I apologize in advance but I just need to blow off some steam. It's either that or put the muzzle to the medulla!
I coach a girls travel softball team (mostly 18 and under girls) and the parents are driving me crazy! Don't get me wrong we have some good parents but some of them take the frickin' cake! Our season resumed this weekend after a 3 month lay-off for high school softball (most of our girls play 12 months a year). We had a tourney in Columbus with an 8AM game Saturday morning. I got a call at 7PM Friday night from the mom of a team captain saying the player was going to quit because "another team wanted her really bad!" They'd decided a few days previous but waited until 13 hours before game-time to inform the coaches. What the hell kind of lesson does that teach the girl? Last week I had our starting centerfielder quit because she's mad at her Dad and to teach him a lesson she's quit softball. And as an added bonus, the dad called me up demanding a refund of the player fees or he was going to sue me! I'd never met the Dad; he never comes to games or practices and honestly I thought this was a family of divorce. I explained to him that we have to pay our tourney fees months in advance and because his daughter quit, there'd be no refund. He screamed and cursed and generally mad an ass out of himself so I hung up.
Then, as a topper to a fine week, I lost my best pitcher to a broken ankle in our first game Saturday morning. She's out until September.
I don't know what possesses parents to act in such a selfish manner. It's no surprise that some of the kids today are totally self-absorbed. Don't get me wrong, I've got some great girls on the team but some days I'd cheerfully kill the whole lot of them.
Rant over, please return to normal programming.
I coach a girls travel softball team (mostly 18 and under girls) and the parents are driving me crazy! Don't get me wrong we have some good parents but some of them take the frickin' cake! Our season resumed this weekend after a 3 month lay-off for high school softball (most of our girls play 12 months a year). We had a tourney in Columbus with an 8AM game Saturday morning. I got a call at 7PM Friday night from the mom of a team captain saying the player was going to quit because "another team wanted her really bad!" They'd decided a few days previous but waited until 13 hours before game-time to inform the coaches. What the hell kind of lesson does that teach the girl? Last week I had our starting centerfielder quit because she's mad at her Dad and to teach him a lesson she's quit softball. And as an added bonus, the dad called me up demanding a refund of the player fees or he was going to sue me! I'd never met the Dad; he never comes to games or practices and honestly I thought this was a family of divorce. I explained to him that we have to pay our tourney fees months in advance and because his daughter quit, there'd be no refund. He screamed and cursed and generally mad an ass out of himself so I hung up.
Then, as a topper to a fine week, I lost my best pitcher to a broken ankle in our first game Saturday morning. She's out until September.
I don't know what possesses parents to act in such a selfish manner. It's no surprise that some of the kids today are totally self-absorbed. Don't get me wrong, I've got some great girls on the team but some days I'd cheerfully kill the whole lot of them.
Rant over, please return to normal programming.