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Originally Posted by kccrow
I'm not going to dredge through the entire thread, I read the first couple pages...
Yes, I'd meet with the coach in a setting away from the team and my son. I'd most definitely remind him he's coaching 8-year-old kids. Skill really doesn't matter at all at that point, let's be honest as **** about that. All those kids are there to learn the game and all should get equal playing time, regardless of ability. You coach up the lesser players and around their shortcomings, not exclude them. You have a slower, less-skilled player on the field? Pair him with a faster, more-skilled player. Don't play two lesser-skilled players for 10 minutes and two higher-skilled players for 40. That's not helping these kids. Even if these kids never amount to shit in their teenage years and make traveling teams, at least they are learning the game and may appreciate it and even coach it later in life. Plus, that slow kid now could end up the fastest kid in two years.
As for the awards, they shouldn't even be allowed by the parents of the league except for a year-end participation medal or something. No trophies and no atta-boy merits. Eight years old. It's simple, really. It's not about winning at 8. Hell, little league teams at that age hardly keep score.
This coach is a jackass, really.
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Ideally, that's the way it should be. In reality, this is a competitive league and the coach is paid to win. Just like the bigs, no wins equal no job. Having "The Talk" with the coach or any other official isn't going to do any good. It's a competitive league.
So what's the answer? Move the kid to a rec league and send him to a camp to improve his skills. The problem with that is there aren't enough rec leagues and coaches to go around. Why aren't there enough leagues? Because it costs to pay for a field to play on and refs to officiate games. Why aren't there enough coaches? Because they're unpaid dads unwilling to spend the time and effort coach. Then they have to put up with Karens that cry that little Sebastian isn't getting to play forward. So what if he's busy watching butterflies or picking his nose, he should play forward!!! And those participation trophies --who pays for those?