Discussing Concerns With Parent

[Scoop n K]

I teach all of my kids to hit middle. If they are late...fair ball right field....if they are early fair ball left field....If they are right on time "Where a face mask" 2 of my DD's can pitch if needed. They have 4 pitches. To protect them they throw in safe locations. They throw hard outside. Off speed low & outside. Changes are low and inside. They still have a face.
I practice come backs all the time.
Defense is apart of the game. If they cant take it then put them in the out field and tell them to throw fast balls to the cut off. Or they can duck on every pitch and wear a construction helemt.

There are some replies that are so off base and irrelevant that a response to them would be equally irrelevant. "where a face mask" ????? Ahhh. never mind.

[ocdad]

What I did was talk to the parents and told them about my concerns, b/c one of my pitchers has a lot of speed, but will leave a fat pitch from time to time & she had a lot of comebackers that she would get a glove on, luckly. I spent a lot time yelling at her to defend once coming out of the pitch, well probably saved her life.

Pitcher kept telling me that she would refuse to wear it, I told her after the season was over when we started I wanted her to get use to it. At State playing an older team this issue got resolved real quick, she took a shot so hard that she just fell face first laying motionless face first on the ground - my heart dropped I just thought the worst - it was so fast I couldn't tell if she got her glove up.

Long story short she luckily got the glove up but still had to go to the hospital, out with a concussion for 3 weeks. She still refused to wear a mask after that, lol. So I told her & her parents she won't pitch for me without the mask - this is my ace pitcher. Parents are tired of her whining they say just let her go without it. I stand my ground, first game back with the mask on - 1st batter hits a shot right at her head again, she gets the glove up, I look over at the parents...end of debate.

Your the coach it is your team to decide what is best for the team & the players that is your job. You know no matter what the parents are going to complain about something anyways, why not it be for something that could save the life of your player. Seems pretty easy decision to me.

[2bucketdad]

Coach, as a dad that makes both of his DD's wear the game face and a coach that insists the pitcher and the corners wear them, (possibably because one DD plays 3rd when not pitching and the other DD plays 1st when not pitching) ,and strongly suggests all of the infielders wear them, let me share with you my way of looking at it;

You will never be sorry you did something that would help protect the girls from a serious or life threatening injury, but you may be sorry you didn't!

[Tucson]

It is great to have the parents in your corner. They can make the pitcher wear a mask, if they want to. But, I am seeing 8 YOs that are refusing to do what they are told.

The one little girl that I am thinking of is so small that she sits in a booster seat, in her parents car. I am certain that they would not let their kids in the car w/o their seat belts.

I sometimes wonder who is in charge at home?

Parenting doesn't come with rules. I had to tell my then, 15 YO DD, that she would not ride in a certain boy's jeep, again. He had picked her up and they had went just tearing down the street. Fortunately, she obeyed. Unfortunaley, the young man rolled the jeep within a few weeks and was killed.

I tell parents that I have seen my DD laying out in the circle twice, and it is not a good feeling. But, these beginning pitchers parents, just don't get it.

[SnocatzDad]

There have been a few comments made in response to this along the lines of

"You can't protect them from everything"
"Protecting their face doesn't protect everything"

Playing Domeball this year a girl took a thrown ball riccochet off a support and into her face. She ended up needing surgery to relieve pressure to her optic nerve and hopefully the double vision will go away when she is fully recovered.

I don't think that the girl would have been wearing a mask during warm-ups, but this illustrated for me the flaw in the "You can't protect them form everything" argument. If this girl would have been hit anywhere except the face, not only would she not have required surgery, but she probably would have played that same night. The face is so fragile and the risk is so great that I think it is reasonable to discuss adequate ways to protect the pitcher (and the corners).

Last summer at 14UA a runner leading off from third base was hit by a foul drive and it broke her arm above the elbow. As tragic as this was, the reality is that a broken bone isn't a life changing injury and often isn't even a season ending injury.

More and more you're seeing batter's developed as a triple threat, bunt/slap/hit away with power. When these batters are fast, keeping the corners back a safe distance is essentially giving the batter 1B. On the flip-side the batters are trained to recognize when the corners are up and take advantage by slapping past and/or hitting away because the forward position compromizes the corner's ability to field a hard hit ball.

As a coach, I actually worry more about 3B than I do the pitcher. Unless 3B is extremely quick the distance she needs to play from a fast slapper/dragger to be certain of the out is ridiculous. Many times I'll settle for putting third base at a distance where I figure she has a 50/50 chance of fielding the out on a well played ball. You add to that the fact that the pitcher is working outside to deny the slapper/dragger the ability to take the ball with her towards first base and suddenly your in a scenario where it's extremely likely that the ball is going directly towards 3B's head.

As far as getting the kids to wear them. We had success getting our entire team to wear them at 1B, 3B, P for domeball with the argument that the lighting is poor in the dome, balls take fast hops off the turf, we made it a team decision and the kids responded. Once summer came along and we all went to our seperate teams, we lost that consensus and have struggled to get it back.

[Judd]

Who is running the house at these 8 y/o who wont wear a mask??

DD started wearing one a while back and we have only seen one pitcher get drilled in the face (luckily she had a mask) and that was all the reinforcement she needed.

Its pretty simple in my house, if you are in the dirt, you wear the mask. We have been letting her play 2nd w/o it lately. But if in the circle with a batter, she better have that mask on or I will come on that field (she knows I will).


As far as the OP goes, I guess its up to you to stand your ground. If the parents/player refuse it, you may want to have EVERYONE on the team sign a form stating you advised them of their risk of playing corners/pitcher and that you advise them to wear a mask when playing those positions etc blah,blah.

[Coach11]

Thanks to all who have replied so far. Some good points raised, as well as some good advice.

One of the issues I foresee arising when dealing with this situation, is the fact that I don't expect (nor even desire) that all pitchers and corners wear the mask.

I'm certainly not against it, and would never discourage any player choosing to do so.

The fact is, this pitcher is the first player I've coached (at this level) that I have concerns for when it comes to the ability to protect herself from a hard hit ball.

I do not have plans to aproach any of the other players on the team with the matter. I may suggest that they consider wearing one.....but I really feel that this pitcher SHOULD be wearing one.

So in essence, how do I convince her (and her father) that she NEEDS to wear a mask, when I won't be requiring it of anyone else?

[Judd]

You are the coach. You are the one they trusted to coach your daughter and I would assume they have some level of confidence in you and your skills. Tell them just how you told us, she has slow reflexes. Maybe approach the parents first and say it nicely. Hopefully they respect your experience and know that your only motivation is her safety.


Its a matter of how hard do you want to push? Are you willing to cut her if she doesnt wear it? You need to figure that out first.