OT: Little League Parents Effecting Players ...Bush League

[[email protected]]

Buddy of mine from So. Cal told me about his grandson. In 22 innings the kid has struck out 44 batters and had a 0.00 ERA prior to yesterday.

He is a huge SC supporter and his son in law is a Long Beach State grad. So i joked that his recruitment is down to SC, LBSU or Rutgers and asked if any HS coaches had scouted him. He said Yes...and the championship game for So Cal (or CA...not sure) was yesterday.

Got the results.

Friend said the D let his grandson down and the Umping was the worst he's seen. The players had to be cleared from the field... twice.

I told him IMO that's the "wrong message" ... and wait till next year.

Anyone else having similar issues with umps or refs... this is out of hand.

MO

 

[WhiteBus]

Buddy of mine from So. Cal told me about his grandson. In 22 innings the kid has struck out 44 batters and had a 0.00 ERA prior to yesterday.

He is a huge SC supporter and his son in law is a Long Beach State grad. So i joked that his recruitment is down to SC, LBSU or Rutgers and asked if any HS coaches had scouted him. He said Yes...and the championship game for So Cal (or CA...not sure) was yesterday.

Got the results.

Friend said the D let his grandson down and the Umping was the worst he's seen. The players had to be cleared from the field... twice.

I told him IMO that's the "wrong message" ... and wait till next year.

Anyone else having similar issues with umps or refs... this is out of hand.

MO

The people that are out of hand are the parents! What a stupid post!

 

[fsg2_rivals]

Story doesn't match headline.

Story doesn't even match itself.

1/10

 

[robcac26]

There's a shortage of refs in most sports because fewer and fewer are finding it worth putting up with the lunatic parents. When there are too few refs, the bad ones get a lot of games, so the knucklehead parents only make the problem worse.

 

[mdk02]

There's a shortage of refs in most sports because fewer and fewer are finding it worth putting up with the lunatic parents. When there are too few refs, the bad ones get a lot of games, so the knucklehead parents only make the problem worse.

And it's been going downhill for the last 60 years.

 

[[email protected]]

The people that are out of hand are the parents! What a stupid post!

Guess you missed the disdain.

I'm NOT in favor of demonstrating or calling out Umps / Refs...

And told my friend that.

Perhaps that wasn't made clear...dunno.

MO

 

[LETSGORU91_]

This post is about as crazy as Al rationalizing an 8-0 record to start the season. The only difference is Al at least puts together a coherent story. This is neither sane nor coherent.

 

[vkj91]

Mo’s decline continues.
But to the point, yes youth refs suck. Who cares they are youth refs. Nobody cares about 7th or 8th grade baseball era or strike outs. Kid needs to work his craft, pick the HS that best fits him and grind. As a person more involved in youth sports than I’d like at times. Young Baseball studs flail out more than any other sport. Early puberty kids Crush you baseball them kids catch up and the field gets much bigger

 

[ClassOf02v.2]

Guess you missed the disdain.

I'm NOT in favor of demonstrating or calling out Umps / Refs...

And told my friend that.

Perhaps that wasn't made clear...dunno.

MO

Like pretty much all your posts, it was not at all clear.

 

[RUinBoston]

There's a shortage of refs in most sports because fewer and fewer are finding it worth putting up with the lunatic parents. When there are too few refs, the bad ones get a lot of games, so the knucklehead parents only make the problem worse.

Not quite sure I understood the orig story.

But as for refs. Here in Mass we had a massive shortage of hockey refs for a couple of years due to bad coach and parent behavior plus covid. But Mass Hockey and USA hockey did a huge push on behavioral education aimed at parents and coaches, and it seems to have worked. Ref numbers are up and respect for the refs has been better. We'll see how long it can last.

 

[Brisket and Bourbon]

Effecting, huh?

 

[yessir321]

The people that are out of hand are the parents! What a stupid post!

