Little League All Stars - What does the DIS think about this?

[kydisneyfans]

While I agree that is why SOME parents sit on the board, there is also those of us who sit on the board for the betterment of the league. I believe that kids sports are good for our community and thus even though my DS had moved on up to another league for older players I spent and additional 2 years sitting on the board of the younger players.

Do not make assumptions and lump all board members into the self serving parent group, thank you.

I've been a part of 3 different organizations in different states and it has been the same everywhere, it's glad to hear of one somewhere out there.

 

[penn19]

While I agree that is why SOME parents sit on the board, there is also those of us who sit on the board for the betterment of the league. I believe that kids sports are good for our community and thus even though my DS had moved on up to another league for older players I spent and additional 2 years sitting on the board of the younger players.

Do not make assumptions and lump all board members into the self serving parent group, thank you.

Thank you. It is very offensive to me and my husband, and other members of our board who spend more hours than I can count, in addition to having full time jobs and other family members. When we take phone calls at 10 pm from a parent or coach who didn't like an umpires call, who thinks we should do it this way or that way, but when asked to help out say "oh I would love to but I work ya know".
We have members of our board who no longer have kids playing in our league, but volunteer their time because they enjoy doing it, and want to give back to the community.
And then this time of year, when we do want to recognize "all stars", we have parents who complain because in THEIR opinion, their child should have made it.
It's easy to coach from the cheap seats.

 

[mamacatnv]

Thank you. It is very offensive to me and my husband, and other members of our board who spend more hours than I can count, in addition to having full time jobs and other family members. When we take phone calls at 10 pm from a parent or coach who didn't like an umpires call, who thinks we should do it this way or that way, but when asked to help out say "oh I would love to but I work ya know".
We have members of our board who no longer have kids playing in our league, but volunteer their time because they enjoy doing it, and want to give back to the community.
And then this time of year, when we do want to recognize "all stars", we have parents who complain because in THEIR opinion, their child should have made it.
It's easy to coach from the cheap seats.

I love this! So very true and there are always way more mouths in the cheap seats than in the board room!

 

[dejr_8]

Yes, during the season. Afraid not at the All Star level, at least in our area. It's a different level of playing, and highly competitive.

Agree. It is my belief that the "A" team will have most of if not all of the (overly) competitive players (and parents) while the "B" team will be kids that are talented but don't eat and sleep baseball.

 

[dejr_8]

Very well said.

Please note I can only speak to my own experiences with this where I live. It may be very different elsewhere.

The whole A Team/B Team concept may be well intentioned, but in reality, I'm not sure it's all it's cracked up to be. Often, at least in the younger age groups, a lot depends more on who you know than what your skills are. As kids get older, the differences between the teams become almost non-exisitent, and here's why.

As kids move through the age groups, they change. Some get better and more passionate about the sport, and others, just the opposite - some spreading themselves very thin with many sports and activities, not making games and practices and such, and others concentrating on just one sport, the latter naturally becoming better. (Attitudes also play an important role in sports and kids attitudes can change at the age group we're talking about, often in a big way.)

Yet once an A or B Team player, always an A or B Team player, and for a variety of reasons. You could very well have a player who, at 10, was a B Team player, but by age 12 or 13, after working very hard at the sport, is now an A Team player but is still on the B Team. And vice versa - an A Team player at 10 but lack of practice and enthusiasm for the sport makes him now a B Level player at 12 or 13 yet still on the A Team.

So why not move? It may not be so much that the player doesn't like a different coach, but that the player is most comfortable with "their" coach and teammates and doesn't care to switch. They have a history together. And the coaches feel the same way, having groomed their players, they're happy to keep them. Even among coaches, it's competitive.

I have also seen coaches become so nutty that nobody wants to play for them anymore, so those coaches wind up with almost all new players every year so what may, in concept, be an A Team in reality becomes a C team, lol. Cause part of becoming a great team is learning to work together; it takes a long while to jibe as a team. So players and coaches who've been together, say, for years, could very well have better skills than a brand new team, and this may well be the B Team with better ooutlook and coaching.

I agree young players need to learn to play with a variety of coaches and styles if they're going to succeed. However, sometimes if a coach is too far out there, nobody is going to want to play for them and worse, players will lose enthusiasm for the sport. There should be a good balance of fun and discipline, ideally.

 

[mamacatnv]

Agree. It is my belief that the "A" team will have most of if not all of the (overly) competitive players (and parents) while the "B" team will be kids that are talented but don't eat and sleep baseball.

These kinds of statements bug me. What is the purpose of the "overly competitive" comment?

The bottom line is generally the coaches/league on the All-Star level want to win. End of story, they want to win and in that endeavor they want the best players they can get their hands on to win the games. The leagues get caught up in the politics because no matter what the league does someone will not be happy and that is generally someone who thinks their kid is an All-Star player even when the selecting coaches don't agree.

