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

My wife (no pic unless subscribe to OF) got talked into coaching my 5 YO daughters soccer team. She’s never played or coached soccer in her life. But we had two black, very athletic twins on our team. These kids are prodigies. She basically played them the whole time while rotating other kids in (including our own kid)
Other coaches were furious and complained that we were cheating because we played the best kids the whole time.
We ended up winning the whole thing and it was really fun.

But the other teams parents and coaches were complete A holes. I told my wife to never do it again.
The other parents really ruin anything competitive. They take that shite way too serious. Almost met another coach up at sonic. It’s honestly pathetic how serious some of these coaches/parents take little league games

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at least with travel

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That's a pretty heavy arse qualifier there. More sports dads should just drink at the field, and spend less of their time trying to be assistant coaches to their kids.

Any dad whose kid plays offense, is pretty much guaranteed to yell at a ref or coach and be an a-hole at some point. They're the worst.

Even in lacrosse, where *most* parents are relatively easy going (I said most, brah,) we have had kids that were capable not make teams because their parents were not... uh, compatible with peace.

All that said, you need to find the right leagues and sports to ref. Most of the Lacrosse folks are fine, but there are certain teams whose parents and players are total dicks. Everyone can identify who they are after a single tournament.

Our original LAX team was pretty adamant about a rule, that you don't "offer feedback" to coaches within 24 hours of a game. And yet every weekend, I watched the "feedback" from parents, usually moms, telling the coaches what they should have done better for their kids, and they end up ostracized within a few years. It's very freeing to not really know what the hell is going on in a sport, so I can just sit back, clap, and not offer an uneducated opinion. As time went on, I started to recognize certain patterns, but there's no way I'm telling a coach that played at a collegiate level what my opinion on sending D poles to the middle of the field and having them get burned on long passes... etc. Not my job. I won't interfere with your shite. You know the strategy, I don't. I just want to keep my kid hustling for his team mates and paying attention, being aggressive. The rest is up to coaches.

Give the parents of all the good kids a dollar when they get to the next game. Tell them it’s the only dollar they will ever make playing soccer


It is u7. No one is any good. Just the fast athletic ones are more productive.

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Why would you want any parents watching/hovering around a practice? Unless you’re teaching them drills to do at home. As a kid, the parents who hung around for practices were weirdos or assholes.

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I’m not complaining. Having no patents at practice is a benefit.

Yea I’ve done it many times and you really just have to try your best to ignore it. Your goal is to help ALL kids on the team improve first and win games second, or maybe that’s even further down on the priority list. NONE of those kids are going to make a career out of playing that sport, many parents are delusional.

Coached the kids for twelve years in a Dallas suburb. Football, basketball, baseball, softball & even soccer when I had to. Football was primary focus & assisted the others.

Yes, the parents can be the problem. Not much I can add to what has already been said here. Every group is different & you just have to deal with it. Served on the football BOD for six years, two as President. One year, the roommate was director of the cheerleaders, so we got all the phone calls. :-)

I learned a lot more from the kids then the parents over the years. In the end,it can be a incredibly rewarding experience. Some of those kids are now in their forties, and I grin when I run into one & are greeted with, “Hi Coach”.

While most are rec leagues, remember, the kids know wether they win or lose. The games are a lot more fun for them on the winning side.

One thing I have not seen mentioned; never underestimate what a kid can do. Some may need a little more attention, but all are capable of improving beyond your expectations.

Coach’m up and make it fun & competitive, learning the attributes of team sports. Who knows, even some of the parents may offer appreciation at the end of the season :-)

This they are 100% the worst of all

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Easy way to not have Daddy Ball issues is simply to not coach your kid. I’d recommend that. I had times when I’d be coaching in the same league my sons played in but I wouldn’t be coaching them. They’d be on other teams. And I told them don’t come to me if you have a problem with your coach. I’m not gonna solve your problems. Neither is your mother. This is preparing you for life for when you might have a boss that you might not see eye to eye on. You be mature and work it out.

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This is beyond strange to me... So would you miss your sons games to coach other peoples kids in the same league?

I've coached my boys since 2018.

If you aren't sold out doing it for the kids, and the kids alone you will be miserable. You have to separate that from parents or it flat out isn't worth it.