This… so much this. Again this, twice on Sunday this. I cannot like this post enough

 

[yessir321]

There's a shortage of refs in most sports because fewer and fewer are finding it worth putting up with the lunatic parents. When there are too few refs, the bad ones get a lot of games, so the knucklehead parents only make the problem worse.

Little league programs across the country have started to hire kids as young as 12 years old to umpire games due to the shortage of adults willing to deal with the parents.

 

[rurichdog]

Not quite sure I understood the orig story.

It's MO, so this is expected.

 

[vkj91]

Little league programs across the country have started to hire kids as young as 12 years old to umpire games due to the shortage of adults willing to deal with the parents.

Always thought it was stupid to have “pro” refs for LL. All stars? Ok but whilst Tuesday night games? It’s a waste. We grew up with other kids umpiring our games and it’s a nice little job for a teenager

 

[knightfan7]

And it's been going downhill for the last 60 years.

Yeah. When my son was playing CYO Hoops over 20 years ago there was a game where the police had to come and threaten to clear the gym due to parents abusing players and ref along with the other teams fans.

 

[RUinBoston]

Yeah. When my son was playing CYO Hoops over 20 years ago there was a game where the police had to come and threaten to clear the gym due to parents abusing players and ref along with the other teams fans.

2 years ago I showed up to coach a kids Spring league hockey game and the police were in the refs room because someone had punched a ref. A little while later the other ref came out and was like, 'let's do this!' And I was like....'seriously? You OK?' And he was like....'what...that little thing? No problem!' And we went on like nothing had happened.

 

[rufamily]

As. Ref in NJ I can tell you there is a serious shortage in refs and it’s the pay as bad as it is we lose about 1/3 of new refs every year. I have had little issues with coaches or parents at the youth level but tTvyhe HS level they are pretty bad.

 

[mdk02]

Little league programs across the country have started to hire kids as young as 12 years old to umpire games due to the shortage of adults willing to deal with the parents.

Which brings the parents of the 12 y/o umpire into play. Maybe they offset.

 

[RW90]

Yeah. When my son was playing CYO Hoops over 20 years ago there was a game where the police had to come and threaten to clear the gym due to parents abusing players and ref along with the other teams fans.

Just last year (and discussed on these boards) a Staten Island travel baseball coach slugged a 70+ year old umpire in Branchburg in the midst of a blowout and broke his jaw. I don't recall what the perpetrator was sentenced to, but I had heard from second-hand info that the umpire's wife passed shortly after due to all her husband's trauma.

 

[robcac26]

Not quite sure I understood the orig story.

But as for refs. Here in Mass we had a massive shortage of hockey refs for a couple of years due to bad coach and parent behavior plus covid. But Mass Hockey and USA hockey did a huge push on behavioral education aimed at parents and coaches, and it seems to have worked. Ref numbers are up and respect for the refs has been better. We'll see how long it can last.

I used to work at a rink and attended the league and district meetings on behalf of the travel club we ran. The situation in Massachusetts was actually brought up at an Atlantic District meeting. They said it had gotten so bad that it reached the point of games being canceled because there just weren't enough refs, and we were on pace for the same thing to happen in our district. Glad to see things have improved up there.

Little league programs across the country have started to hire kids as young as 12 years old to umpire games due to the shortage of adults willing to deal with the parents.

Sadly a lot of these loser parents berate the ref/umpire even when it's a kid out there. Multiple times I've seen grown adults screaming at someone else's child over a call they missed. I'd also add that probably most of the time the refs are being abused (at least in hockey), the correct call was made and the parents just don't know the rules.

 

[yessir321]

Always thought it was stupid to have “pro” refs for LL. All stars? Ok but whilst Tuesday night games? It’s a waste. We grew up with other kids umpiring our games and it’s a nice little job for a teenager

a teenager sure, a 12 year old calling balls and strikes though is excessive. I agree it's a great job for a high schooler however I do think it's important to have a balance of adults and kids and unfortunately theres just fewer and fewer adults willing to put up with the parents each year. Heck can we blame them? This is a society that glorifies people like Lavar Ball... To the point that even the teenage umpires and refs are hearing it from LL parents. It's gotten out of hand

 

[yessir321]

Which brings the parents of the 12 y/o umpire into play. Maybe they offset.

