Select Team Concerns

3and2...check your PM

My suggestion is that you take your concerns to the individual team and not paint all organizations with the same brush; There are very good organizations out there doing it for the right reason.

Every select team I ever coached was handled by a general manager and not a coach. I was paid a stipend for my duties and had no idea what the parents were charged.

I agree with SWAC on this one, please don't paint all organizations the same...sounds like you may have found a bad apple in this one.

Good luck to you.

By the way, I am available to coach for July for a small fee of $8,000.00

I appreciate your reply, but I did start my post by saying that I appreciate the work of dedicated coaches. I am posting in response to concerns I have heard from several parents on different teams. My son is playing and his coach is not showing up hungover. This is a matter worth dicussing. With so many parents so willing to make sacrifices for our kids, there is a huge opportunity for abuse.

quote:

Originally posted by 3and2:
I am posting in response to concerns I have heard from several parents on different teams. My son is playing and his coach is not showing up hungover. This is a matter worth dicussing.

3and2, your first sentence is rumor and the second sentence is fact; have you seen this on other teams or is it unhappy curtomers that their kid is not playing very much and probably should not be on that team? In my opinion, that is worth discussing as well. There are always two sides. Not defending any one select program because I know the ones with the good reputation. This subject always seems to surface this time of year as coaches are deciding on the players that he wants to use to make it to post season play.

It's trure.

I once attended a game in which a strange looking fellow greeted me.

He asked if I was there to sign up my son for the team or if I was a scout.

Trying to stay low profile, I told him my son would be coming up to try out for the team. I was really part of the Secret Scouting Service of America (SSSA) looking for the games greatest amatuer players.

Anyhow, smelling like a pool of Mad Dog 20/20, this hobo said that my son didn't need to try out. All I needed to do was put my cash, check, money order, or food stamps in the empty keg of Bud Light with the top cut off.

I asked what positions they were looking for. Mr. Bloodshot Eye's said he was looking for a 3 hole hitter that was a pitcher only.

Finally I decided it was time. I pulled my super duper fake Secret Service Scouting card out to reveal myself.

At that very moment, we would find out what select ball was really about.

Now, the same Schlitz Malt Liquor man wanted to give me the money.

I asked him why and he simply responded.....

"Heck, if I can put on my website that someone from the Super Secret Scouting Service was here, you'll make me more money than you can put in my keg."

You see folks, like everything else in life........

Follow the money trail.

Or, simply grab some Pabst Blue Ribbon and give it to your select coach. This will get your son immediate playing time and all problems are resolved.

or

Next time you see a guy that looks like George Jefferson with wine cooler in his hand......

Simply say "hello Kermit, Guthrie told me you were a hell of a guy."

Although, Kermit's not a coach, he's a GM or something like that.

SWAC - I don't hang out with disgruntled losers. Parents of studs want sound coaching for their kids too. Parents of kids who start and never come out of the game would prefer sober, alert coaches too. Did I hit a nerve?

While I do understand your point my question is this:

why not take over? Get some of the parents together and "hire" a coach for your boys. I do not think it is near as difficult as it might seem.

For coaches to show up hungover is unacceptable, although I have to admit that I did it at certain points in my past...looking back I am not proud.

I will bet you that if someone had approached me about it that I would have corrected the problem immediately. Maybe that would be a good route to take, pull this coach aside and talk to him, he may not even realize that he is having a negative influence on the boys.

Good luck to you and your son!

Last post on this topic for me...

Why don't parents do something? Many have sacrificed what they know to be the right thing for fear of their sons losing a minute of playing time or them being labeled as the problem parent. If you read the posts that responded to my concerns, you can see their fear is not unfounded.

And one last time: My son's coach is not showing up hunover...this year. These are real concerns from three different 16U teams in DFW.

The intent of my oringinal post was to get input from older, wiser parents and reputable coaches. The best advice I have gotten was in one of the PMs I have received: Do your research before you write the check!

quote:

Originally posted by 3and2:
SWAC - I don't hang out with disgruntled losers. Parents of studs want sound coaching for their kids too. Parents of kids who start and never come out of the game would prefer sober, alert coaches too. Did I hit a nerve?

