What would you have said?

Here is the situation.

My eleven year-old's baseball team is down by one run in the bottom of the last inning. They are at bat. They start singing ole ole loudly and cheering loudly for the batter. Their singing and cheering was all positive and all in support of the batters, but it was loud because all of them were singing. It was a display of excellent team spirit; there was absolutely no old-fashioned baseball talk dissing the other team.

The first batter got out and during the second at-bat, the opposing coaches asked my son's coach if he would have his team stop cheering because it was distracting his pitcher.

If you were the coach of my son's team, what would you have done/said?

 

"No."

That kind of pressure is great practice for life, without the (major) consequences. I remember giving up a grand slam as a 12 year old relief pitcher to a kid that looked like Babe Ruth... I cried, but I became a great middle infielder as a result! I think my ERA is still infinity....

 

No.

Period.

End of debate.

 

No way. My earliest memories of little league were filled with a spirited badgering of the opposing batter as I stood covering first.

This is a fine example of PC gone wrong.

 

No way when its a show of team spirit, chants for fellow teamates is part of the game. However, in my experience as a coach for fast pitch softball I would never allow any of my teams to yell at the hitters because in my book yelling 'swing' in a middle of a pitch is plain chicken shit.

 

I would have respectfully said, "No".

I tell my kids that no matter what else happens they have had a good day at the ball park if they have played their hardest, listended to their coaches and cheered for their teammates.

 

You've got to be kidding me...he asked you to stop. I would of laughed him off after cheering the kids on to sing louder. Obviously, this coach doesn't know that there's no crying or whining in baseball.

 

Most definitely a no and a quick explanation why. That stuff is just part of the game for the kids (speaking from the point of view of a somewhat recently retired little leaguer :tongue I wonder what would happen if the coach were coaching a cup final at Wembly.... ok maybe culturally irrelevant but if it were to happen I'd like to see his reaction

 

Most definitely a no and a quick explanation why. That stuff is just part of the game for the kids (speaking from the point of view of a somewhat recently retired little leaguer :tongue I wonder what would happen if the coach were coaching a cup final at Wembly.... ok maybe culturally irrelevant but if it were to happen I'd like to see his reaction

 

I knew that I could count on my fellow Fulham fans to agree with me on this one. Thanks for showing me that the world hasnt gone completely mad.

Unbelieveably, my son's coach complied with the opposition's request and the boys stopped cheering. The second and third batters got out and the game was over. I thought it was tragic, but the other parents didnt seem to think much of it. Isnt supporting your teammates one of the main lessons/benefits we want kids to get from team sports?

My answer to the other coach would have been, "Your guys are beating us and it's making my team feel bad. Could you ask them to stop?"