Hopefully with the 12 year olds, however once the kid turns 16 all bets are off. Here's a nice group of LL parents berating a teenage Umpire to the point that he walked off the field.

 

[[email protected]]

Like pretty much all your posts, it was not at all clear.

Seriously....did any of you read the title... or Understand it?

Little League Parents Effecting Players ...Bush League​

What part of that is not clear?

My friend was bemoaning the poor Ump calls (in his opinion)...I told him to send a different message to his grandson and move on (respect the umps and don't make that the centerpiece of why you lost- it's part of the game).

However, I reread my post to see why so many of you didn't get what I was saying.

" This is out of hand"....refers to parents COMPLAINING and diminishing the game by their idiotic behavior and has NOTHING to do with the Umps calls. The comment is about parents behavior and how it affects their children.

MO

 

[RU09FOOTBALL]

I have a son who’s a pitcher. My primary message to him has always been to be concerned only about those things that you can control. You cannot control the umpire, the defense, the parents, the weather, the field conditions, etc. What you can control is your attitude, mechanics, body language, etc.

I have been drilling this into him for years. Flash forward to last fall. He’s pitching at a college showcase. His fielders make a couple of errors behind him. He responds by pitching out of the inning with no runs. A college coach goes up to his coach between innings and offers my son a 70% scholarship on the spot because he liked the way he handled himself when his team was making errors.

 

[robcac26]

Seriously....did any of you read the title... or Understand it?

Little League Parents Effecting Players ...Bush League​

What part of that is not clear?

My friend was bemoaning the poor Ump calls (in his opinion)...I told him to send a different message to his grandson and move on (respect the umps and don't make that the centerpiece of why you lost- it's part of the game).

However, I reread my post to see why so many of you didn't get what I was saying.

" This is out of hand"....refers to parents COMPLAINING and diminishing the game by their idiotic behavior and has NOTHING to do with the Umps calls. The comment is about parents behavior and how it affects their children.

MO

No, the part that was confusing was ending your original post with "Anyone else having similar issues with umps or refs... this is out of hand."

It sounded like you were asking if any of us have had similar issues with bad officiating. Before posting, you should go back and read what you've typed and put yourself in the perspective of the reader--only knowing the words you wrote and not able to read your mind as to what you meant. I have the same problem deciphering my mother's text messages--she types the way she talks as if I can somehow discern a tone of voice or body language from just text.

 

[MADHAT1]

When I coached little league baseball the ups were volenteer and we knew there would be some mistakes made by them.
Arguing over calls happened, but for the most part understood coaches , kids playing and umps weren't at the MLB level or even High School equivalent.
Parents booed but, many times towards me, getting out of hand over calls or coaching moves were rare.
Now it seems umps need to be at the Major League level and coaches better be a Tommy Lasorda to leave the field unscathed .
The idea of playing for fun while trying to win the game has changed into little Johnny's expectations of future greatness being stymied by umps calls and bad coaching .

The games have changed into what the parents expect, not for the kids to enjoy.

 

[RU Cheese]

No way the caliber of reffing was as bad as the original post.

 

[robcac26]

The games have changed into what the parents expect, not for the kids to enjoy.

Very succinctly but accurately put. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell my customers to stop talking about scholarships for their 8-12 year old kid because if that's why they're signing their kid up for sports, they're doing it for the wrong reason. It's also sad to see how many kids abruptly stop playing sports once they age out of youth and playing a sport becomes their choice rather than their parents', especially in hockey when there is an adult league at almost every rink. We had this one guy that had his 8 and 10 year old sons homeschooled so he could bring them to the rink for private lessons every day. At home, he had them running on treadmills with oxygen masks as if they were professional athletes. They were miserable on the ice, their dad leaning over the boards screaming at them during the lessons, I highly doubt these kids play hockey anymore. One guy asked for a letter of recommendation for his kid to send to Delbarton's hockey coach. The kid hadn't even finished our learn to play program yet.