You also have to remember that sometimes kids are placed by positions. Example; In a league with 4 teams of one division........Johnny is a good 1st baseman Zachary is a bit better and Timmy is the best. The All-Star rosters can only have so many players, there is only room for 2 first basemen. So, Zachary and Timmy make the team and Johnny does not. Johnny's parents are ticked off, in their eyes, Johnny is the best 1st baseman and has somehow been looked over and tossed aside.

In my experience, when it comes to All-Star selections, its a collaborative effort with all the coaches having a say. Some of the leagues here actually allow the kids to seat the majority of the All-Star teams with a few openings left for coaches choices.

In all my years I never saw true vengeance played out when it came to All-Stars. I did see some kids skipped because their parents were so obnoxious that no one wanted to deal with them, I also saw kids not making an All-Star team because while they may have been excellent players, they were an attitude/behavior problem or had such poor sportsmanship that they would have been embarrassing to take to a tournament level.

Remember, when you are writing a check for your kid to play the must play rules come into play, when your kid makes it to a tournament level its all about the chances of fielding a winning combination.

 

[Bungle]

Baseball is about fun, but its also learning team work and cooperation. You are not always going to get a coach or even team parent that you like, but that's just how it goes. If you do not feel comfortable with the way all stars is handled in your league maybe moving to a community center team would be better?

We use this model for our league and it works for us. There is no more kids switching back and forth to get the coach they want or to be on teams with their friends. Little League is not a forced activity and neither is All Stars. I'm sure your league put a lot of thought into if this was a good move for all the players.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

You can talk to many people involved with a team, or a league, and get a variety of different opinions based on each person's perspective.

One thing that's fairly certain is that if a player makes a team, everyone wishes for that player's success, as well as the team's success.

Coaches make decisions based on things that parents don't or may not realize. Parents often think it's personal, but more than likely, it's probably not. OR, sometimes a coach is doing something purposefully to help a kid along, but parents don't realize it's for that reason. For example, one of my son's coaches will drop a player down in the batting order if he's struggling at the plate, believing it helps take the pressure off the player. If parents don't understand that, they think that Johnny is getting picked on, maybe "not liked". But actually, Johnny may benefit being able to relax a bit. (And the funny part is that Johnny himself usually understands this.) Or if a Stevie comes to the field tired or otherwise unprepared, putting him in to play at a critical time might set him and the team up for failure. Nothing like a game turning error at a critical time to drop a player's self esteem. But all the family sees is that Stevie didn't play much. Tommy may be complaining his arm's hurting him and he can't throw from from the usual positions he plays - catching, 3rd or Short. So coach puts him at 2nd which causes other players to move, and other players' families (and sometimes players themselves) become upset even though coach always reserves the right to put players where he best sees fit and nobody "owns" a position, etc. Yet parents are on the stands complaining (and may in fact have valid points) that their kid has never missed a practice or game and has "earned" a position at second (that Tommy has now moved into) and on and on...

Coaches are sensitive to how people are feeling, but always has to go with his gut in the interest of all players as well as the team. They keep the big picture in mind while it's natural for families to only see things from their own perspective. Always interesting.

Communication between coaches and parents isn't always great, nor should it necessarily have to be, especially when it comes to plays. I mean, a coach shouldn't have to explain every little move to parents. But parents need to have enough confidence in a coach to feel confident things aren't personal.

Players also tend to over-personalize things, and to do so in dramatic fashion, lol. When and if you talk to the coach, he may have a very different take on the same situation.

Coaches do NOT like parents breathing down their backs. And believe it or not, they like parents that are involved. It just behooves everyone to find a good balance between involvement and over-involvement.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I suppose I should put in a word for parents as well since my last post *could* appear to favor coaches. As a baseball parent myself, I've been through the gamut of emotions, too.

Probably the biggest complaint I hear from other parents is that coaches yell at other kids for mistakes that they don't say anything to their own kid for making. Your kid makes it, gets yelled at loudly. Coach's kid makes it, silence. (Though one year we had an assistant coach that actually used to yell at and blame another kid when his kid made an error. It became the running joke that year it was so blatant. Head coach even had to call him on it cause he was sick of his kid getting yelled at too, lol.) Coaches, if you want to yell, yell. (More on this later.) But if you do yell, please do it to your own kid as well. Be an Equal Opportunity Yeller (EOY).

