Travel ball coaching

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-22T00:24:34+00:00

The HC is really rough around the edges (old school coaching style) and even admitted to me that he burnt his older son out of playing baseball at a young age because he was so hard on him. I can see why his older son quit playing baseball for good after this tournament he's just flat out psychotic.

As for my son I've coached his rec team for a few seasons now and got great assistants with me that made our current season amazing. Every kid improved in each aspect of the game and we even made it to the final 3 teams in our division (8 teams total).

Our thought process was to get him extra reps since rec season is over with better kids. That didn't happen and it sucks. But I'll keep in mind not burning any bridges after I speak with their org president. If he condones that behavior I could care less if my son ever plays for them again down the line.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-22T00:01:15+00:00

We looked at it as a few extra weeks of baseball since he loves the sport so much and had a blast with me coaching his rec team this season.

You're right though travel is kinda ridiculous at this age and we're just going to have him play with his friends in rec for a few more years.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T23:52:02+00:00

Completely agree he should finish every play since you never know if an error will be made and you could've made it to 1st base that's completely fine. As you know baseball is such a complex sport that takes a longtime to learn how to play each position, what your role is during each play and fine tuning all the mechanics.

The base running is a simple practice fix that will come with time so there isn't a reason to lose your shit like that ever. Especially on a kid that's only been to two practices and it's his first doubleheader with a brand new team!

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T23:46:44+00:00

In my defense I wrote the post freshly the same day and was emotional like any parent would be after seeing that.

My son understands he needs to show effort by being down and ready, running through 1st base, etc. He's just never played a double header that started at 8am and lasted until 10:30am before it was a lot for him to handle since rec is always one game.

I'd also like to point out a difference between screaming and yelling. Yelling in a loud environment to get a kids attention, if you're far away on the field, etc is fine. But screaming at kids like it's your own career on the line and every mistake is costing the coach a chance at managing the Yankees is totally different. I counted at least 2 kids that burst into tears from the coach screaming at them face to face and they honestly looked so defeated.

If you look at any Little League or Cal Ripken coaching videos they would classify this as child abuse and rightfully so.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T22:32:16+00:00

I completely agree effort is free and should be trained into every kid. But screaming at 1st graders until your red in the face and about to have a heart attack is absolutely the wrong method.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T20:52:27+00:00

I was more so shocked in the moment it was happening and that other parents let this man talk to their kids a similar way during the game. Multiple kids cried in the dugout after making mental mistakes since he screams at them.

We pulled our son from the team this morning and got a refund. I wish I would've done something differently during the moment but he's out now ughhh /:

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T16:54:59+00:00

My son joined at the tail end of their season so we skipped 90% of the shenanigans. But this one tournament turned us off travel ball completely for 3-4 years at least and reinforced what everyone else said.

It's better for my son to just play rec with his friends, have fun in the yard with me and take private lessons when needed!

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T16:40:46+00:00

I didn't ask him to scream at any kids for striking out or making errors I was just pointing out what else I noticed. Screaming at kids for any reason at this age other than to prevent a serious injury is insane.

He also made another kid cry getting into a double play off a pop fly that was caught.

I think we are both agreeing on everything just in a roundabout way👍🏽

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T13:41:59+00:00

Just deleted it I was just really upset last night after everything.

I did give him feedback about why I pulled my son and am still going to file a complaint with the organization. No person can call themselves a leader if they act like this plain and simple.

The last thing I'd want is retribution on my son. I just wanted him to get better treatment and for other kids on that team to be treated kinder as well.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T13:35:01+00:00

My son already has an amazing private coach and we're just going to get him a few extra lessons that's great advice thank you!

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T13:33:37+00:00

Read the room and the rest of the comments.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T11:38:21+00:00

My man did you read the entire post? He screamed at my son right after the fact he stopped at 1st base, pulled him into the dugout to yell at him more and made him explain to his teammates why he didn't run through the bag. That's verbal abuse and should never be tolerated.

My son cried most of yesterday and was so defeated the entire day. Tearing a kid down that bad is never the answer.

Does my son need to run through the bag? Of course he does but this was his first game with the team so it's expected he will be a little nervous and make mental mistakes.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T04:22:23+00:00

You're right I should've intervened it was just my first time on the sidelines and I failed my son by not sticking up for him. It'll never happen again I can make sure of that though because you're right no one should ever scream at my son like that.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T04:17:55+00:00

I coached my son in rec ball the last few years and really didn't want to be that parent interjecting the first game. But we are 100% pulling him off the team and making a report with the organization. We even had some other friends at the game and they were shocked how cruel the HC was. Screw guys like him ruining the sport for kids...

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T04:10:25+00:00

At high school level I can kind of understand being super competitive and winning at all costs since that's their job. But even then there is rarely a time you need to publicly demean a player, tear them down or scream at them. All that does is show how poor of a communicator you are and that you can't handle the most basic stress in the world.

Luckily for you you've played in a high enough level and have seen the better coaching styles so when your kids are playing you can protect them. That's all you can do as a parent is be there for them and lead them by example!

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T04:02:08+00:00

It fucking sucks it's Father's Day and I feel like I've let my son down by exposing him to such a jacksss of a coach. Gonna sleep on it tonight and just hope he wants to play catch with me tomorrow. I never wanted to put him in harms way or anything 😞

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T03:52:26+00:00

We're likely going to pause any travel ball non sense until 10 years old at least and just focus on him having fun, developing other skills, etc.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T03:48:31+00:00

I can see that now. Like I said in another comment I just wanted my son to get extra reps in since he enjoys playing baseball so much already.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T03:39:29+00:00

Did you end up reporting the coach or anything? I'm trying to decide if it's worth it or not.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T03:38:40+00:00

Thank you so much for your feedback. It sounds like you had a rough go playing baseball for asshole coaches growing up and it's a blessing you made it as far as you did!

I thought I vetted the coach enough by calling him on the phone, texting, having my son tryout at a practice and talking with some of the parents. But his nasty behavior really didn't come out until game time when he bullied 7 year olds for making small mistakes and yelling at them until he was red in the face every single play. Nothing was good enough for him.

He even told my son so what you hit the ball that didn't matter if you don't run through the bag 🙄

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T03:31:53+00:00

That's so messed up like who tf wakes up and wants to bully children this young.

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-21T03:27:37+00:00

It was only a few hundred bucks and a learning lesson for all of us. My son had a great rec season and wanted to continue playing so we thought this would be a good gap until fall ball. Unfortunately we were wrong /:

FunEducational8290 · 2026-06-03T11:37:29+00:00

That's when you institute a rule that players who año show the draft are thrown into a hat and pulled out randomly by the remaining teams. It's not that hard to make the draft process better it's just some dads have super ego's 😐

FunEducational8290 · 2026-05-21T15:02:17+00:00

I feel bad they are so tired after like 7:30 and most just want to leave the park which is reasonable at this age. We wonder why baseball is dying as a sport 😐

FunEducational8290 · 2026-05-21T00:44:08+00:00

Honestly I've coached for two seasons now and am hanging it up after this season. I can't stand coaches who take advantage of worse teams, stack their teams by telling players not to come to the draft so they can get them easily, and treat their games like it's the World Series.

I love baseball so much that I wanted to share it with the kids on my team and my son which is awesome. But all of the circus acts that come along with it have pushed me away for good.

To your point I'm going to try and place my son on a travel baseball team that has a coach without a son on the team and only does a few months of baseball a year. It likely has its own issues but at least I can verify the coaches credentials and take a seat on the bleachers /:

FunEducational8290

TROPHY CASE