Back in the day, one of my best friends was a LL umpire. If and when the crap started from the peanut gallery, he would call time, then go into his little speech.

 

"Folks, it's (hot, cold, wet, windy, whatever). Keep it up and we will all go home early. And by the way, your team will forfeit."

 

I have no idea if that was persissible then or now; but it did the trick.

Parents and coaches can be real idiots. Everyone thinks their "little all star" is the next MLB star. I'm sure there wasn't any college or pro scouts at the game. Kids just love to play and the parents and coaches should let them. It's not a matter of life or death. It's just a kid's game. If I was the ump, I would have tossed the father, the kid, the coach(s), the ugly fat lady and anyone else who opened their mouth. If that didn't get the job done, I would have called the game and said, "see you idiots later". Grow up and act like adults and let kids be kids.

 

I assume that the ump has the authority to toss anyone he wants from the field/stadium? And if so, I would have ejected everyone too.

As a lot of people know I oversee a group of people who clean some of the county parks as well as close them. You would be surprised just how much drinking is going on during those games and I am not just talking beer but hard liquor.

 

Funny but when I umpired back in the day it wasn't the kids or in most cases it wasn't even the coaches but the parents, who caused the trouble, I guess some things never change!

 

Heck when I started to coach I had a written set of rules that I had each parent sign, spelling out what we as a team excepted from the parents at the games. BTW I can't believe the number of parents who stay and watch practice today, I mean practice?

Back in the day, I was happy when practice was over, (we did have a set time) that the parents showed up to take home their kids.

 

"I'll fight any coach who tries to change Little Johnny's swing/jumper."

 

That's what all of them are thinking. That's why they watch practice. Heaven forbid some low-rent youth coach take tens of thousands of highly unlikely scholarship dollars out of their pockets.

Let me tell you how bad it is now with parents. (sorry this is a long winded story)

 

3 years ago or so the football team I was coaching had 3 7th graders that got some decent time playing with the 8th grade team as well. Well a couple of parents got a little tiffy about it and started a few rumblings about among themselves about how the only reason that one of these kids was playing on both teams was because he was the coaches son's. This went on for about 2 weeks or so without my knowledge until one day, during practice during a water break one of those 3 kids says "Coach can I ask you something?" he then ask "Which one of us is your son?" Puzzled I replied back to him that I felt that all the kids on the team were mine and he replied "No coach seriously, my mom says after every game you play your son to much, and I have tried for weeks to figure out which one of us is your son?" My asst coaches started busting out laughing as I stood there with this dumb founded look on my face. Other kids started chiming in about how their parents had made similar comments. There was only one issue, I dont have any kids, none of the other coaches on the staff had kids except for one, and he had a 3 year old at the time.

 

Needless to say it was a running joke with the kids and the coaches the rest of the season.

PP92 Sr. sounds like a very wise man. :thumb:

 

He truly is but I was 25-26 before I realized just how wise he is.

I've learned with my oldest son to talk about the games or practices on their terms. When they want to talk they are more receptive to advice/coaching. I've been able to take those lessons learned and apply them to my youngest.

One of the things I loved most about the Cooperstown Field of Dreams complex and tournament is that they stick parents down the RF and LF lines. No parents behind the backstop or near the dugouts or the players during the game. Always a few exceptions, but mostly just kids playing baseball. Now after the game, I'm sure moms and dads can scold their future major league for making an error or striking out, but at least during the game, it's just the kids and coaches. Great experience. Done it twice and loved it both times.

 

The new CTC Fields in Morrow, Oh were built that way specifically for that reason. Brian Conley the owner of the fields was tired of dealing with the parents screaming and yelling at little Johnny and the umps during the games. Brian decided to build the fields specifically to resemble the Cooperstown feel. The Cincy Flames and Cincinnati Stix younger teams use these facilities as their home fields. One of the fields has a Green Monster in left field just like Fenway. When the facility is totally completed it will be super cool..

He truly is but I was 25-26 before I realized just how wise he is.

 

That's pretty normal, I think.

Plantman, that is a great story

^

 

My dad never watched me practice when he wasn't the coach. My dad also never talked bad about any of my coaches in my presence.

I coach 5-12 year old wrestling. NO parents are allowed in practice. I've been to a baseball practice my brother conducted where the parents were allowed. I say the no parent rule is a very good one. The kids learn more and you don't have to deal with pain in the *** parents.

When I coached 5th grade hoops, I told the parents the gym was my classroom. I expected them to treat it like they would their kids regular classroom.

Well.....when I read the title, I thought this thread was going to take a completely different path, and you were going to tell us about the little league mothers. I have to get my mind out of the gutter.

Sounds like a typical game for the American Legion teams.Back to the current issue, the coaches are right about the umpire addressing them instead of the players. Unless the coaches aren't controlling their own players, which in this case it sounds like they weren't.

 

Exactly the teams that I thought of when I read this.

My experience (and probably Coop's) says that at that age you're not coaching them like you will when they age a bit.

 

I think a good rule for a parent , regardless if coaching, is to not bring up any game/practice conversation in the car. Give the kid time to chill and wind down before you start your "coaching."

 

Not easy.

 

I take the opposite approach, but I think that it depends on the kid. I do my coaching in the car after the game when it is fresh. I leave it as soon as the point has been made or praise has been given. When we get home, I don't bring up anything bad that happened in the game, only the positives. However, it depends on how your kids are. If my Dad brought stuff up to me after a bad game...not good. I was my own worst enemy. My boys are way easier going and can forget about a game moments after it is over.

A number of years ago my little brother was playing in a 8-9 year old league. There was a large older woman behind the backstop just screaming for the first couple of innings. The umpire walked back to the screen between innings and quietly showed the woman his badge (off-duty police officer) and told her if she wasn't quiet the rest of the game he was going to have her arrested for disturbing the peace. She was quiet for about a week and everytime he wasn't there she was back to her normal obnoxious self.