[LOVEITALL]

I moved to Campbellsville 5 years ago and coached Babe Ruth team. The parents were great during the regular season when we won the Title, but when things got tough in the District they turned on me quickly. I talked to coaches in the City and from around the area and they said that Taylor County had a bad reputation in regards to the attitude and that they had a perceived superiority complex. I know when Coach Cotton went through as far as the parents and it is almost an impossible job to coach in TC. There are hundreds if not thousands of wannabe coaches in TC that know more than the coach in their mind.

Well this post is quickly becomming a conversation of what role parents have in youth and high school sports. Times have changed the days of being there for a kid and seeing him develope are gone. The coaches are more about winning and there reputation than helping little Johnny. Im sure there are exceptions but the kids are the last thing on the coaches minds.Lets go to youth sports like the brahma bull mentioned. He coached a Babe Ruth team I would venture to guess that no coach in that league was without a kid on the team, there might be an if so that is great.I would also guess that 90% of the coaches in that league had their kids playing middle infield (unless they were lefties) batting at the top of the order. I would also deduce that very few of the coaches had any measurable success on the diamond as a player.What point am I making? The point is in youth sports the good coach is the guy who takes the worst player at the beginning of the sason and makes him better. He doesnt worry who gets to coach the allstar team so his son can get taken care of. High school, I wont address other than to say coaches shouldnt have there sons on the team. (look at Bell Co) and what happened in the border bowl.Now some instances it cant be helped but in the old days the coaches were much harder on their own sons,now it is the opposite because of the money at stake on the next level.If you look back all the problems started happening when youth sports started becomming profitable.The coaching lessons the money the league needs to travel to one of a hundred different world series.Why does a high school baseball team need to travel to FL. to play Ky teams during spring break? I will tell you why so the coaches can get a free vacation. Make them pay for 100% of their familys expenses and you will see alot more local baseball at spring break. The reason I use baseball as an example is my kids were involved in it when they were in H.S. Im sure the other sports are right there with baseball.I think it is important for parents to make sure their kids get a fair shot. I have seen many that dont and its ashame.Just because a guy is on the inside of the fence does not make him an expert in most cases only a better politician to get into clicks that so many of these leagues have.Most of these allstar teams are the same in t-ball as in babe ruth and the same dads are coaching all the way thru.But if you look,how many 12 yr old phenoms ever did anything in H.S. not many.They implemented the fall back rule in baseball because all the kids were quitting youth baseball,they had had enough of the coaches playing favorites so they let older kids play.That in itself should tell you something.The Cal Ripkin league was started because the was a need for coaches to leave little league because they had player friendly rules,mandatory playing time pitch count and the dads didnt want that so they went to a league that would let them do as they wished.I must say I lost all respect for Cal Ripken when he associated his name to that league. So in closing I think parents should take a vested intrest and communicate with coaches and hols the accountable for what they should be truly doin as a coach