Monday, October 23, 2006

Why it sucks to coach

At times it can be completely unrewarding to volunteer as a coach these days. In fact, it can be dangerous:

The father of a young football player pulled a gun on his son's coach because he didn't think the boy was getting enough playing time, Philadelphia police said on Monday.

Wayne Derkotch, 40, was charged with aggravated assault after getting in a fight with the coach over the amount of time the boy was getting on the field at a game for 6- and 7-year-olds on Sunday morning, said police spokesman Officer Raul Malveiro.


I helped a friend coach a little league team last year, and while things were quite tame, it was still amazing to see the things he had to put up with as head coach. One kid's mother thought her kid should be starting, hitting higher in the order, and playing in the infield. She gave my friend an earful. He was late to the next game so I made out the line up just as it had been the week before. When he got there, he ripped it up and had the kid lead off and play short. He had apparently been getting angry phone calls from the mother, so to prove his point that the young lad did not belong in those positions, he let her have her way for one game. It was unfortunate, too, because the kid made a fool of himself and because he did not have the talent for those positions, he could have been hurt. But some parents don't see that.

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