u/FunEducational8290

Just had a game this week where the opposing team did a bunch of extra things pushing the boundaries on rules and running up the score.

Here's a list:

⁠1. Their first batter of the game had a missed third strike that apparently their coach on the pitch machine said was a foul tip (pitch machine coach has final say on outs/rulings on the field). I tried calling time to get clarification on it but both of their coaches either didn't hear me since I was by the left field line or ignored me. They then said since I was calling time out the batter got another strike which he turned into a double. The head coach also made it a point to yell at my parents in the stands when they simply asked what the count was since they were confused too. This same situation happened 3-4 more times in the game where kids got apparent foul tips that me, my assistant coach by 3rd base and our parents never heard or saw. Giving those kids extra pitches led to all of them getting base hits which led to more runs.

2. We can only play 6 innings or 1 hr 45 mins which ever comes first. The exception is if you start an inning before the time runs out you can continue to play until the inning is over which sounds good in a perfect world. But by that time it was 7:50 on a school night, we were already losing 7-0 so it didn't matter and I offered to end the game then. Their head coach said he wanted extra reps so he pushed for continuing the game. That led to our kids just mentally checking out and they relentlessly sent runners when our pitcher was close to the mound (dead ball area if ball is in pitchers possession), giving their kids an extra pitch off foul tips that never happened and we lost 11-0.

I am still very proud of the boys I've coached this season they've all made great progress it's just so frustrating playing teams that want to win at all costs and stacking runs at the end of a game like that in 8U rec ball. To put it into perspective our kids didn't start leaving the park until 8:25pm on a school night. That should never happen and I am going to bring up a rule change to the board this offseason.

Edit: I should've just taken my kids off the field at the 7:50pm mark and ended the game then. This is a learning point for our team and I won't let that happen again.

We had All Star tryouts this weekend and ran into a frustrating situation. I was originally supposed to coach the B team with my assistant coach, but only 17 kids showed up so there was only enough talent to field the A team.

The problem is the A team already had a head coach and two assistants, and their kids made the roster automatically. The head coach also had a nephew trying out who made it. He pulled me aside yesterday and said since numbers were low we’d drop to one team and I’d be added as a fourth assistant, with my son automatically making the roster.

Here’s where it gets messy. My son and my assistant coach’s son were both in the top 10 talent wise and pretty much even. The kid who got cut should have been the nephew, or honestly any of the other coaches’ kids who are average players that wouldn’t have made it if their dads weren’t on staff.

What makes it worse is my assistant coach’s son is legitimately talented for his age. He impressed everyone there. He ended up as an alternate and his dad was rightfully upset about it and said he would not let him be an alternate since he was much more talented.

At this point my options are to push the park to field a second team by opening signups to any kid who wants to play, or have my son sit out all stars entirely. Honestly my son only wanted to do it if his teammate was on the team with him. The other kid actually wants it more.

Last bit of info is we could roster 12 kids and have 2 alternates. The alternates would only play in practices and if a rostered kid couldn't make a game.

Any advice? I know this kind of politics is everywhere in youth baseball and it hasn’t changed since I was a kid sadly /:

TLDR Version: All Star tryouts were supposed to have two teams but only 17 kids showed up, so we dropped to one. The A team coaches protected their own kids and the head coach’s nephew, bumping my assistant’s son to alternate even though he was clearly one of the best players there. His dad said he will not allow him to play since he was one of the best players and was visibly upset about the selection process. Now I’m deciding whether to push for a second team or have my son sit out since he only wanted to play if his teammate made it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​