No nerve here because apparently we have never met. I never said anything about studs, that was your description of the players. However if there are coaches coming around these players smelling like they were out all night then as parents you need to take that concern to the owner of the organization because it becomes a character issue. That I don't know if anyone can change other than hire new coaches. 3and2 I don't dissagree with your comments put parents have accountibility as well and that is part of the equation that we always seem to overlook. When you go and buy a house we all do our research, why do we take less responsibility when it comes to our kids? And like the advice you received, do your homework first. Trust me, if any parent came to me and said your coach smelled like liquor I would do the investigation and if true it would be dealt with accordingly.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken Guthrie:
It's trure.

I once attended a game in which a strange looking fellow greeted me.

He asked if I was there to sign up my son for the team or if I was a scout.

Trying to stay low profile, I told him my son would be coming up to try out for the team. I was really part of the Secret Scouting Service of America (SSSA) looking for the games greatest amatuer players.

Anyhow, smelling like a pool of Mad Dog 20/20, this hobo said that my son didn't need to try out. All I needed to do was put my cash, check, money order, or food stamps in the empty keg of Bud Light with the top cut off.

I asked what positions they were looking for. Mr. Bloodshot Eye's said he was looking for a 3 hole hitter that was a pitcher only.

Finally I decided it was time. I pulled my super duper fake Secret Service Scouting card out to reveal myself.

At that very moment, we would find out what select ball was really about.

Now, the same Schlitz Malt Liquor man wanted to give me the money.

I asked him why and he simply responded.....

"Heck, if I can put on my website that someone from the Super Secret Scouting Service was here, you'll make me more money than you can put in my keg."

You see folks, like everything else in life........

Follow the money trail.

Or, simply grab some Pabst Blue Ribbon and give it to your select coach. This will get your son immediate playing time and all problems are resolved.

or

Next time you see a guy that looks like George Jefferson with wine cooler in his hand......

Simply say "hello Kermit, Guthrie told me you were a hell of a guy."

Although, Kermit's not a coach, he's a GM or something like that.

"Oh, we're movin' on up.
To the top.
To a deeee-lux apartment,
In the sky-yiii-yiii."

long time reader, first time responding. i could not resist this one. I've been through the select summer and fall stuff and 4 years of high school ball. now my son is going to a very good academic school in which he "gets" to play the game of baseball. he is really looking forward to enjoying the game again.

anyway, we have experienced the select team taking your money and turning the kids over to what we referred to as baseball bums. guys that couldn't hold any other sort of job and would go to out of town tournaments, stay at the bars all night, and show up at the game hungover. The ==edited by moderator== were (are?) notorious for this. If the kid can tie his cleats and mommy can write a check he is one the team. The majority of the coaches were drunks. The GM would never respond to emails or phone calls and if you could get him to schedule a lesson the chances of him actually showing up were very slim. I do not know of the times we had schedules hitting lessons, son drives out there and waits and waits.

long story short, we took control. you do not have to take that ****. your kids success does not depend on it.

I'm going to guess, regardless of the possibility of truth in this message, that this will be edited due to calling out one organization.

Yes, but it wasn't DBAT so..........

hey, with what these guys charge, the price of gas getting to and from the out of town games, hotels, meals, lessons, etc. i think parents need to know the truth about what they are going to get.

I think I would have watched the team perform and talked to a few parents who have players on the team before I wrote the $2000 check. It's not that complicated.

My son has been fortunate to play for good organizations and coaches since age 10. I agree that parents should do research on the team they are attempting to play for. We always asked former players parents about the experiences they had and about the orginization in general. We never relied on one response but got several.

Nowadays, SOME parents want to be able to say their kid plays on a select baseball team regardless of the circumstances. There are good and bad apples in all walks of life. You as parents need to decide which organization best fits what you are looking to get out of baseball for your child

We had a situation like this when my son played 15u ball. The only reason my son played for this team was because my son had hurt his arm during the fall so all he could do was bat. Well, come springtime he was told he would not get much playing time so we were left scrambling for a team. Although I appreciated the team telling us his position on the team, the timing wasn't good. But honestly, there is never a good time to hear that type of news.

After making a few phone calls I found a team that was looking for a player. I was just happy to find a team at that point so late into the season. When I say lat I mean the season started like the next week. They had a few "names" so I thought they would be pretty good. Boy was I wrong.