Speaking of that learn to play program, one time as a mother was bringing her son into the rink, there was a U16 or U18 game going on, and she asked myself and a nearby coach how many of the kids in that game will go pro. Before I could tell her "almost certainly zero," the coach gave more of a politician's answer and said, "Welllll if they work really hard and keep at it, maybe a couple." Then after she walked away he said to me that even after growing up in Montreal and playing youth hockey at a high level up there, of everyone he ever played with, only one made it to the NHL--Alexandre Daigle. Ironically though, one of the kids who played in that game actually did go pro and just signed with the Penguins this summer.

 

[RUTGERS95]

Buddy of mine from So. Cal told me about his grandson. In 22 innings the kid has struck out 44 batters and had a 0.00 ERA prior to yesterday.

He is a huge SC supporter and his son in law is a Long Beach State grad. So i joked that his recruitment is down to SC, LBSU or Rutgers and asked if any HS coaches had scouted him. He said Yes...and the championship game for So Cal (or CA...not sure) was yesterday.

Got the results.

Friend said the D let his grandson down and the Umping was the worst he's seen. The players had to be cleared from the field... twice.

I told him IMO that's the "wrong message" ... and wait till next year.

Anyone else having similar issues with umps or refs... this is out of hand.

MO

lol, it's always the umps and refs.....

how old is this kid?

the problem is the parents, the coaches who only care about winning and not development, and overall approach to sports where everyone is hoping for a scholarship

parents need a reality check, coaches need a reality check

 

[RUinBoston]

Very succinctly but accurately put. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell my customers to stop talking about scholarships for their 8-12 year old kid because if that's why they're signing their kid up for sports, they're doing it for the wrong reason. It's also sad to see how many kids abruptly stop playing sports once they age out of youth and playing a sport becomes their choice rather than their parents', especially in hockey when there is an adult league at almost every rink. We had this one guy that had his 8 and 10 year old sons homeschooled so he could bring them to the rink for private lessons every day. At home, he had them running on treadmills with oxygen masks as if they were professional athletes. They were miserable on the ice, their dad leaning over the boards screaming at them during the lessons, I highly doubt these kids play hockey anymore. One guy asked for a letter of recommendation for his kid to send to Delbarton's hockey coach. The kid hadn't even finished our learn to play program yet.

Speaking of that learn to play program, one time as a mother was bringing her son into the rink, there was a U16 or U18 game going on, and she asked myself and a nearby coach how many of the kids in that game will go pro. Before I could tell her "almost certainly zero," the coach gave more of a politician's answer and said, "Welllll if they work really hard and keep at it, maybe a couple." Then after she walked away he said to me that even after growing up in Montreal and playing youth hockey at a high level up there, of everyone he ever played with, only one made it to the NHL--Alexandre Daigle. Ironically though, one of the kids who played in that game actually did go pro and just signed with the Penguins this summer.

Nonsense....all of the kids who play for my town league are going pro .

Parents also have this bizarre misconception that you MUST have your kids be coached by a former pro or at least former high level collegiate player, and will pay a ridiculous amount of money for this honor....which is asinine, because most of those guys can't teach for sh**t, and aren't very good at connecting with players of younger ages...and don't give a crap about your kid...and a litany of other things I could complain about. I have been asst coach to two of these folks now and both cases it was a disaster. (I also observed a former nhl overall #1 draft pick almost punch his asst coach because he couldn't wrap his head around the fact the assistant was right and he was wrong).

 

[rucoe89]

Buddy of mine from So. Cal told me about his grandson. In 22 innings the kid has struck out 44 batters and had a 0.00 ERA prior to yesterday.

He is a huge SC supporter and his son in law is a Long Beach State grad. So i joked that his recruitment is down to SC, LBSU or Rutgers and asked if any HS coaches had scouted him. He said Yes...and the championship game for So Cal (or CA...not sure) was yesterday.

Got the results.

