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My 11 year old daughter is a dream. She does great in school, doesn't idolize Brittany Spears, and doesn't say a negative boo word to anybody (but mom and me). To summarize my daughter would be to give the following short story.

We moved into this neighborhood 6 years ago. On the second day, I took her outside and told her where she was permitted to go (stay in our yard with mom/dad in sight), and not to go in the woods w/o mom/dad. On day seven, several neighborhood kids came over to play with her. At one point, all six of them took off for the woods. I was sitting on my deck watching. My daughter stopped right at the edge of the woods. When the other girls kept going, she walked back to me on the deck. Once the girls came out of the woods, she joined them again.

Fast forward to now. My "little girl" swims during the summer, plays sokker during the fall, basketball during the winter, and softball during the spring. She is playing for her usual coach (Coach Robyn) and as always, she loves it. What she is starting not to love is the lack of focus of some of her teammates. She is still playing rec ball, cause she knows mom/dad won't let her play travel and another sport during the same season. And besides the issue with some of the girls, she now has to deal with the stress of having dad as one of the coaches. I was asked by the head coach to join her after she lost a mom/dad combo of asst. coaches whose daughter made a travel team. I see what she means about some of the girls, but I don't want to overstep for fear the girls might direct their ire at my sweetheart. Any ideas? I have told her she could speak to the girls about her concerns, but we have 4 or 5 Paris Hilton wannabes on the team, and I imagine the only reaction she will get is a roll of the eyes and the arms crossed.

Any ideas?

P.S. By the way, Coach Robyn's daughter is just as frustrated and is one of my daughter's closest friends.
Original Post
You are fortunate your daughter is the best child on the team. Of course the other parents feel the same way as you ----- except about THEIR child. As a coach, if YOU have a problem with other children’s lack of focus you should address your concerns with those children or the team as a unit. If your DAUGHTER has a problem with another player’s lack of focus I don’t think she should discuss that with her coach. Another player's lack of focus on a rec team has nothing to do with your child. You're making this coaching assignment too complicated. Parenting on the other hand is very complicated and I think you're trying to blend the two together. It's tough separating parenting and coaching when you have a child on the team. "Other" parents will accuse you of "Daddy ball" if you see and treat your child differently than their child. It’s a tough job.
Fungo

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