Moms as the sports parent

twotex - I don't post here very often anymore and my children are now grown. However, I was the "sports parent" for my son and my daughter. I never hesitated to be right there signing them up, out practicing with them (as long as my own ability allowed), etc. It is what it is and there's no reason that mom can't do as good of a job as dad... although I always found and I suspect you do as well, that dads are usually the dominant ones handling sports. Sports played a huge part in my and my children's relationships.... I consider it a blessing that I had the opportunities I did and I bet you will one day too!!

Usually, I was the one to play catch, shag balls, arrange all of the lessons, etc. I worked part-time because my husband busy working. I miss those days. I quit catching for him (he's a pitcher) when I missed and the ball hit me in the shinn and left a huge bruise. He's in the minor league now and my daughters boyfriend told us he would catch for him while he was home for the holidays. We all just looked at him and laughed. Those days when he was younger was when we talked. Don't have so many of those days anymore. Enjoy them.

I laughed at the thought of someone thinking they can catch a good pitcher, especially a LHP. My son is a catcher, and boy, do the parents of pitchers like it when he catches a bullpen session for them.

We are definitely closer because of baseball. We have started a tradition of going to a pro game together, just the two of us. This will be year 4 for it, and I've already bought the tickets. I'm hoping this will continue after I'm no longer shagging balls for him.

Moms,
Excuse my entrance into your ladies forum but I have to chime in. Moms are just as effective as Dads when it comes to being a "sports parent". Just being "a" parent is the important thing. Young players need support, direction, encouragement and discipline much more than they need a parent to catch a curveball. Besides most fathers can't catch a curveballs anyway. I know I couldn't. Are there activities that a mom can do to help improve a player. You BET!. Get innovative. I know I couldn't throw back the "long toss" so I just got 2 5 gal buckets....One full of baseballs and one empty one. My son would throw the balls "at" me and I would fill up the empty bucket. When he had thrown all the balls from his bucket, my bucket would be full and we would meet in the middle and trade buckets. I also couldn't catch a 90+ fastball so I hung a net outside and "set up" behind the net with my catcher's mitt, gave him a target and let the ball hit the net and fall to the ground. He had the 5 gal bucket of balls he would throw from.
It's not a "man" thing it's a "parent" thing. Don't sell yourself short. Even though many dads are "coaches" at some point in time in their son's "careers", Dad's instructions are normally:
1. Ignored
2. Faulty

Go for it!
Fungo

Good for you twotex. While I didn't go out and catch and spend time in the cages like dad did, I do feel that I was very instrumental in the recruiting process and much of what went on in HS. My husband was in a business that took him away from us much during some of the HS years, so it was up to me to make sure that homework got done and he got to practice on time.

Also, have found that son often talks to me first, as I am usually the one who listens while dad is the ones with opinions. We both have a role.

Fungo is correct, being a parent is the most important thing, not which parent you are but being one and not one that can catch or throw for batting practice!

I have been told on several occassions by some individuals here that I know not much about baseball, that's such BS, it's because I am a MOM and not a DAD. Some people just can't stand that.

TPM,

I too have run into similar situations. My husband is a truck driver, and is gone from Sunday nights to Friday nights. Anything that has to be done during the week falls on me. When the kids were younger, I worked part time, but now that they are both in college, I am back to full time.

Many weekday nights were spent at batting cages, or at local parks trying to convince my son that the low outside pitch really was a strike. Something must have worked - he still can't hit it, but does a really good job delivering the pitch there! We would play catch, field grounders and popups, and hit round after round off the tees.

I have many great memories of hour long car trips to and from games and practices, when it was just the two of us. Post game dinners on the road were special, too, when I really got a chance to connect to what he was feeling about his and the team's performance that day.

It amazes me how many men write off the moms when it comes to baseball. I got used to not being included in the conversations. I still get a small thrill when I make a casual comment about a game situation and get shocked looks from the men in the area ("How did she know that?"). Over the years, I have managed to convert a few good men to the idea that women can and do know the game. I still keep in touch with these people, despite their gender.

Whenever recruiting started, it was my son and I off to visit the schools and weight the pros and cons of each. One special moment that my husband had to miss was when his alma mater recruited our son, but he could not attend the visit.

Now that he is in college, I have had to back off. I miss the road trips, the pitching lessons, watching practice. I have only gotten to see him play once since August. Hopefully, I will have many chances to see him this spring. His college is a little more than a 2 hr drive from home. I think I will be missing a lot of work this season!

Amen sister!

Listen I make mistakes sometimes, but when someone tells me that I don't know some stuff, that they know better because they COACHED, watch out. In my opinion all they did was make a bit more $$ at it than me.

I'm actually the athletic parent. My husband can do the sports that don't require eye-hand coordination (scuba, mountain bike, ski) but I'm the one who plays catch and shoots hoops with my son.

I guess the one thing I really missed as he got older was that I got left behind. When I started missing balls when he pitched, I bought myself catcher's gear. I learned how to through from behind an L-screen when his hits came back a bit too quick. Ocassionally, I still feed balls to my son (soft toss) and feed the ball machine but my hitting and catching days seem to be over.

I also miss my Little League coaching days. Most men don't even think of a woman being involved in a role other than "Team Mom" which I would be a disaster at. I was fortunate to be an assistant coach whose input was valued and was responsible for lifting our team performance from middle of the pack during the season to finishing second in ther tournament by concentrating on the boys who were struggling.

Now that my son is in the recruiting process, I'm the one learning the ins and outs of what he should be doing. Not as much fun as being on the field, but at least it's something!

To all the Mothers;
During our 28 years of International Baseball, I have seen the lady of the house emerge as the "strong" influence in the young man's life.
In our 1st years, we traveled with only the father. In the recent 5 years years to Australia the ratio is now 50/50 [ladies and men*.

Last year to Australia, we had 45 parents traveling, 25 ladies and 20 men.

Four ladies were my "bodyguards" and my web site communicators.

Coaches - Robert, Jake, Charlie and I are "blessed" to have the ladies as friends. The 2 weeks "go too fast".

Bob

Don't think I've ever posted in this forum. Guess it's because I'm not a lady. However, this topic caught my eye.

I've met lots of very knowledgable baseball moms. Here is what I believe the problem is. For every knowledgable baseball mom there are so many other moms that have no idea what is going on. They go to games and ask stupid questions and irritate people. I would bet that even the more knowledgable mom's have recognized this in their past experiences.

Then as I think about it, it's pretty much the same way with dads other than there does seem to be more dads that truly understand the game, than there are moms. I suppose that has to do with experience.

I do think, for the most part, the ladies who spend time at this site are among the more knowledgable "baseball" people. For sure there are a couple ladies who post here that are far more knowledgable than most men. That's always amazed me for some reason. I think it's because they truly want to be knowledgable, so they are.

In the end, all moms deserve a lot of respect whether they are baseball moms or not, know the game or not. I should say "most" all moms, because we all know there are some bad apples!

I actually believe that being a mom is the most important job on earth. That would be followed closely by being a dad. And you don't have to be a baseball expert to be a good mom or a good dad.

PG,
I saw your post and that caught my eye.

Cute story you will appreciate.

July 1, 2003 I get a call at 9am from Jack Leggett and Kevin O'Sullivan, after introductions, I said Dave was not in town (travel ball), they said, we called to talk to YOU.

I told them I was really flattered, they said well, ok, but, you see..... moms from out of state have to be recruited just as hard as the players

Sports parent or not, us moms serve a purpose in the game of baseball.