We coaches need to know when do draw the line when it comes to being competitive. Numerous times I have seen kids baseball coaches pulling out all the stops in an attempt to beat his rival.
Coaches that are too competitive can really affect the confidence in young kids. Let me tell you a story how kids baseball leagues coaches went to far competitively and it affected a very young player. And I speak from first had experience as a young boy playing in Little League.
At one particluar game in my youth baseball career we were winning 9-0 and I was pitching a no hitter. The coached despised each other and would do whatever it took to beat the other.
Well, I had two outs in the last inning. With two strikes on the batter the opposing coach called time out and talked to the batter. On my next pitch the batter bunted the ball and got a hit. The third baseman threw the wild to first base and the runner advanced towards third. The first baseman corrals the errant throw and in an attempt to get the runner at third base throws wild to third resulting in the runner being awarded home to break the shutout. The opposing coach and his team were jumping up and down like they won the World Series.
I lost my no hitter and my shutout. I cried for three days!
Any normal youth baseball league coach would never, ever ask a kid to bunt in that situation. This should serve as an example of how the coaches competitiveness can influence a player.
So coaches, be competitive in the kids baseball leagues but know draw the line.
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