Sparks Journey from Little League to College

[tradosaurus]

I would look at getting him on a legion team this summer. Give him something to look forward to.

Counsel him to stay on his high school team, if for nothing else, to keep in baseball shape.

Something else is going on with the situation that you are not aware so have your son schedule a private meeting with the head coach to find out. If that doesn't work out meet with the coach yourself.

I wonder how many parents of top caliber kids worry about the same problem? If my son was going to a bigger school I would.

[Sparksdale]

pthawaii,

I never vent to anyone at all..... not even my boy.

[Sparksdale]

I would look at getting him on a legion team this summer. Give him something to look forward to.

Counsel him to stay on his high school team, if for nothing else, to keep in baseball shape.

Something else is going on with the situation that you are not aware so have your son schedule a private meeting with the head coach to find out. If that doesn't work out meet with the coach yourself.

I wonder how many parents of top caliber kids worry about the same problem? If my son was going to a bigger school I would.

tradosaurus,

Our head coach has one rule he stresses at the beginning of every year and this year he stressed it to the parents again..... and I quote..... "NEVER EVER EVER EVER TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR KID AND PLAYING TIME...... EVER EVER EVER." End of quote.

Telling my boy to sit in the dugout while his team is getting blasted by other teams..... I don't know how to say it other than he's not made that way.

The coach will not in any way talk to me about my boy not playing. I tried that last year when he refused to put my boy on the varsity. I waited until the season was over and asked him via email why. His response to me was my boy's numbers did not justify putting him on Varsity. Even though he put 4 other kids on the Varsity instead of my boy off of the JV team. My boy lead every offensive category in hitting and no other pitcher came within a mile of his numbers pitching. He had the most stolen bases, highest batting average, most RBI and his on base percentage was so far ahead of the other boys it wasn't funny. yet his numbers did not justify putting him on Varsity.

Now, this year, my boy's last game he pitched probably the best 5 innings in our schools history with 10 strikeouts and NO WALKS yet when his turn comes to pitch he sits on the bench.

I would love to know what's going on..... we are looking at options of sending him to another school but I can't figure a way around this rule. My boy has worked too hard all his life for this to happen and I've got to figure something out. His heart is broken and as a parent I feel I must step in and do what I can........ if anything.

Lamar

[tradosaurus]

Check your state for "out of district' waviers" that may be available.

Also check if your son would have to sit out a year of sports from transferring. I would do it now rather than later if there is an issue.

Try not to make too many waves as word can travel and you may end up in the same boat with another coach in another school.

I would still look into other baseball venues such as travel or legion ball.

[JJA]

Personally I don't think he should be looking to transfer. You have to figure out what is going on. Just a couple of weeks ago the coach said he was going to be the starting pitcher and starting catcher, could play college ball, and now he's on the bench. Something is going on. Maybe he screwed up in practice, didn't hustle or was late to practice, mouthed off to another player or coach, something dumb like that. Your boy should be able to find out what is going on, if he doesn't already know. It almost certainly isn't because the coach hates him. He throws too hard for the coach to hate him. Something must have happened. The key is finding out what that was.

Just my two cents. I've seen this a lot in high school, and it's almost always because the player did something stupid. It's almost never because the coach hates a player, especially when they're as talented as your boy is.

[Sparksdale]

The more I think about it the more I think the coach was just talking at the banquet (blowing smoke).
I think he said a lot of positive things about all the kids and he never intended for them to be true.

I think my boy would tell me if something happened at practice..... word would have gotten back to me about it. So I'm 99.9percent sure that isn't' it.

I think our coach doesn't care about this year and is thinking 5 years down the road. Our school is known for having a pretty good football team but it's also known that most of our football players only play football. I think our coach is trying to bridge the gap and get the football players to play baseball. He brought 3 football players in this year and immediately put all them in the starting lineup. I love these boys and I've known them all their lives. They are great football players but I knew them when they played LL. They weren't good players then and they aren't good players now. But they've been handed the keys to the team and we are getting blown away by 1A schools. (we are a 6A school)

Let me tell you what the coach told us at the beginning of the year at the coaches parent meeting. He said he was tired and embarrassed at not looking like a 6A school. As a result he put 10 players off the JV team onto the Varsity that will get little if any playing time. He wants at least 25 players on the team so we can look like a 6A school. He actually said this.... now he's got these football players that are big and I think he likes their size. He likes to look out onto the field and see big players

That's what some of us parents are thinking...... we don't know what's going on.

We have another game tomorrow..... we'll see what happens.

All I know if I do try and talk to the coach my boy will suffer even more. This coach will not tolerate parents talking to him about kids playing time.

Sparks

[songtitle]

Well, Sparks they don't call this a 'ride' for no reason. You (like all Dads) have gone from manic (post 1257 on 2/14) to depressive (post 1305 on 2/23) - in 9 days

Relax. The season is long.

I don't take my own advice. I do the same thing. :crossfingers:

[Jake Patterson]

After coming off an all-star HS season, my son played Legion ball. The coach was an absolute idiot and he and my son did not hit it off very well. To prove a point the coach would not play him. After starting every game in HS he did not play ONE inning in Legion. Obviously my son wanted to quit... and I would not let him.

Long story short - My son learned a very valuable life lesson about not quiting... The coach is still an idiot.

