Ten Tips to Being a Good Baseball Parent
Perhaps
you have heard some horror stories about the overbearing "Little
League" parents and coaches. A good baseball experience for your child
begins with us: the parents of each player. It is up to each of us to make
being a youth more enjoyable, and to make baseball season a greater learning
experience for the kids. After all, no matter how much we enjoy it too,
Baseball is for the kids.
I
would like to share 10 thoughts on how to make this a better learning experience
for you, too. I believe that these ideas will help to make the next few months
more fun for your children, more enjoyable for you and a heck of a lot easier
on those people who volunteer their time and skills.
We
hope these ideas can help!!
- Work
with your child. There really is little more satisfying than going out at
least a few evenings a week and playing ball with your kids. This gives
them quality time, and helps your child improve his/her skills (and, trust
me, the better your child can play, the more she/he will enjoy the
Baseball experience!). Some day, your child will look back fondly on the
spring evenings spent playing catch with mom and/or dad.
- Get involved with the local
baseball/softball programs. The program runs on a volunteer basis, and we
can use all the help we can get. Anything you can do will help all the
kids, from helping out at registration or tryouts, to scorekeeping or
field preparation, to umpiring. If your child sees that Baseball is that
important to you, he/she will learn that it is important to the kids, too.
Amongst the board members are those that have helped out contributing with
field prep, scheduling, scorekeeping, umpiring, equipment and uniform
management, snack bar operations, and fund raising. Everyone can find a
place to help.
If you love the game of baseball, but can’t be available often
enough to coach, umpiring is a great way to volunteer. In addition to making
baseball a more satisfying experience for you (all of a sudden there are no
more bad calls!), you will be able to teach your child
some of the things that others (umpires!) look for in a game. Laconia Little
League provides all of the training anyone needs. Some people worry that they
are not qualified. Nobody is until they get trained. If you make a mistake
remind them that you didn’t get the job because you are uniquely qualified for
it — you got it because you volunteered. Besides, even coaches and players make
mistakes...the point is to learn and to have fun, and to teach kids that you care!
Different coaches have different philosophies. Some believe in
having players play all the positions. Some want players to become good at one.
Some coaches place more emphasis on winning (and we can tell you, from
experience that players and parents tend to have more fun when they are
winning). It is IMPORTANT to remember that your child’s coach is not being
paid; he is working for the love of the game and the kids. Let him be the
coach!
Don’t argue in front of the kids and criticize in the background
if you think your child is being treated unfairly. As parents, it is natural to
be very protective, but most coaches aren’t discriminating. If you think there
is a problem, discuss it with the coach AWAY from the ball field; chances are
that you will see his point of view. The important thing is not to make an
issue in front of the players; along with baseball, they are learning to work
as a team and to respect authority and experience...work not to ruin this
teaching.
- Show
up for the games AND the practices. In today’s busy world it is sometimes
hard to juggle schedules, but this is your child! We’ve seen many who
never tried to excel at baseball, and invariably these kids were dropped
off at practices and picked up afterwards, without the parent(s) ever
watching a single practice. It’s only a couple of times a week, a couple
of months out of the year! The most irritating are the parents who don’t
ever watch practice (and, therefore, never understand the coaches
philosophy), but will question (yell!) a coaches decision during the game.
Most people wouldn’t dare to not show up for work and still tell the boss
what’s wrong with the company, but they will turn around and do just that
with their child’s’ coach.
- Respect
the rules. This is one of the most important things the kids should be
learning. If you don’t agree with an umpires call, keep it to yourself.
You did not buy a ticket and with it a right to complain. If there is a
team rule that bothers you, well, it’s their team...not yours. If you
think there is a serious problem, take it up with the coach or a League
official on your own time, not your child’s’. Rule of thumb: during
practice or games, don’t speak unless spoken to (except, of course, to
cheer on ALL the kids).
- Don't
create pressure. Just about every father dreams of his son becoming a
major league star, but they are only children and deserve to enjoy
the game as children. Don’t expect more than they can deliver.
Give positive encouragement, and be there when they need you. Besides,
often a child in early years will lack certain skills, and blossom later
on.
- Losing
is a normal result of competition—help your child learn to accept it. No
one likes to lose, but the nature of a team sport is that one team always
loses. Teach your child that he/she didn’t lose, the team lost. And they
lost to a team that just happened to play better that day. There is always
next time, and the important thing is to learn from the defeats. One of
life’s most interesting truisms is that we learn more in failure than in
success. It’s okay to analyze why your team lost, and how they can do
better next time. It’s never okay to place blame!
- Have Fun! Baseball should be a
positive experience for everyone: kids, coaches, support staff, and
parents. Winning is nice, but losing is inevitable. Being a star is fun,
but being a bench player is just as important.
As a coach don’t get focused on winning as being the only way to
have fun. If you can’t enjoy the game without winning you are missing out on
some of the best things about coaching. One of the most rewarding experiences
possible is to take a player with little baseball skill, no confidence in
himself, and help him develop over the course of the season to the point he
looks forward to his turns at bat because he knows he can succeed. That player,
who came to practice with his head hanging, now stands tall with pride and a
big smile on his face. Take the opportunity to enjoy your child’s’ childhood,
and to teach some important life lessons!
- Don’t
panic if your child is injured. Although baseball is considered a
‘non-contact’ sport, there are occasions when players collide, or
non-contact injuries occur. We are all concerned about our children’s
safety, but if your child suffers an injury, remember: kids are able to
sustain a lot more than adults; and, coaches are probably familiar with
the usual baseball injuries. Let the coach handle the situation...he
doesn’t need a panicked parent to deal with. Do make sure your coach has
your current health insurance information.
- The program only gets better if
you volunteer. We can’t stress this enough: VOLUNTEER...we need you. One
of the biggest irritants we see is those who will not give their time, but
are quick to criticize. If you can’t be part of the solution, don’t be
part of the problem. If you think that something needs to be changed, get
involved so that you can change it.
- Speak up if you think your
manager is not being fair. One of the most frustrating things for a board
member is to have a parent come up to us after the season and say,
"Great program, but my son’s manager kept doing something that really
bothered me." A manager/coach cannot address problems if they don’t
know the problems exist. Don't assume they know you are unhappy because
they may have no idea. League Commissioners and the IFPAA board can’t
resolve problems it never hears about.
Most managers/coaches will welcome your input. These people are
putting in lots of effort and very much want every boy to have a good
experience. If you don’t make progress check with your league commissioner or
any board member and chances are we have resolved similar in the past.
Have a GREAT SEASON and
HAVE FUN!
Jack Batchelder
LLL Umpire in Chief