Little League Pressures
I have been coaching for 17 years. This is my 7th year coaching Little League baseball. We have only had compettitve playoffs for the last 2 years. The first year we had competitive playoffs our team was good, but got knocked out in the first round. The next year our team was given the first overall pick in the draft. The following year, they determined the draft order randomly and I pulled the first pick again. We won a championship (co-champions actually in a situation I wrote about here). Heading into this season, just before the draft, I pulled the second overall pick...but the team who got the first pick had their son placed in the first round...so we ended up with the first selection AGAIN. This year there are two years combined in our league and the player we got first not only is head and shoulders above everyone else in the league, but also has a younger brother in the division who is excellent.
People are not happy...and by people I mean other coaches. Obviously nothing was done wrong, but just two games into the season there are already rumblings. To make matters worse, he missed our first game and we still won. In our second game, he pitched 4 shutout innings and crushed a home run in his first at bat.
This really is supposed to be fun...
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The last thing I thought Little league had to do with was winning championships.
But then again what do I know.
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The interesting thing is that it is too simplified and unfair to write these other coaches off as "A-holes". In fact, we are a very close community in Sayville and I have known many of these people for a long time. Nobody is accusing anyone of improper conduct, it is literally this one player who is so ridiculously dominant and that coupled with the completely random luck of getting the top pick for three straight seasons...in fact, some of it may even be my guilty feelings/awkwardness of my team being this good again.
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Having coached, run a league and now serving as a district administrator for Little League & college team coach I can tell you that the organization is all about fun, learning and fair play. It is an intramural program as opposed to a travel program, which has its own issues. There is nothing wrong with being competitive but I have seen drafts that are a bit shady, coaches son and asst coach's son beiong the best in the league or for car pool reasons the best player needs to be on my team - and then we always have coaches who put winning first. Some leagues have eliminated playoffs and standings.
There is an old book by Bill Geist, "Little League Confidentia"l, which is a must read and funny to boot. He selected players with the best looking mothers and commented how an opposing coach convinced his "worst" player to go to the bathroom and miss an important at bat in a playoff game!
I personally love the calls from parents that want to know how to get their child a college scholarship...........
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Some good points. Important to note though that many people blame the concept of wanting to win as the problem, as opposed to not knowing how to properly teach, both by example and by philosophy the desire to win. I have won many championships in my coaching career that I directly attribute to my passionate quest to work closely with my weakest players to improve. There is no greater feeling than to see a kid who is not a good athlete, or who has floundered before (and sometimes buried) under other coaches work hard and enjoy success. It not only inspires the coach and the parents but the players as well. In last year's championship, each of my weakest players made key plays (hits or plays in the field) in our playoff run. Those are memories that will last them forever. Most importantly, all of these kids learn the benefits of believing in themselves and working hard to attain a goal...even if we lose.
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When I was in Glen Oaks Little League managing girls softball, we actually divied up the girls who can pitch first and generally tried to set up fair teams.
On the other hand I learned by my second year of four managing in the PeeWe division to draft not based on the kids but on the parents; at that young age, the more parents who can help, the better. Some of the managers at that level also "drafted" based on GLMs -- figure that acronym yourself.
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