And then, the dad built a cage in his backyard....

[Tucson]

I know this guy who decided to build a batting cage in his backyard, for his 12 YO to pitch in. He coaches her team and decided that this would be a good way for "her to practice."

Little did he realize that DD did not want to practice every day. He had me out to watch. DD did not want to even come out of the house. It was rather embarrassing. He forced her to come out after many minutes and forced her to put on her cleats.

I kept saying things like "maybe this isn't a good day."

She finally pitched, but I felt bad for her.

[softballJunkie]

Good for the dad for making an attempt to get DD out of the house and exercising. Kids are so lazy these days, all they want to do is sit in front of the TV, game console or text message with friends. What a waste of a childhood. Maybe DD was having a bad day that day, but if she does not wish to go out and practice on a regular basis, undoubtedly DD does not want to reach that next level. Better to find that out now.

[jofus]

My DD and my son (13 and 9) keep asking me to put up a cage in our back yard, or at least a backstop, so their old broken down dad doesn't have to chase bad pitches (or catches) as far.

[Tucson]

Jofus, i would do that in a heart beat, when the kids want it. But, this was an instance where the dad asked for it for his birthday,

[azsoftballmom]

We have a cage too and live in AZ. We thought about doing some tee-work and short-toss this morning, but at 10:00 am it was already 101 degrees, so we thought we would take the day off.

[It's me!]

Maybe dad is in denial... Does she enjoy the game? Sometimes they don’t want it as bad as their parents do. A very close friend of mine built a very nice batting cage in their back yard. A few months later their DD decided to quit travel and is now playing Rec ball. My DD is the only one who uses the cage.

[Skarp]

Good for the dad for making an attempt to get DD out of the house and exercising. Kids are so lazy these days, all they want to do is sit in front of the TV, game console or text message with friends. What a waste of a childhood. Maybe DD was having a bad day that day, but if she does not wish to go out and practice on a regular basis, undoubtedly DD does not want to reach that next level. Better to find that out now.

My kid was either very lucky or very smart to find a constructive activity to occupy her free time with. The absolute last thing she wants is for me to have to choose an activity for her.