Alz, I don't remember if you have children and, if so whether they play organized sports, but if anything about that story stuns you, my recommendation is either don't have kids or don't let them play sports.

Parents have turned youth sports into quite possibly the biggest shit-fest in existence. Let me be clear, there are plenty of opportunities for kids to play sports and have fun. My daughter plays different sports year-round and does so simply because the teams are filled with her friends and she enjoys herself.

On the other hand is my son. Bob is the kind of kid you just don't talk to for several hours if his team loses. He's only 13, but every week he scours the internet trying to find video of next week's opponent so he can study their tendencies. Once he was cleared by his pediatrician to lift weights, he started lifting 3 times a week. The kid lives and breathes football. Up until this year, I volunteered to help coach his teams. This year I didn't because a small group of parents complained that certain kids, including Bob were playing more than other kids. Bob was singled out because He was the only kid of one of the coaches. Never mind this was a school team, an equal playing time was never guaranteed to any kid or parent, and never mind that the other kids on the team consider him one of the 2-3 best players on the team--he was only playing as much because of me.

So this year I'm not coaching. I rarely even go to watch practice anymore because I'd be stuck with the parents who complained. Bob is playing for 4 coaches who have never coached him prior to this season. He's played 8 different positions this season (TE, OT, OG, DE, DT, OLB, ILB and LS). He currently starts at Guard on offense and Outside Linebacker on defense. According to the coaches, he's leading the team in tackles, tackles for loss, and sacks, and most weeks the only plays he comes of the field are kickoffs. For some amazing reason, the kids of the parents who complained still rarely play (probably because none of them actually want to play and so they put forth no effort in practice or in a game) and yet again those same parents are complaining again about unequal playing time.

We're creating a generation of kids who, because of their parents, expect everything to be handed to them, regardless of effort. When it isn't, they bitch and moan.

I have no idea how the score came to be 91-0, but I the coach of the losing team didn't see a basis to bitch, then the parents should have backed off and kept quiet. Believe me, we've seen our share of blowouts, and we've dealt with more than our share of dick moves by coaches. This past weekend, Bob's team was down 34-8 in the 4th quarter when the other team decided to run a fake punt. You know how it was answered?  The upback took the snap and ran right.  Bob plays left outside linebacker. They almost had to bring out a front loader to dig that kid out of the ground after Bob planted him in the dirt behind the line of scrimmage. It was a horseshit call by their coach, but it was answered perfectly.

My first thought was a 91-0 score is excessive, even for Texas high school football. My second thought is the parent who filed the bullying complaint is going to make things worse in ways he won't understand.
Fors and I trade email often about our sons' respective experiences in youth sports. Safe to say Bob and my son Zach are about as far away from each other about what they want to get out of youth sports. Zach has made one "elite" team in his life, and it was as a late season injury replacement. The best part of it for him was the team dinners. When we play a game in the town basketball league, the only reason he wants to know who we're playing is because he wants to know which friends are on the other team. Whether his team wins by 30 or loses in the last second, he's moved on to the next thing by the time we make it to the car. Unless he grows a foot and a half, he's probably not going to play high school sports.
There are times I feel like he's missing out on the youth sports experience, but I know from coaching and reading and hearing about the crap other parents go through and I'm almost glad sports aren't a priority in his life.
 

Last edited by artie_fufkin (10/22/2013 9:22 pm)