Parental Conduct

"We teach more by our actions than our words!"

At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?" The little girl nodded in the affirmative.  "Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?" The little girl  nodded yes.

"So," the coach continued, "when a strike is called, or you're out at first, you don't argue or curse or attack the umpire.  Do you understand all that?" Again the little girl nodded that she understood.

"Good," said the coach.  "Now go over there and explain it to your parents."

Zero Tolerance

We all enjoy and encourage the parents and players' friends to come out to watch our kids play ball.  Our association has a policy of Zero Tolerance when it comes to verbal abuse of our coaches and umpires.  During a season, it is understandable that parents may not always agree with a coaches decision or a call by an umpire.  Every parent has the best player on the team, be it because of skill, attitude or plain old try.  Every player deserves a chance to play, but not always their favorite position for every inning or for every game.

If you have a problem with one of the coach's decisions we urge you to quietly speak to them privately after or before a game.  Should you feel it necessary, after speaking to the coach, you can escalate your concern and speak to the League Director for your league.  If the League Director does not satisfy your complaint, please put your position in writing and give it to the Commissioner.

If you feel an umpire has made an error, please question your coach for clarification after the game.  You will probably find the reason for the call is correct once you understand some of the less obvious rules of the game.  If you still feel you have a complaint, you can put your complaint in writing and give it to your League Director.  The director can then forward the complaint to the Head Umpire.  The Head Umpire can correct the umpire for future games if he feels there was an incorrect interpretation of a rule.  Please remember there are strict rules for protests, and unless the rules are followed, there may be no recourse except to get an understanding for future games.

We are all here to have fun.  No matter how easy it looks from the bleachers, many times it is never that simple on the field. 


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Revised: 11 Jul 2008 09:06:31 -0400 .