12U Rec League Baseball Situation

[gingib]

I coach 11u/12u rec. We have been together since t-ball, sort of. We have about half left from the original. Most the others when to select. This season we had to put a stop to the select kids that were on our team. It wasn’t all or even most but those that made it bad were the ones with the tantrums and the parents.

We coach because we know it isn’t forever and want to hold on as long as we can. My son chose this team and not select without pressure.

We still coach to have fun and learn. We rotate positions and don’t pitch the kids to max just to win. We don’t always win but we have fun and learn. I know it isn’t forever but I hope that we are doing right by our kids in some way.


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From what I have seen, that time is coming soon. 12-13 is normally when parents step away and let someone else with real baseball knowledge teach them the game

That is, IF you want your kid to get better and learn the game and play in HS. Obviously if your kid has no aspirations of playing beyond LL or into HS, then do it as long as you can

Hormones come around that time and most don't listen to dad. We all know how that goes

[jer_james]

Our rec ball was 10x better than the select ball experience. Expectations were next to nothing in rec ball. Most of the kids could care less about the game. The few that did were fairly decent. We made the move to select ball and the entitlement/craziness almost ruined the game completely. Between the blow ups and attitudes and crazy parents my kiddo didnt want anything to do with it anymore.

That being said there are really good teams/people out there, you just have to find them. It takes work, and if you find a good group, do whatever you can to stay with them.

We had a kid that was fiery as all get out. Yelling and screaming and talking trash. Had another kid that would mope around with shoulders slumped staring at the ground and completely shut down. You can't control any of it. You just have to focus your kiddo and make sure they understood how we act, and what we do. There were really good times and really bad. Just have to know and communicate with your kids the best you learn how. Nothing wrong with being crazy excited or happy. Nothing wrong with being ticked off or sad. The issue is in how you handle yourself during those times.

[Graysonhogs]

I once crotch chopped the opposing fans while coa hing 10u in the playoffs. Lol. That didn't go over well.

Nothing is worse than the parents/dad's that sit in the bleachers and coach their kid by yelling out to them. Drives me crazy. I've seen a TBHer doing it on Facebook even though he pays for his kid to play select with better coaching.


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I hear you man. Those parents must think mid bat is the time for technical advice.

[Dale Moser]

Our rec ball was 10x better than the select ball experience. Expectations were next to nothing in rec ball. Most of the kids could care less about the game.

I can't even get my head around stepping on an athletic field with no expectations, or desire to win.

[jer_james]

I can't even get my head around stepping on an athletic field with no expectations, or desire to win.

I couldn't either, that's why we made the move to select ball at 9u. Wanted the competition and want to. That stuff led to some ugly days when dealing with others, though.

[BarBBar]

The only way to make sure your kids are coached to your satisfaction is to coach yourself. This will solve that problem, but you will spend most of your time with the other 12 players, so you will need to spend lots of years/months/days/hours working with your own kids on your own.

I remember a mother coming to my front door after a practice of 5-6 year old T-ballers demanding that I rotate everyone at first base when only two players could catch the ball. Another mother who I had ruined a pair of khakis changing her flat tire on the side of the highway complained to the little league president because her son did not get to play catcher even though he was not as good as another older kid who was much better.
Another dad called me at home to complain because I had told his son that if he did not show up to practices (his parents had taken him to watch his sister's game instead) I could not start him at first base, instead of the kids who did show up to practice.

Biggest problem I had was working 13 players into a six inning game. I was sensitive to this because when my oldest son was nine (before I began coaching his little brother in T-Ball and beyond), I sat in the bleachers on Barbeque Day, when all teams play on the same field throughout the day. His coach ever let him play. That lefty son, who never played any select baseball or had a private coach, in 2004 struck out six state champion LaGrange batters in the first three innings of the State Semifinals at Disch Falk in Austin. An old guy in the stands asked "Who taught him how to pitch like that?" SMH had not been invented yet. I never coached his team, although I did assistant coach one fall ball season.

Scariest moments coaching were the Rodeo Parade with my Fire Department team riding on the tall top of the firetruck, players slinging metal bats over the backstop by accident following through while swinging, and lightning and thunder before the umpire would call a game. Two of my ex-players are already dead. Still have some of those signed team baseballs, and oldest is now playing at 35 in an MABL hardball league.