re: Anyone do volunteer coaching for youth sports…does it ever get better?

I did it once. Same situation, but slightly older boys (11-12). I agree with what others said: set the expectations early for both the kids and the parents.

There is always at least one parent that is an issue. Just the nature of the beast. In my case it was a parent not happy about where his kid was in the lineup. My response was basically if he wanted to set lineups he should have volunteered to coach, and since I was the only one to set up I would set lineups as I saw fit.

On the playing time question, in a rec league I gave consideration to attitude and whether a kid showed up for practices. I was more concerned about development than winning, although there were a couple of guys that got more time because they were more talented, but they also put in the work.