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Problems, comments or questions about this site? Please email us at webmaster (at) coachjerry (dot) com	Problems with the "New" Baseball League Here's an incident/question from a very concerned parent. There are also a few follow-ups to the situation. Recently my wife and I registered our son in a second baseball league. He is 12 years old and has done very well in his "first" league, progressing very well in his skills, having fun, winning a championship and playing with his friends. He seems to be consistently within the top third of his peers in his abilities. We are thankful. This new league however is a different story. I have observed abusive coaching on his team and on other teams. I calmly talked to the coaches on his team and was met with mild indifference. I calmly wrote to the League and at their request met with the League and was met with hostility, defiance and a letter from their attorneys to cease and desist from libel and slander or they would sue me!!! (You can see why I'm not mentioning the name of the League!) A few Saturday's ago my son and I observed a dad on a losing team assault his son, knocking him to the ground. I (foolishly) tried to intervene fearing for the boy's safety and then called 911. Neither I nor my son had noticed the dad before. The police came but were "unable" to find the dad or the son moments after I had left the park and called the incident "unfounded". They did, however, talk to an "independent witness" who said the boy did not hit the ground and that the parent was simply trying to "get the boy's attention"! A follow-up to 911 minutes later had told me I could leave the scene, so I did. The investigation drags on. It is more than three weeks since and the police have apparently not followed up on the leads and do not even know (or so they say) who the dad is. I've heard through the grapevine that the dad is a well-known football coach at a local high school. My wife is afraid of repercussions, but I'm not willing to let this go as I believe what the dad did is deplorable and what the League did to create the incident, equally, if not more so. In addition to finding another League for our son(!), what else can we do? My goal is to send an urgent widespread message to sports organizations and participants that they need to get their act together ASAP. Bad parenting creates bad coaching creates bad future parents, the way I see it. Isn't it time to put a stop to the cycle?

	Answer: Your problem is very troubling but not surprising. There are just too many incidents similar to the one you describe taking place on athletic fields these days - all related to the win at all cost mentality that is so prevalent in youth sports. I am not surprised at the coach's indifference and lack of concern. Abusive coaches exist at every youth level. I would have thought the league would have been more responsive to the situation and to your concerns. I believe the way they reacted is absolutely irresponsible. There is not a great deal one individual can do to correct the problems that exist in kids sports, as you have seen. Good coaches and concerned parents need to join forces to make an impact. There is, however, one avenue that you may want to consider. Most youth programs are run on fields owned by the community, town, municipality or county. I would suggest that you voice your concern to the appropriate town official (i.e. supervisor, mayor or county commissioner) and also to the local media. Town officials have the responsibility to ensure that the participants have a safe and positive experience. They should not tolerate irresponsible behavior by the leagues that use community playing fields. They also have the power to restrict offending leagues from utilizing community fields if leagues do not comply with reasonable and appropriate standards. The media can help by putting pressure on any "slow to react" town officials. Try to find parents who feel as you do to join with you in presenting case. I can understand how your wife feels about repercussions but it is important to do what you can to effect positive changes. If you are honest and straightforward in your concern don't worry about threats by the league. I certainly would not allow my son to be involved in with a group of adults with the mentality you describe. You should take your son out of this league and find one that promotes sportsmanship and healthy competition. Contact the National Alliance for Youth Sports at NAYS.org for associations in your area that are members. I believe you can find a league that can provide a positive experience for your son. You may have to volunteer as a coach or an assistant coach, and if you could that would be a very good thing. We need all the good coaches we can find. I hope this helps. Ignoring problems won't make things any better.

	Follow-up #1: Thank you for your excellent message and for the referral to the nays.com site. It looks very worthwhile. The City Council has a televised meeting Tuesdays at 6pm with public comment. I may prepare something, run it by an attorney, attend and present with written copies to the members. I also have contacts at the local newspaper. I sure would like to find a lawyer who shares our passion for the youth side of youth sports who could look over or listen on the phone to my letter before I read it to the Council. I'll keep you posted. If you have any additional ideas, please feel free to send at any time, in any size...
	Follow-up #2: Wednesday of this week when I attended my first game in my son's league since the slapping incident. I was approached by an angry dad and asked to step behind the bleachers to talk to him. Fearing an attack of some kind I had brought a cassette tape recorder with me and turned it on prior to speaking with him. He threatened to do me physical harm and made several other false accusations and threats which were recorded on the tape. It seems someone turned in his name instead of the slapping dad's name to children's services who contacted him [the names of the two individuals apparently sounded similar]. I had spoken only to the police except for a brief C/S (children's service) research call at the start of the season when things started to look strange in the League. [to learn such things as] How do I report? What do I report? When do I need to call the police, etc? My wife and I are in debate about whether to file a police report. I predict it will shut him down. My wife fears it will enrage him and he will hurt us. I'm not sure what the police can actually [do] to protect us. This is a [terrible] situation, don't you agree?

	I do indeed.