The players would always show up an hour early to the game and the coaches would show up late to every single game. Normally about 15 minutes before gametime. One time they didn't show up till the 1st inning was over so another dad and I coached till they got there. To be honest, the kids coached themselves . We never heard an apology or an excuse of why they were so late.

After a while, I was so fed up with it I went to the GM of the organization. I told him of a conversation I overheard between the coach and one of the dads. The coach made the comment of, "These kids play way too much baseball. They don't have a chance to enjoy their summers". I couldnt't believe he was telling this to someone who was paying his salary. All the GM could say was he thought he did the right thing by hiring who he did. The head coach was a coach at a baseball powerhouse (private school) here in Dallas so I don't blame him for thinking that way. Needless to say, nothing changed much after that conversation. In fact, the head coach ended up getting married a month before the season was over and never came back. Not that it really mattered but he was paid for the entire season. There are sooo many more things I could say about this team but it is in the past and we have learned from it. Plus I type real slow.

I tell people all the time it was my fault we ended up in the position we did. I should have been more patient instead of jumping on board so fast. In my opinion, we would have been better off not playing that year because we literally lost an entire year. But on the other hand, I think how bad I would have felt if he didn't play that year and he would have lost interest.

My son now plays for an organization that has a GM with some general interest in how his club is doing. Up to this point, everything has been very professional and we couldn't be happier.

Let's see...a drunk for a coach, or serious daddy ball with the coaches sons playing all the prime positions every inning?...give me the drunk. Butterworth did pretty well with the Bad News Bears.

quote:

Originally posted by doubleday:
Let's see...a drunk for a coach, or serious daddy ball with the coaches sons playing all the prime positions every inning?...give me the drunk. Butterworth did pretty well with the Bad News Bears.

Yeah, but he had Kelly Leak.

...and Tatum O'Neal before she was a crackhead

quote:

Originally posted by doubleday:
Let's see...a drunk for a coach, or serious daddy ball with the coaches sons playing all the prime positions every inning?...give me the drunk. Butterworth did pretty well with the Bad News Bears.

The stances some people take these days.

It's truly amazing

The two pieces of advice I would have, after having my son on a couple different select teams and after 4 yrs of HS baseball is:

Always be true to your son and support him 100%.

and:

Zebra's do not change their stripes.

In otherwords, if a situation starts off smelling bad then by the end of the season/school year it usually is pretty rank.

Player development is key and part of that is a positive situation. You can't learn/develop if the playing/coaching enviornment is SOOOO bad that you are spending more time trying to work out/figure out how to make it better. Players in this situation are then usually filled with negative thoughts and energy and that becomes counterproductive.

If things go so south then first talk to the coach and if things don't change then talk to the head of the organization about your issue, if they are not willing to step in then that is very telling about the organization and how they run their business.

Be your son's advocate at all times because in the end, when baseball is over, it is that relationship and how you built it that will be KEY to the next 40-50 years of your relationship.

I have been watching my son try to play baseball since he was 4 years old. He is 15 now and has had more years playing daddy ball. I coached him one year a few years ago. Since then the teams already had daddy coaches to coach their teams. I worked with him pitching and had him work with a pitching coach the last three years. Even with a pitching coach, he has had minimal time on the mound. He pitched four innings one year and won the game but did not see the mound again the rest of the year. Last year he was on a team and the coach never put him on the mound. He pitched maybe 2 innings when the coach was not there and did a good job. This year he was on a select team. The coaches like his breaking ball and his changeup. He has a nice slider and a good looking sinker. They told him he has to hit the catchers knees in order to get on the mound. Meanwhile, one of his pitchers walked in the tying and winning run and lost a critical game. I have seen the worst of youth sports in America and they do not want help from professional coaches. They want to continue daddy ball so their sons can have the prime positions. It is a shame our kids grow up with this type of stupidity.

quote:

Originally posted by real coach:
I have been watching my son try to play baseball since he was 4 years old. He is 15 now and has had more years playing daddy ball. I coached him one year a few years ago. Since then the teams already had daddy coaches to coach their teams. I worked with him pitching and had him work with a pitching coach the last three years. Even with a pitching coach, he has had minimal time on the mound. He pitched four innings one year and won the game but did not see the mound again the rest of the year. Last year he was on a team and the coach never put him on the mound. He pitched maybe 2 innings when the coach was not there and did a good job. This year he was on a select team. The coaches like his breaking ball and his changeup. He has a nice slider and a good looking sinker. They told him he has to hit the catchers knees in order to get on the mound. Meanwhile, one of his pitchers walked in the tying and winning run and lost a critical game. I have seen the worst of youth sports in America and they do not want help from professional coaches. They want to continue daddy ball so their sons can have the prime positions. It is a shame our kids grow up with this type of stupidity.

