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Other reasons...how safe is it for your kids to walk to a local park and stay there unsupervised most of a day.

When is the last time you passed a park where 12 kids were playing a 'get up " game and getting along.

Working mothers and fathers have created less free time to pursue and enjoy little things.

I hate the trend too. I work to reverse it too.
Sorry folks I don't see it the same way! Parents (adults) make youth sports happen. Parents put in hours and hours of long work so kids can play. Parents are passing down a tradition to their children. It is a learning process. From a kid’s point of view they probably would like to do everything to their own way. They would want to eat pop tarts for breakfast, French fries for lunch and pizza for dinner. My son liked to cut the grass. Let me explain…he didn’t really like to cut grass, he liked to ride the mower. When I gave him directions on how it was supposed to be cut he no longer wanted to do it. I taught him the proper way to do it and suddenly he could look back and see his accomplishment. Then he felt good about cutting grass. There is a time to goof off and just be a kid and there is a time to respect the game and play it the way it is supposed to be played. I agree with not keeping score at a young age and allowing all kids the ability to play defense and to bat, but there comes a time when kids need to be taught the correct way to cut the grass and play the sport. The only reason issues of this nature become headlines is because of some isolated instance and media people want to stir the pot and sell papers! I ain’t buying it!
Fungo

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
This is from the LL site:

Although leagues may assess a registration fee, used to purchase uniforms and equipment, maintain fields, etc., the fee cannot be a prerequisite for playing. The Little League philosophy does not permit any eligible candidate to be turned away. Emphasizing the spirit of Little League, rules require that every child plays in every game. ll site

I remember when it said a specific amount, i.e $25.00, and most leagues were charging $35-50, but included things like pictures, trophies etc. That said my husband never turned anyone away because they couldn't pay, and the league still made money. The difference is LEADERSHIP and the volunteers it brings. Most leagues MUST pay umpires to have relialble ones, but it is great to have a bunch of moms and dads that will fill in on the field for free.

He would ask each coach to find a sponsor for his team, and rarely was this a problem, thus keeping fees down for everyone and allowing for "scholarships"

I think getting the adults involved, can make a difference. Back when I coached... Yep me! I coached T-ball for a few years and told each parent they were an assistant. Some gasped, but I would say I needed 2 base coaches, 1 scorekeeper, 1 dugout keeper... those little ones can get rowdy!! And a whole bleacher full of smiling cheering assistants for EVERY player. I would also stress there would be bad calls, but alot of our umps were "other assistants" and if they could call, they really should volunteer, but there would be nothing more than a low groan about a bad call. I still see alot of those kids and their parents, and we talk about how much fun it was for the kids and US!!

Our town has about 20% minority population. I know our league was very close or over that % of minorities. I always had 2-3 girls on my team too!
enias,
I was addressing the content of the referenced article by Dr. Gerty where he suggest allowing children to manage their own sporting events and for parents (adults) to back off.
quote:
But how will our children manage without adults supervising their athletic activities? Quite well, thank you. Studies contrasting spontaneous youth play versus youth sport organized by adults indicate that children, if left to their own devices, will successfully organize, administer, and manage their own games. They will choose sides and mediate disputes. They will set their own rules. In some cases, those rules may change from game to game. But they will be rules that work for the children. Children will handicap the game to make sure it is evenly matched, interesting, and fun. Such organizational, mediating, and interpersonal skills are valuable characteristics that children are not permitted to develop when adults organize and administer their games.

From the topic heading, What's Wrong With Youth Sports Today? The Adults!, I would assume this is the subject.?? I use the simple task of a child mowing grass as an example comparing unsupervised activity vs. supervised activity. There are rewards resulting from supervised activities that go beyond the shallow instant gratification associated with just goofing off. Smile
Fungo

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
I was president of our local little league a few years ago. Although I no longer have a child in the program, I went this morning to help with try outs. I had to leave. Just couldn't take what I was watching going on. It was more about parents fighting over who would coach what team, who would get to draft in what order etc., etc.

We have a whole generation of kids that don't get to be kids. Too much is supervised and orchestrated for them by the parents and too much of the time it is all about the parents. I agree that there are times that some supervision helps, but unsupervised time is fast becoming a thing of the past.

