This is for those of you who run travel programs---how much concern do you have regarding the players parents and their attitudes / Does it come into play when considering a player for your roster?
Original Post
TR,
While not doing it at this time, I ran the off field portion of the operation for several teams and I'd say the answer is - sometimes.
Examples from the various teams:
We had two kids of about equal talent tryout and we picked the kid who's parents seemed a better fit mostly because they showed up at tryouts and asked some basic questions about the team (cost, time commitment, travel, etc.). We never saw or heard from the other kid's parents (even with our request to the player to have his parents contact us) to the extent that the coaches were concerned about their understanding of the cost / commitment required.
We had a very talented kid - one I've seen mentioned on this site - that the coaches decided not to select because of overbearing parents.
Mostly though, I'd say those teams were fairly lucky with parents. We had some problem-parents, but relatively few...Back when my boys were in LL, I actually saw coaches who drafted first and foremost on the parents. A friend described those kids with problem parents as "parentally-impaired"...
While not doing it at this time, I ran the off field portion of the operation for several teams and I'd say the answer is - sometimes.
Examples from the various teams:
We had two kids of about equal talent tryout and we picked the kid who's parents seemed a better fit mostly because they showed up at tryouts and asked some basic questions about the team (cost, time commitment, travel, etc.). We never saw or heard from the other kid's parents (even with our request to the player to have his parents contact us) to the extent that the coaches were concerned about their understanding of the cost / commitment required.
We had a very talented kid - one I've seen mentioned on this site - that the coaches decided not to select because of overbearing parents.
Mostly though, I'd say those teams were fairly lucky with parents. We had some problem-parents, but relatively few...Back when my boys were in LL, I actually saw coaches who drafted first and foremost on the parents. A friend described those kids with problem parents as "parentally-impaired"...