RANT: Sports parents!!!

[CaptainBOHICA]

wow. you're a better man than me KD. the moment his hands would have hit my collar, I would have turned around and went 'chris simon' on him.

[iluvfish2]

KD You played that the smart and took the high road. WTG. Right call on him as well, and probably a good kid to set an example with. I agree with Cap..I'd of escalated it to the point that if I wasn't holding my own, the other coach would of had to break it up.

[mwheeler27]

I applaude you KMD. Every coach in every sport should hear this story. So should every parent. The way you handled that situation was all class. The rest of your team, parents, and your own family should be very proud of you. What more can I say.

[frozenntimesports]

Originally Posted by CaptainBOHICA

wow. you're a better man than me KD. the moment his hands would have hit my collar, I would have turned around and went 'chris simon' on him.

I'm afraid he would have beaten the daylights out of me. I was very happy to see Andre nearby and will buy him and his assistants (must be nice to have an assistant or two) a round next time I see them without their team.

[shadetre]

If my son would of pulled a stunt like that, I would of been over the boards. Stick you your guns. You are teaching many others besides the kid in question what you condsider acceptable behavior

fidrych

[frozenntimesports]

Well boys, my season of hell is over. The snowstorm wiped out the last weekend tournament and mercifully it will not be rescheduled. I'm going to clean out my office tomorrow afternoon if the weather lets up.

I think I'm through coaching for a while. Not sure I'm head coach material anyway, I just like to teach defense and skating, offense is somewhat of a mystery to me. I was able to do it so I don't know how to teach someone to do it. I had to work at defense and skating, so I know it better.

Anyway, season from hell is over, season from hell is over.

[mwheeler27]

It's sad to hear you're through with coaching for a while. Hopefully next season comes and you miss it enough to get back into it. I think, the way it sounds, the kids you coach become better players and better individuals in life in general. That's what it's all about in my opinion.

[frozenntimesports]

The local league asked me to coach the midget girls team next year. 3-5 years old, Kara will be old enough to join. Its not competitve, if you've ever seen tee-ball you know what I mean. I think I'm going to pass on that one though. My younger brother wants me to come out to Long Island and help install a defensive scheme for his team (he never even bothered trying to play D back in the day so he's clueless now), so that might be an outlet. Felt good to be home with my kids this weekend after months of weekend tournaments.

[mwheeler27]

I bet it did feel good to be back home with your family. I have traveled so much lately, you can only imagine how much I treasure being around my wife and 3 young boys.

It sounds like a good idea to help your brother out. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Even if it's retirement for a while.

[frozenntimesports]

Well I'm going to install a defensive scheme (or try) two weeks from now. I can't imagine how a team that hasn't had to be defensively responsible is going to respond to it but we'll see.

I have four offers to be defensive coordinator and one head coach offer on the table for next season, so its nice that other teams noticed that I did pretty well. I already turned the head coach offer down, not interested in that again.

One that seems really rewarding is the one with the miracle league. They are the same people that do the baseball miracle league, its with mentally and physically handicapped kids. Not a defensive instructor so much as a skating instructor.

I would be pretty sure that no parent in that league is going to think their kid is going to the NHL, but the dicey thing is that these people see their kids get mistreated on a regular basis so it would be a little like walking on eggs. Its mid-February though, and they want an answer on April 1 so I have time.

[guru]

KMD, my Middle School Basketball season just ended. It was the most successful basketball season in the history of the school. I coach 8th grade and my two friends coach 6th & 7th.

Our 6th grade team finished undefeated in the conference & made it to the elite 8 in the state of KY.

Our 7th grade team finished undefeated in the confrernce & made it to the final 4 in the state of KY.

Our 8th grade team finished undefeated in the conference & made it to the sweet 16 in the state of KY.

Unheard of around here. But, non-the-less I took a cussing after the last game from a parent who was mad that I played 2 seventh graders in the final 32 game and the sweet 16 game in front of his boy. He cursed me out in front of my assistants and the boys. It makes me wonder why I even do this at all. I am the director of lending at my bank. I really just do it for the kids.