Re: yelling. We know it's frustrating making bad plays and losing games. And at times, even embarrassing and humiliating in front of your friends and peers. We know you've put your heart into it, and we have, too. We love this team that our kids are so invested in and have gotten so much from. But you need to realize that when you yell at the kids, it doesn't improve their performance. In fact, it has the exact opposite effect. Performance tends to downward spiral from all team members - it's even predictable. (Some of the other Moms and I were joking this past weekend that we should be in charge of a game or two. )

We as parents do need to realize a few things. That it gets harder as our kids get older in the sport. Not every coach is going to be "nice", and some may be downright, well, mean, actually. That's the way it is. If we don't prepare our kids for this, we're doing them a disservice if they want to continue in the sport. As they get older, less kids play, there are fewer teams and competition is fierce. They may even be looking for reasons to get rid of kids to whittle their numbers down. Getting upset about being yelled at is a sure fire way to become labeled. Baseball kids NEED to learn how to shake it off and move on to the next play. If they can do that as well as show up for games and practices, have a good attitude and good behavior on the bench, some natural ability, and be able to take what the coach says and do it, i.e. learn and grow, then you have a player with staying power in the sport.

I read a few things recently two of which I'll share here.

There is a big difference between a kid who plays baseball and a baseball player. IMO a kid who plays baseball will eventually quit when he finds something better to do with his time. A baseball player won't quit till no one will let him play because to him it’s always fun. ETA I believe this means "fun" to the player because of a passion for play and love of the game.

Pressure is part of all sports and its impact in youth sports is something we need to carefully evaluate. The spotlight is brightest in baseball; there is simply no place to hide. For the pitcher, batter, catcher and anybody the ball is hit to, all the attention of parents and peers is riveted on that player. In soccer, basketball or other sports, it's easy enough to "blend in", but not in baseball. I have tremendous respect for every kid who takes the risk and goes out to play ball - especially the kids who are not as talented; it's not easy.

 

[kristen821]

I know with my son he doesn't mind getting yelled at for the most part. It bothers me more then him. He has only had one coach that was down right mean. But, it was crazy. My son was mainly pitcher and short stop and he'd want him to cover most of the in field and outfield. The third baseman missed a ball thrown to him from the catcher and he was having my son cover third base to get the throws plus cover most other positions too. It was beyond ridiculous and really not fair to the kids that he was making it clear that he felt they aren't good enough. He would want my son to pitch as if he was a pro. He could strike a kid out but if it wasn't the exact pitch he wanted he was screaming at him. My son was 10 at the time. It's almost impossible for a kid that age to pitch every curve ball, slider, fast ball, change up, etc. perfect and a missed pitch is literally by an inch or two. It was so bad. Luckily we are playing for another team that the coaches are wonderful. They will correct a kid if they do something good, but also praise him for doing good.
I give a ton of respect to coaches it is a very thankless job. I appreciate all the good coaches that my son has had and they each have taught him a little something to create the player he is today.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My son was mainly pitcher and short stop and he'd want him to cover most of the in field and outfield. The third baseman missed a ball thrown to him from the catcher and he was having my son cover third base to get the throws plus cover most other positions too. It was beyond ridiculous

I'm sure it was crazy, as it probably is for most kids as well. There is a lot to learn when learning to play the game correctly.

A pitcher's job is pretty stressful. Not only does he have the job of pitching to batters, he has to cover all bases in the infield when those basemen have to come off their bases and back up other plays as well during the frenzied excitement of a game. It's not easy teaching these skills to 10 year olds when they're just learning!

After the ball is pitched

The pitcher's duty does not cease after he pitches the ball. He has several standard roles at that point. The pitcher must attempt to field any balls coming up the middle, and in fact a Gold Glove Award is reserved for the pitcher with the best fielding ability. He must also cover first base on balls hit to the right side, since the first baseman might be fielding them. On passed balls and wild pitches, he covers home-plate when there are runners on. Also, he generally backs up throws to home plate. When there is a throw from the outfield to third base, he has to back up the play to third base as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcher

But yes, a coach needs to have at least some patience when working with 10 yr olds. They don't get good at it overnight - it takes a lot of experience, repetition, and yes, mistakes they'll eventually learn from if they stick with it.

 

[dejr_8]

These kinds of statements bug me. What is the purpose of the "overly competitive" comment?

Why is that such a difficult statement to understand. I would say it is equivalent to saying someone is overly enthusiastic about Disney.

To some, they would be proud to be considered overly enthusiastic about Disney just as some are proud to be considered to overly competitive.

But if you aren't a Disney fanatic you probably wouldn't want to vacation with someone who was a Disney Commando. Same goes for a sports team,

 

[kristen821]

I'm sure it was crazy, as it probably is for most kids as well. There is a lot to learn when learning to play the game correctly.

A pitcher's job is pretty stressful. Not only does he have the job of pitching to batters, he has to cover all bases in the infield when those basemen have to come off their bases and back up other plays as well during the frenzied excitement of a game. It's not easy teaching these skills to 10 year olds when they're just learning!



