Randy Smith: The Fight For Playing Time

In youth sports, some of the biggest negatives are arguments over kids playing time. Parents who think their youngsters are superstars feel little Johnny should be the shortstop even though he may not have the range to play the position. They get angry when he's moved to second base because his arm is not strong enough for shortstop but for some reason, that position is more glamorous than others. So, when the change is made, they cuss the coach and bad mouth him in the stands.

Some parents even get upset when their son or daughter hits further down in the lineup. They feel he or she should be batting cleanup (4th) even though there are other players who are better hitters. Attacking the coach is something they feel a definite need to do, to show everyone how much they love their kid.

It goes beyond baseball. I remember many years ago when a certain high school football coach was physically assaulted by a parent because of a dispute over playing time and a disagreement over which position their son should be playing. The coach was hurt pretty badly and after that season he chose to move to another school.

We are all human beings. We all make mistakes, especially when it comes to our children. And the biggest mistake we can make is to think our kid is much better than they are. It's okay for us to believe it, but we all should keep an open mind about their abilities and not force the issue. Is it wrong to blame the coach when things are not going well? Yes, in most cases it is. We allow our kids to play a sport and entrust another person to treat them fairly as their coach. Things are fine until the team hits a losing streak or a kid goes into a slump and can't hit a bull in the butt with a base fiddle and when that happens the first reaction is to blame the coach.

As a person who has been on both sides of the spectrum, as a coach, a parent and now a grandparent. When your child loses his place in the lineup or the batting order, don't blame the coach. Encourage him or her to work harder to get better. Then if things don't change it could mean the kid isn't meant to play that sport at the level you expect. A very small percentage of high school athletes make it to the next level and play college ball, and an even smaller percentage move to the professional ranks. For most youngsters playing sports is a great way to become better people and learn to be a good teammate and that's more important than anything else.