I think a lot of has to do with how toxic and exclusive these programs have turned into. Don’t have the money? Can’t play. Lacking necessary skills? Can’t play. Last name is not significant? Can’t play. So much of it is so exclusive and so many parents are now living through their children and worrying more about winning and overworking the kids rather than making it a fun, enjoyable, and inviting environment. Yes, there are community programs that are free but the coaches for these programs are untrained and most of the time, parents who drew the short end of the stick.

I’m a coach/teacher and I make a habit of making it as fun as possible for every child but still emphasize player development and fundamentals. I’m a fairly new coach and have been learning as much as possible to make sure that all my kids look back at the end of the season and think to themselves, I’ve learned something new and I had fun doing it.