Talk about a random bump.

We've experienced "professional" coaches play the kids that pay for private lessons even though they have lesser skills than other players.

Don't they call a hooker a professional?

I feel the pain. We've seen the best to the worst (at least I hope) as well. All I can say is my son tries to take something from every coach he's had whether it is how to run the bases or how to block a ball, how not to coach when he is a dad, how not to show up for work in whatever you do, how not to treat your wife when you get older, etc. The lessons are endless if you take advantage of what is put in front of you. I wish I'd had more sons because I would definitely do more due dilligence before joinging teams from now on. I just wish I'd known all of this a little earlier.

Daddy ball is great when they are little. Just make sure the head coach's kid doesn't play the same position as your kid.

oldbat-never..........good advice-baseball will be over someday. How long from now that is, nobody knows. If it is tomorrow, do you have a relationship with your son?

gametimer I agree. Learning what not to do is just as important as learning what to do.

I know my son has learned more about baseball than I ever did. (And I've learned along with him.) He has also learned some life lessons. Both of those should make him better prepared for when he has a son and decides to play baseball.

oldbat-neverjust like gametimer I agree about the father/son relationship. That bond is stronger than baseball---as it should be. We have both learned that.

Now if we can just find that coach and team that puts it all together for the right reasons. I think we are getting close.

Funny how threads from a couple of years ago can come back around and still have the same meaning and impact.

Been on the good end, bad end, and things in between. Its a crapshoot. Its really tough to know where the future leads with just a snapshot. Do your research, ask tons of questions (e.g. excessive turnover is a good indicator), and trust your gut.

As my kid gets older (17 now) and plays at more competetive levels, I've noticed that to him, at least, it has become less important that each season has to be a transformational experience with a coach who provides all the essential life lessons.

He really cares more about how good the other players are, and he tends to like to be on teams where the "hired coach" is more college-aged or slightly older, but who he can relate to. He likes coaches who recently played at a competitive college level, and who really know what they're doing during the games.

A lot of these guys tend to be young, don't yet have their act together, and are still learning about accountability and being on-time. When they show up late, all of us Dads roll our eyes in disgust, mumbling about how unacceptable their behavior is, how we would fire our employees if they behaved like that, blah, blah, etc., etc. But when they get on the field (so much of the time), they call a good game, they say the right things to keep the kids focused, they speak "good baseball", they don't throw huge temper tantrums over every tiny bad call, and they really don't don't seem to give a good **** about who's Dad is unhappy about playtime.

I'm not saying this kind of coach really better - but I do know that my particular kid plays much harder for these kinds of guys. I'm willing to bet that a lot of 17yr olds are the same way, though.

quote:

Originally posted by oldbat-never:
The two pieces of advice I would have, after having my son on a couple different select teams and after 4 yrs of HS baseball is:

Always be true to your son and support him 100%.

and:

Zebra's do not change their stripes..... Player development is key and part of that is a positive situation. You can't learn/develop if the playing/coaching enviornment is SOOOO bad that you are spending more time trying to work out/figure out how to make it better. Players in this situation are then usually filled with negative thoughts and energy and that becomes counterproductive.

Be your son's advocate at all times because in the end, when baseball is over, it is that relationship and how you built it that will be KEY to the next 40-50 years of your relationship.

Priceless. Very nice! GED10DaD

WOW, Very true words have never been spoken. I like your wisdom...

You can't slide a playing card between any of them imo.

quote:

Originally posted by txbball14:

For coaches to show up hungover is unacceptable, although I have to admit that I did it at certain points in my past...looking back I am not proud.

I will bet you that if someone had approached me about it that I would have corrected the problem immediately. Maybe that would be a good route to take, pull this coach aside and talk to him, he may not even realize that he is having a negative influence on the boys.

Good luck to you and your son!

Rather good post actually, and good point to bring up. When you see parents drinking at coach pitch games you will wish for the days when it was just the coach that did the drinking. Better to nip the problem in bud than try to get the Genie back in the bottle.