re: Anyone experience douchey coaches in youth rec leagues?

quote:

---

I’ll disagree with you on first base. I coached my son in rec ball for several seasons before he started playing select which he does now. If you have kids who are capable of throwing to first, they deserve to have someone there who can catch it, assuming you have someone who can.

Additionally, it’s not fair to a kid who isn’t capable of playing first to put him in that position. He can get hurt and the other kids are resentful. I always played a good player at first. I rotated folks elsewhere. I always had great feedback from parents and kids who had a ball. There would be an optional interleague post season tournament. We were the only team to have every kid come to it and that happened multiple times. You don’t have to be the best team to create a very fun environment, but you do need to be fair and realistic.

---

this response is 100% spot on. I coached little league from age 5-12, and coached numerous all-star teams as well as some "travel ball lite".

In kid pitch the three most important players on the field are the pitcher, catcher and first baseman.

Our first year of player pitch I coached in the fall league which is purely instructional. I made sure every kid got to pitch, and play multiple positions, except I made sure the kid at first could catch.

Well of course I get cornered by the crazy Mom halfway through the season. Her little jewel feels like he would be more part of the team if he could play first base (no matter that he has played eight other positions). Her kid cannot catch well, doesn't pay attention during the game, and is an all around problem - I learned more ways to use the F word being in the same dugout with the kid - he was a real piece of work (in later years he was the last pick in every league draft and one guy threatened to give up his team on draft night when he figured out he had the last pick in the league). This kid was an issue.

I explain to her how the first baseman needs to be able to catch and her son has an issue with catching the ball consistently. She goes into a long tirade about how she can't help that her husband is a lazy a-hole and won't work with him.

I relent and say he gets a spot at first in the next game for an inning. Next game comes around and he's on first and engaged for maybe two pitches. Ball is hit to shortstop. Probably one of the best kids in the league at short (left-handed with a rocket arm). Looking back on it I should have put a kid at short who could not throw to first. Anyway, he fields the ball and throws a rocket to first. I look to see my first baseman standing near the bag, but not on it, and not ready for a throw. He's standing there looking at the runner coming down first. Ball misses his head by a few inches. after thanking God the kid didn't get hit I glanced in the stands to see his Mom with a look of horror on her face frantically giving me the sign to get him off the field.

all this to say - everyone really can't play every position in baseball, even in rec league.