But yes, a coach needs to have at least some patience when working with 10 yr olds. They don't get good at it overnight - it takes a lot of experience, repetition, and yes, mistakes they'll eventually learn from if they stick with it.

It was when he was playing short he'd expect him to cover everything. Pitching he knows he covers all the empty bases. He wanted him to cover everything as short because he wouldn't drop the ball. It was a lot of pressure for him and not fair to the other kids. This was during regular season when not all the players were at an all-star level. During all-stars it was the pitching that had to be almost at pro level. It was crazy and to the point that coaches from other teams would tell him to chill out.

 

[tvguy]

I served on a Little League board for 6 years, never did like All Stars. Same pattern every year, about 4 clear picks at each age group, and then 8 slots left for about 30 players of about equal ability.
I certainly would not like having 2 All Star teams with one considered inferior....although it always is fun when something like that happens and the "inferior" team either goes further than the "A" team, or they end up at some point playing each other and the "B" team eliminates the "A" team.
However, I have no issue with them only being allowed to play on the team they were selected for....not a fan of coach, or player shopping.

 

[kristen821]

Why is that such a difficult statement to understand. I would say it is equivalent to saying someone is overly enthusiastic about Disney.

To some, they would be proud to be considered overly enthusiastic about Disney just as some are proud to be considered to overly competitive.

But if you aren't a Disney fanatic you probably wouldn't want to vacation with someone who was a Disney Commando. Same goes for a sports team,

I don't think you meant it the way that it was read, but I see were someone could have taken offense. My son is a very competitive baseball player. He loves the game and plays his heart out. If you have one of these kids you hear it constantly. Your child is the most hated kid from parents on other teams, but the most loved kid by the parents of the same team. The problem isn't with the kids because the kids from all teams usually love the competitive player it's more an issue with parents. The same parents that will love your child the next year when their child is a teammate.
Again, I don't think you meant to be offensive at all, but when things are in writing it can be read differently then you may have meant it

 

[scrapquitler]

because at the end of the day isn't little league baseball about having fun.

Sure, Little League is about having fun, but if you get to the level where you are invited to play on an All Stars team, then it starts to become a competitive endeavor, not just a recreational one. It's also a learning endeavor, not just how to play the game, but how to be a good sport, how to be part of a team and yes, how to get along with people.

 

[mamacatnv]

Agree. It is my belief that the "A" team will have most of if not all of the (overly) competitive players (and parents) while the "B" team will be kids that are talented but don't eat and sleep baseball.

Why is that such a difficult statement to understand. I would say it is equivalent to saying someone is overly enthusiastic about Disney.

To some, they would be proud to be considered overly enthusiastic about Disney just as some are proud to be considered to overly competitive.

But if you aren't a Disney fanatic you probably wouldn't want to vacation with someone who was a Disney Commando. Same goes for a sports team,

You stated the A team would have (overly) competitive players (and parents)
What the heck does that mean?
How about the A team has more talent - because in the scenario you describe that is what it is, they are better players.

You then stated the B team would have talented players who "don't eat and sleep baseball" again, I don't get it? What does this have to do with anything?

I surmise by these comments that you feel the A team is somehow being comprised not of the more talented players but as a group of overly competitive players/parents and I asked - what exactly does that mean?

I don't understand your statement. There is nothing wrong with being competitive and who gets to judge what "overly" competitive means? You said kids don't want to play on the A team because of the coach. How does that play into the "overly" competitive comment?

It sounds like sour grapes. You said your kids are solid B team players - is that because they are not in your words "overly competitive"?

What it says to me is they are more of an average player and don't have the advanced skills for the A team.

 

[jrmasm]

You stated the A team would have (overly) competitive players (and parents)
What the heck does that mean?
How about the A team has more talent - because in the scenario you describe that is what it is, they are better players.

You then stated the B team would have talented players who "don't eat and sleep baseball" again, I don't get it? What does this have to do with anything?

I surmise by these comments that you feel the A team is somehow being comprised not of the more talented players but as a group of overly competitive players/parents and I asked - what exactly does that mean?

I don't understand your statement. There is nothing wrong with being competitive and who gets to judge what "overly" competitive means? You said kids don't want to play on the A team because of the coach. How does that play into the "overly" competitive comment?

It sounds like sour grapes. You said your kids are solid B team players - is that because they are not in your words "overly competitive"?

What it says to me is they are more of an average player and don't have the advanced skills for the A team.

I know nothing about Little League so I have to ask why on earth would there be an All Star team comprised of average players?

 

[scrapquitler]

I know nothing about Little League so I have to ask why on earth would there be an All Star team comprised of average players?

For the same reason every child gets a trophy. We wouldn't want to hurt their self esteem.

 

[jrmasm]

For the same reason every child gets a trophy. We wouldn't want to hurt their self esteem.

Ok, thanks.