My point... Of all the lessons baseball can teach a young man, you may be at a point where your grandosn can learnsome of the most important.

[tradosaurus]

Jake,

You are certainly right as the father in directing your son in this manner.

However was there more to this story? Why did your son and the coach not "hit it off very well"? Was it something your son said?

If it was just a matter of the coach being an idiot, if my son was in the same situation (starter in varsity but not getting to play at all in legion) I would have pulled my son off the team in a heartbeat after telling the coach he was an idiot (if I couldn't get the coach fired beforehand).

The lesson being that in the real world if your supervisor is an idiot and you are suffering then find another job.

[JJA]

Jake,

You are certainly right as the father in directing your son in this manner.

However was there more to this story? Why did your son and the coach not "hit it off very well"? Was it something your son said?

If it was just a matter of the coach being an idiot, if my son was in the same situation (starter in varsity but not getting to play at all in legion) I would have pulled my son off the team in a heartbeat after telling the coach he was an idiot (if I couldn't get the coach fired beforehand).

The lesson being that in the real world if your supervisor is an idiot and you are suffering then find another job.

That certainly is an option. We have a lot of kids at our high school who do indeed transfer in the hopes of greener pastures. In a couple of cases it's worked a little I guess, but assuming it's going to be a lot better elsewhere is generally unrealistic. In most of the cases, a guy who doesn't play at our high school doesn't play at others.

The problem with quitting is that generally it means you're done with the game. Certainly an option, but it is really an option of last resort. If the kid really wants to stay with the game, it is almost always better to just grin and bear it, and find a way to get on the field.

[daque]

Even a train stops. Players get off at different stops. Some facing the full sized diamond, some trying out for HS, some after or during HS, and sitting the bench at college level. The game will tell you when your ride is over. For the most part, switching venues does little to stop the down hill slide. Either tough it up and force the coach to recognize that you are one of the top nine or ....

[tradosaurus]

That certainly is an option. We have a lot of kids at our high school who do indeed transfer in the hopes of greener pastures. In a couple of cases it's worked a little I guess, but assuming it's going to be a lot better elsewhere is generally unrealistic. In most of the cases, a guy who doesn't play at our high school doesn't play at others.

The problem with quitting is that generally it means you're done with the game. Certainly an option, but it is really an option of last resort. If the kid really wants to stay with the game, it is almost always better to just grin and bear it, and find a way to get on the field.

The problem is when a kid gets NO playing time as Jake informed us with his son. And being legion ball, and not high school ball, I wouldn't have wasted my time or my son's time while he sat the bench so he could learn life's great lesson.

This happened to my 2nd oldest son on JV football while he was a junior. He would get ONE play every game as receiver because the receiver's coach son played every down (and wasn't good at all). My son didn't try out for varsity his senior year because he knew it was pointless. My son went on to get a full D1 academic ride for 4 years. At least they couldn't take away his grades and ACT score. LOL

[Jake Patterson]

Jake,

You are certainly right as the father in directing your son in this manner.
However was there more to this story? Why did your son and the coach not "hit it off very well"? Was it something your son said?

No... He never talked to my son to explain why he was sitting. The following two years, with different coaches, he played nearly every game. My son approached him and asked him what was up, and he would not speak with him... I never had a problem with anyone sitting my kids when they deserved it.., as long as the coach was man enough to speak with them. This guy wasn't.

If it was just a matter of the coach being an idiot, if my son was in the same situation (starter in varsity but not getting to play at all in legion) I would have pulled my son off the team in a heartbeat after telling the coach he was an idiot (if I couldn't get the coach fired beforehand).

Getting him dismissed was definately an option, but what lesson does that teach??

The lesson being that in the real world if your supervisor is an idiot and you are suffering then find another job.

On the other hand... When you commit to a team then stick with it.

[Sparksdale]

Jake,

You hit the nail on the head. A coach should explain to a kid why he isn't playing. I can fully understand why the coach wouldn't tell a parent. But my God let this kid know, a kid who has bled and broke bones for you for years know what he has done or at least what he needs to do to get to the level where the coach thinks he should play.

Before the season started the coach called each kid into his office, one by one. He told my boy face to face that this was his team (my boy's) and another kid on our team who has signed a scholarship and is a wonderful player. Anyway, he told my boy he expected him and this other boy to be a leader and lead this team.

When the season starts my boy sits and sits all the while 1A schools are ripping our team apart.

Anyway, we have another game tomorrow night and we'll see what happens. My boy is supposed to pitch but who knows......

Sparks

[Justice23]

tradosaurus,

Our head coach has one rule he stresses at the beginning of every year and this year he stressed it to the parents again..... and I quote..... "NEVER EVER EVER EVER TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR KID AND PLAYING TIME...... EVER EVER EVER." End of quote.

<snip>

The coach will not in any way talk to me about my boy not playing. I tried that last year when he refused to put my boy on the varsity.

<snip>

Lamar

Sparks,
First off, I have enjoyed reading this entire thread and I hope you get to the bottom of this without the boy having to quit on his team.

Maybe I missed it but has your Grandson advocated for himself with the coach and asked him why he is getting so little playing time? I totally get the coach not discussing playing time with parents but a boy your boys age should be able to get a minute of the coaches time and try to get an answer to the issue.

Good luck, I hope he's on the bump today.