How NOT to coach a Youth League team – Part I

We timed our trip to West Virginia to be able to attend some of Jericho’s ballgames. Because of rain, we only got to see one, but it certainly provided all the entertainment one could hope for – and then some.

The age-group Jericho is currently in has a pretty wide range, size wise. Many are smaller than Jericho and others much larger. Some of the bigger kids can put it out of the ballpark or make the backstop ring with a pitched ball that the catcher doesn’t stop. Boys on this side of a growth spurt don’t do that as well. And there were one or two… So between those who stood out and those who simply stood up, there were many opportunities to marvel as well as hold your breath.

And so it went, until about the 6^th inning. Jericho’s team was in the field and an opposing player got a modest hit and tore out for the bases. In this league, making a double out of a single isn’t hard to do – however one should at least come somewhere close to 1^st base in the process. The referee stepped out from behind the plate and told the kid on Jericho’s team who ended up with the ball to make the throw to 1^st – the runner had not tagged.

Now you have to remember that this is Parks and Rec ball, and the umpires are high-school kids trying to make a few bucks during the summer. The youngster didn’t realize that it was wrong for him to advise the other team of the runner’s error, and he was clearly at a loss as to why the coach for the other team came boiling out of the dugout. He got in the Ump’s face. Really got in his face. Somewhere during the Saturday morning the Rec Department spent on training high schoolers to be umpires, they probably told them that belligerent coach (BCs) should be tossed, and so the kid used the only defense he had against this overwhelming tirade and threw the coach out of the game. This brought the assistant coaches out of the dugout and then it got really interesting.

Reinforced, the coach continued to yell and harass the kid. He picked up the bat that the runner had tossed and during his verbal barrage shook the bat in the Ump’s face. This brought the coaches from Jericho’s team out of their dugout and they began to pull the BC away from what appeared to be a physical threat against the boy. This set off the BC’s assistant (later learned he was the Dad of the BC; I guess he thought his 35 year-old child was in danger) and he actually had to be restrained by the volunteer coaches – he was coming after Jericho’s coach big time. By this time the Ump had pretty well identified the behavioral pattern of belligerent coaches, so he ejected Dad, too. Dad’s wife promptly took charge of Dad and they left – probably hurrying to the ER because it really looked like he was going to have a stroke then and there. Meanwhile, the BC continued his tirade in fits and starts, and then the cops showed up.

Sorry, I have to milk this for all it's worth. Stay tuned for part II.