Parental Support, or is it?

[Cannonball]

I go to every game but we only have one child. I'm also at every practice for a small part. You know, arrive early stand by the cars. I find nothing wrong with that. Quick story from last season's volleyball. We were informed that a man had been noticed to be following our school around in volleyball. No one could figure out who he was. He always wore a white had and was always sitting by himself in a corner. Eventually, our school had a deputy go up and ask the gentleman who he was. He was asked to leave! Scary isn't it? I give a lot of credit to our coaching staff who kept noticing this person who seemed out of place. They, in turn notified the parents and administration. He never stated why he was following our team around!

[hotwheels]

You are one of the over bearing parents we are talking about if :
1. you think there is a predator around every corner waiting to snatch your kid
2.you are a pitchers parent and you live and die by every pitch she makes
3.you critique every swing at every bat and are yelling out batting tips
4.you hover (smother )your kid ,with advice,info ,criticism on every detail during and after a game so she can't just enjoy playing a simple game of softball and enjoy her win or digest her loss.
5.You have a coach for every aspect of the game hitting ,fielding,running,pitching ,conditioning, ect.ect.ect. 4,5 and 6 days a week and you don't let her think of anything else other than softball.
6.You can't sit back an enjoy that your at a ballfield watching your DD play softball instead of having to be at a dance recital.
Remember two of the biggest reasons kids play sports is :
1. for their parents approval
2. for the love of the game and the competition.
None of the top 6 reasons do they play for.

What a great post! Nice job!

[wadeintothem]

You are one of the over bearing parents we are talking about if :
2.you are a pitchers parent and you live and die by every pitch she makes

5.You have a coach for every aspect of the game hitting ,fielding,running,pitching ,conditioning, ect.ect.ect. 4,5 and 6 days a week and you don't let her think of anything else other than softball.
6.You can't sit back an enjoy that your at a ballfield watching your DD play softball instead of having to be at a dance recital.

Ha!!!! Perfect! There goes half the parents in the stands and every daddy ball coach!

I love the generic "I know nothing so I'm gonna yell this lame thing" stuff like "keep your head in there"!!!!!

That stuff is classic. Some DD gets smoked by a 55 mph rise ball and some doofus behind the fence yells "you gotta keep your weight back" or "keep your head in there". Another great one is when the parent yells "watch out for the change up" and the girl gets smoked by some cutter pitch.

Some parents otta get credit for a K. I half expect some of them to yell "you gotta squish the bug!!!111". I know they wanna.

Too funny. It makes it real fun, and sometimes I'm glad I got a mask on just to hide the smile on my face when they says that hilarious weak sauce pseudo coach stuff. Good times!

[Empire United]

When I coached rec I had parents that would barely slow down so there kid could get out. I actually pitched a promotion to help build the league. I said to go to the local Day Care centers and advertise. Only $65.00 for 4 hours a week of free sitting for 4 months.
I'll take parents who stay the entire practice or game rather than the ones who show up 30 minutes late to pick them up.
I had 1 parent show up 1 hour (10:00pm) after our game. I told him next time he will be picking up his DD at the PD station.

[MTR]

I go to every game but we only have one child. I'm also at every practice for a small part. You know, arrive early stand by the cars. I find nothing wrong with that. Quick story from last season's volleyball. We were informed that a man had been noticed to be following our school around in volleyball. No one could figure out who he was. He always wore a white had and was always sitting by himself in a corner. Eventually, our school had a deputy go up and ask the gentleman who he was. He was asked to leave! Scary isn't it? I give a lot of credit to our coaching staff who kept noticing this person who seemed out of place. They, in turn notified the parents and administration. He never stated why he was following our team around!

Scout

[GIMNEPIWO]

CANNONBALL sez:
"No one could figure out who he was. He always wore a white had and was always sitting by himself in a corner. Eventually, our school had a deputy go up and ask the gentleman who he was. He was asked to leave! Scary isn't it?"

No ... maybe he was a scout ... maybe he liked volleyball ... and yes, maybe he was a creepo ... but when my DD's are all out of the house and my Coaching days are behind me ... I would like to think I could stop at a local Ball Field and watch a game for the entertainment value ... maybe even pick a favorite team and keep tabs on them ... I can't wait for the Deputy to come have a talk with me ... but, then again ... it was obvious that guy was a pedophile because, after all, he was wearing a white hat ... and you know what that means ... ??????

NORCALGOLD sez:
"2.you are a pitchers parent and you live and die by every pitch she makes"

LMAO ... I know him ... my mate asked me "what is wrong with him, is he having a seizure"? ... I told her "No, his daughter is pitching"

[3'sDad]

Only pitcher's parents know what the feeling is like when DD is in the circle at an important time of the game or season. As a parent/coach, you get past the win/lose thing, but what you do suffer with as a pitcher's parent is hoping that DD is at her best during the critical time. If the player from the other team outperforms your pitcher DD and gets a hit to win the game on DD's best pitch under the playing conditions, the other player outperformed DD and you congratulate the other player for a job well done while wiping away DD's tears. Having DD not a her best under those playing conditions is the toughest thing to watch as a parent....and until DD pitches with the game/ tournament/season on the line, you have no idea how these kids will react, as some do much better than others under the conditions.

[wadeintothem]

I needed to pick up my daughter from somewhere and was early so I drove over and watched the local hs team practice. The coach came over to check on me, who recognized me and went and informed his assistants I was "ok", then a parent.

Paranoid much?

I got the feeling it was not safety but rather checking to see if i was from another evil team checking on their top secret softball methods

[Mom2softball]

We travel far enough that I'm going to stay. I bring stuff to keep me busy. But, the parents of the other girls are great people and I usually end up socializing with the other parents (about non-softball stuff) and never get my work done.

[Cannonball]

No, he wasn't a scout and the deputy helped him leave.