The best players play around here. I made that clear at the begining of the season, but he did not remember that.

[brianennis]

just remember that when he comes in for a loan

[frozenntimesports]

I'm sorry sir, your mortgage application has been denied... because your a dork!!!

[frozenntimesports]

Well folks I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. I agreed to take a head coach job for 8-10 year olds this year. I have an assistant who is going to try to teach the 4-1 offense and I'm going to install the neutral zone trap (yes I know, everyone hates it but it wins every year) and hopefully things will go OK.

I met the team this past week and saw a few tapes. I don't think there are any future NHLers on this squad, but that's not the point anyway. About half of them called me sir and most of them called my wife Ma'am (bugged her, she just turned 29 today) but that seems to be a good sign too.

I gave them my usual rules:

1. Be on time, but don't kill yourself getting here if you are running late (I can't believe how many coaches will punish a kid for being late when they aren't the driver).

2. Respect yourself, each other, and your opponents.

3. Do your best.

4. If you are hurt, don't be a hero, tell one of the coaches.

5. All phone calls from parents asking for more ice time will be met with a dial tone. This is an 8-10 league, we play 30 minutes. That means 10 minutes for each of the three units, split up into 1 minute shifts. Everyone plays.

6. We won't accept an attendance or a "14th place trophy." They can keep it, we don't accept charity and an award for doing nothing is charity.

7. If we go up 6-0, we shoot the puck directly at the center of the goalie, we will not show our opponent up... and the converse of that, if an opponent shows us up, we will remember and next time we will show them the right way to win.

8. Everyone plays defense. The best way to get stapled to the bench is to miss an assignment. If you miss an assignment, I will ask you why. If its a speed thing, no big deal, technique makes up for a lot of speed, if you tell me "I forgot" I may forget to call you for your next shift.


I had a grand total of one parent take issue with the defense first mentality. I don't think he's going to be a problem. I explained my theory that hockey if fun when you win and play well, and a good defense will cause the opposing team to make mistakes, leading to scoring chances.

I have one kid whose family moved from the Lehigh Valley to the Lansdale suburb who was on an opposing squad last year. Fast as lightning but no hands, this could be interesting. Anyone ever let their horses go for a run and see what happens at the end?


I hope I give these people their money's worth. One thing is for sure, they will know the sliding neutral zone trap and left wing lock before season opener on October 2, they will know that.

[Texansfan]

I dont know how the league's work in PA, KMD but just a suggestion, you may want to parent/participant signature on your rules....

I am a coach at the pop warner Football league in our small town, and the head of the league introduced this for all the problems coaches have been facing around California. Everyone seems to be ready to take you to court around here, for the smallest things. Especially playing time. When that mom who made her kkid miss practice made national news, it was a feeding frenzie around the Liberal state of CA!

I am one that believes however that even though the kids dont drive, it is up to the parents to get them to all practices and on time. Things come up and there are exceptions, however you can tell which players make it a habit of being late and/or missing.

I always line out my rules, address them the first day of practice, and have the participants bring back the signed rules before first practice. Then if they violate something, and a parent bitches after a game for missed time, I point them to the League President and dont have to deal with the BS. Theres always a Little Johnny that we are ruining the fast road to the pro's for, but if your like me, your coaching for the other 20 kids that will have these memories through HS and not likely past that!

Just My Opinion.

[deuxmachinax]

I think you did a good job benching that sorry kid and not playing into his sorry dad's BS. I'm only 21 right now, and I haven't been that disrespectful to ANYONE who tried to make things right for me.

I've been so disgusted at the kids I see recently that drop the F bomb left and right. I have neighbors who have 2 kids, 8 and 10. The way they cuss and scream at their mom just F*s me up.

Sad too, because when you see a child become like that, we all know who dropped the ball. The parents.