The one thing I watch with fascination is as the kid's grow up and reach high school and the parents can't control things any longer and just freak out. I don't know how anyone is a high school coach any longer with the pressure parents try to bring to force the situation to be the way they want it and that includes physical violence, lawsuits and every thing in between to force the coach's hand.

At the bottom line, talent wins out, the kids that can really play move on and all the manipulation that parents try to impose ends up for naught.

There is no question that there are some well meaning people, without whom the youth sport leagues could not exist, but boy are they getting to be outnumbered.
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There is a L.L. in our area that does not charge anything to anyone. They make there money doing BINGO and other activities. They provide every player with all they will need includeing their own glove. They even take each and every player on a summer field trip to an amusement park. It's an inner-city field that maybe ten years ago had to build an extra field because of the number of kids who played. Now the extra field is over grown and unused and the number of kids playing is steadily dropping. The fields are within sight of the mearby projects and can be seen from them. One would think that the kids there seeing the activity at the field would naturally become curious and want to play but that isn't the case. More and more kids aren't showing up to play. Nor do we see them playing pick up games in the summer on their own as used to be the case all over the city.
It just seems that this notion of parents taking charge and as some say messing things up is getting more prevelant. How did this happen? We hear the term daddyball and politics being bantered about. Is it just something that has evolved and is just a part of youth ball and we just have to live with it? Or is there sonething or somebody with ideas out there that can change things because from what I read and hear things perceived or real are not going to change anytime oon.
Of course playing select ball eliminates your immediate problem with league ball politics.
But I once talked to a gentleman who helped run a league down near New Orleans in the St. Bernard area who told me a little about how they handled league politics.

One key thing he told me that I believe would greatly benefit league ball is a "rule" they used. The rule is this:

"No parent could coach in an age group that their kid played in".

I have recently heard this rule being implemented in another place as well.

This rule would go a long way in helping in those leagues where the parents are on the board and run the show because they ARE the problem.

You will hear them say over and over "this league is for all the kids", "we play the best players"..etc, etc..."

Truth of the matter, it's all about "THEIR KIDS"

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!
Well if you ask almost any kid who quits playing it would be because they arent having fun. The bottom line is you cant make a kid have FUN. Sure the leagues need to promote an environment of fun and I beleive the majority of them do.Playing time should be abundant for everyone. But fun is a state of mind, and if your not very skilled and dont play well it wont be a lot of fun. The probelm with rec league sports is this. You usually have about 3 to 4 decent ball players per team, the rest of the players is made up of average rec league players. The players who are the top 3 and 4 recieve a lot of praise and critisism. They usually are the leaders. The rest, in my opinion are very passive and followers. The problem is Junior is mostly ok with this role but from my experience, moms and dads dont do so well with it. They feel that junior taking on his role as a player is a sign that the coach is hurting the kids self esteeem making him play left field or outfield. Well somebody's got to play outfield. So because junior palyed left field or right feild moms or mostly dads belly ached in front of the kid all the way home after the game about how bad hes being treated. That Billy Bob sucs and cost us the game at 2nd, Junior shoulda been there. Kids get stressed out over it. They get pulled between 2 authority figures, Parents and coaches. Its not enough that they have to deal with playing but with the emotional part as well. And lets face it humiliating yourself 2 nights a week in front of the local little league crowd can hurt your self esteem too and make u wanna quit. So, I say if the kids wanna quit theres a reason and It may not be a problem with the coaches or parents. Sometimes the kids are scared to death of the ball and use the excuse that its not fun to me to keep from being teased. So, I know this is rambling but kids quiting youth sports is to complex to label it. So stop it.

Get a good pitch to hit!!!!
Will,

Select or travel ball is nothing more than a team that plays outside the local league. They're not bound by any local league politics or rules.

Believe it or not I've actually seen guys who sat on the board of the local league that had a team in both the local league and a select team from that local league. Disastrous to the local league. I've seen games getting cancelled in the local league because the select team was off playing a tournament.

If your kid(s) trysout and makes a select team you do not need to be in rec ball any longer. Usually the coaches of the select teams will have kids that are above average players (but not always, you need to check the coach's and their kids credentials).

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!
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