Sportsmanship?

[Dozerdog]

Today my kids team played in a Championship game against a team that a coach from her team and the head coach from the othrr have a history. The bottom line is from what I've been told there is no love loss between the two. My kids team was able to get the win which I was happy about. The part that I didn't get is the losing team just left the field and did't take part in the after game ceremonies/ t-shirt handout. So i ask what does this prove or teach these young ladies? I think it's saf that it seems the coach put his feelings above letting his gitls enjoy the fact that they had a good weekend. Am I looking at this the wrong way?

[Yellow Ballz]

Nope! And is anyone surprised? They way he yells and treats a 11-12 yr old girl like a circus elephant when they don't make a play. Watching that game and his obnoxious tactics should make those parents run for the hills. But its making my DD a better player. Yeah right.

[jbl1465]

Poor sportsmanship on his part. As a coach you can never put yourself or your feeling above the athletes or the game. The girls unfortunately got a first hand example of how not to handle yourself.

[Saywhatmofo]

This will always be a part of the game. We as parents need to keep bringing up our own children the best day we know how and make sure they know sportsmanship from day one. Rest assured when this type situation presents itself to them they'll know what the right thing to do is and won't disappoint. Kids inherently want to do right, we as adults (bad coaches bad parents) do a great job of messing things up.

[Old man softball]

COME ON!!!!!

[gobblygoop]

What kind of history do these coaches have? I think that could have a lot to do with it. How was the game, close, contentious, hard fought or an ass kicking? Did you hear what the other coach that walked off said to his team or why he did it?

[Dozerdog]

Gob, they had coached together and I am not sure exactly what was the cause of the seperation. The game was as intense as any championship game my kid has been involved with. We did run rule them. The thing I didn't like is the girls didn't get the chance to enjoy the fact that they finished 2nd. I get this is a highly competitve sport but Come On!(yes I did that on purpose). These are 11 and 12 yr old girls. Let them enjoy the moment and let mom and dad snap a few pics. Plus what about teaching the girls to show reapect to the other girls? Next time the out come could be the exact opposite.

[POP Time]

HEY! HEY!! HEY!!!

It takes a lot of energy to walk through that line and shake hands!!!! You want me to hang out and hand out T Shirts too???

Sorry I couldn't resist.... Just once, Just wanna here it once!!!

[gobblygoop]

Dog,
I have coached for many years and unfortunately have made a bad decision like this once or twice. Sometimes you do let your personal relationships cloud your judgment and even though you know it's wrong you fall prey to your own pride. Hopefully the coach that did this reads your post and learns from his mistakes and realizes that at the end of the day this is just a game, a game played by kids. It's not about him, the other coach, or the parents. It's all about the girls. It would have been nice to see the tournament director step up and take control of a situation like this. They should have given him a moment and pulled him aside to speak with him before allowing him to take his prize and leave. What a Shame!

[Bookend]

Dozerdog,
I didn't want to reply to this , but here I am. My daughter plays for AASA and I left the bleacher area in the second inning of the Championship game due to the umpires. I was about to become a 'bad" parent, so I picked up and moved to center field where I watched the remainder of the game. I ran your post by my daughter and she had no idea any 'ceremony" was missed. She stated that the tourney reps. handed each of the girls a pink T-shirt and entended congratulations. I was at a distance, but didn't see any makings of an award ceremony. I look forward to playing OBS each and every time this year. The pitching and coaching is top notch and we will work hard all year to get a hard fought W from OBS.
I'm here to defend the coaching staff at AASA. Not one parent is unhappy/leaving this team. It may be tough coaching, but the girls are better softball players from it. This team is what I was referring to as getting to top 5 in NorCal. They are raw but are going to get a lot better through Fall. Just my thoughts.