Friend said the D let his grandson down and the Umping was the worst he's seen. The players had to be cleared from the field... twice.

I told him IMO that's the "wrong message" ... and wait till next year.

Anyone else having similar issues with umps or refs... this is out of hand.

MO

The problem with youth sports today is everyone thinks they are raising the next Ohtani, and so that must be the focus, rather than just having fun with the sport.

 

[robcac26]

Nonsense....all of the kids who play for my town league are going pro .

Parents also have this bizarre misconception that you MUST have your kids be coached by a former pro or at least former high level collegiate player, and will pay a ridiculous amount of money for this honor....which is asinine, because most of those guys can't teach for sh**t, and aren't very good at connecting with players of younger ages...and don't give a crap about your kid...and a litany of other things I could complain about. I have been asst coach to two of these folks now and both cases it was a disaster. (I also observed a former nhl overall #1 draft pick almost punch his asst coach because he couldn't wrap his head around the fact the assistant was right and he was wrong).

Spot on again. Brian Mullen was one of our coaches. He could not have made it any more obvious that he didn't want to be there. He'd frequently not show up to games and his practices were a waste of time. He literally told other coaches that he'd make drills take as long as possible to eat up time. For example, when doing a skating drill where the players go around each of the circles, he'd have one kid go at a time and instead of starting the next kid once the previous kid was moving on to the second circle, he'd wait until he was halfway up the ice. Then in his summer camp, which people paid hundreds for, every day he'd have the kids scrimmage for a half hour with a tennis ball, and then scrimmage for a half hour with a puck. No teaching going on whatsoever during this portion of the camp. Stephane Matteau came down to coach a clinic. He didn't bring a stick. We had to go looking around the rink for an adult lefty stick long enough for him to use. Other than that, he was actually a pretty cool guy though.

 

[Erial_Lion_rivals140457]

Always thought it was stupid to have “pro” refs for LL. All stars? Ok but whilst Tuesday night games? It’s a waste. We grew up with other kids umpiring our games and it’s a nice little job for a teenager

Our little league pays $80/$70/$60 depending on the level of game...and still struggles finding guys to cover everything.

 

[Erial_Lion_rivals140457]

I'd also add that probably most of the time the refs are being abused (at least in hockey), the correct call was made and the parents just don't know the rules.

Add to that the players and coaches...players, I understand when they are still young. Parents, I get to an extent (though why are you so vocal when you don't know the rules?). But it floors me when coaches argue over rules that I'd find pretty basic, and won't let it go.

 

[vkj91]

Our little league pays $80/$70/$60 depending on the level of game...and still struggles finding guys to cover everything.

I was told by my AD that umps choose softball over baseball all the time. Similar money, shorter, and less BS

 

[brgRC90]

There's a shortage of refs in most sports because fewer and fewer are finding it worth putting up with the lunatic parents. When there are too few refs, the bad ones get a lot of games, so the knucklehead parents only make the problem worse.

I doubt patents are worse than they used to be, though. I remember some bad parents when I was a kid.

 

[vkj91]

I doubt patents are worse than they used to be, though. I remember some bad parents when I was a kid.

The sadly are. Youth sports gas become a big business. With the increased cost has come an even increased sense of entitlement. Hitting coaches, pitching coaches, Catcher coaches etc etc
Little Johnny goes 0-4 can’t be his fault

 

[Erial_Lion_rivals140457]

I doubt patents are worse than they used to be, though. I remember some bad parents when I was a kid.

When I was a kid, my dad and coaches would tell me to protect the plate if I took a borderline pitch for strike 3...today, I rarely hear that, and hear more of "good eye Billy, you don't want to swing at that".

 

[Erial_Lion_rivals140457]

I was told by my AD that umps choose softball over baseball all the time. Similar money, shorter, and less BS

I enjoy the game of baseball more, but the speed of softball certainly was appealing. When I was doing HS games, a varsity softball game would play $2 less than a varsity baseball game, but the softball guys were often on their way to the car while the baseball game was in about the 4th inning.