I recently attended a Little League baseball game held in Nassau County. It turned out to be a lesson on how not to parent a Little Leaguer.
I went there to watch a family friend play ball. School was winding down, and it was possible that stress levels would below, especially on the ball field. These kids were supposed to be having fun. But why did they look so angry? Why were the parents so tense? These were 11-and 12-year-old children, not professionals. But it seemed that the parents were not aware of that.
Some of the kids looked miserable. Both coaches were shouting at their players. With every pitch (投), every catch and every swing of the bat came sounds of “No, not like that!” or “Better keep that up, son!” After a while , it seemed to have a negative effect on the kids.
In the fifth game, after a player missed a play on the infield, a man told the boy, “Pay attention to the action! Get your head in the game!” The player responded, “Dad, it’s just a game, and I’m exhausted!”
I thought to myself how embarrassing that must have been for both of them. It’s been years since I was on the field, but I played in many different sports leagues as a kid. I recall how competitive some parents were when it came to watching their children. And it’s fine to want your children to win. Winning is important.
But winning is not everything. Is that the message you want to get across to your child—to win at all costs, and to put fun second? Because that is certainly what it seemed like, and that’s not the healthiest environment for a kid, not in Little League, anyway.
I played for and against my share of competitive coaches. But at the baseball game, the parents seemed to care about the outcome much more than their kids. Arguments over whose kid was the better pitcher and calls missed by the judge often broke out between parents in the stands.
Paragraph 1:
It seemed as if the kids weren’t the ones who got up on Saturday morning to go and play with friends.
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Paragraph 2:
They’re just kids. Let them be kids.
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