal deal with and resolve them, the better off they will be as adults in their ability to handle any adversity or personal conflicts.
It's beginning to get really difficult to watch because the catcher actually physically confronted my son at our last practice. As a dad i must say that i was proud to see my son not back down, turn and face the catcher and say "jump if you have the balls to" I pretended to not see or even hear what happened, but was watching with a close eye. the catcher mumbled something about hitting (we were in the middle of BP, so i think he said he was lucky it was his turn to hit) and walked away.
I think the ss is the real problem, and although he is a very talented player, my philosophy for next year will be addition by subtraction. That's next year though, how would you handle this situation this year? Just let it fly since we are 2 weeks from ending our season? I cannot talk to the parents because they think he hung the moon and make excuses for any mistake the ss makes. Just need some insight because I don't care how tough we are or how tough our kids are, none of us like to see our own be mistreated, even if they do have the mental toughness to handle it. Thanks in advance.
NJ Dad
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