Dealing With Coddling Parents As A Coach

[Stryker44]

Does anybody in here coach any sports and have to deal with parents who are overzealous/watch practices like hawks/spoon feed their kids?

If so, how do you handle them?

 

[Seven]

Does anybody in here coach any sports and have to deal with parents who are overzealous/watch practices like hawks/spoon feed their kids?

If so, how do you handle them?

Yes.
1) Have a meeting before the first practice and lay down your rules.

2) Get them involved. Hauling equipment, setting up drills, etc. They burn out fast and stop hanging around. Yeah, it works sometimes.

It's their child and they live thru them. They want to see them succeed and do well. You won't stop that.

Problem is........some kids do not have any athleticism. So my first job was to keep them safe. (Football)

I've had some pretty obnoxious parents and I've had some good ones.

I had a mom who was awesome. Knew more about the game than most dads. At one point I handed her the clip board.

I had one dad show up to games with his ankle bracelet on, hollering stuff a raider fan would be proud of.

THEN he bit the head off a grasshopper.................trying to motivate the kids. We were up 21 - 0.

So, there's all kinds.

Just establish some rules.

Enjoy it, my friend.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Does anybody in here coach any sports and have to deal with parents who are overzealous/watch practices like hawks/spoon feed their kids?

If so, how do you handle them?

 

[Eric_Boyer]

At one point during a game, the coach called one of his 9-year-old baseball players aside and asked, 'Do you understand what co-operation is? What a team is?'
The little boy nodded in the affirmative.
'Do you understand that what matters is whether we win or lose together as a team?'
The little boy nodded 'yes'.
'So,' the coach continued, 'I'm sure you know, when an out is called, you shouldn't argue, curse, attack the umpire, or call him a pecker-head.
Do you understand all that?'
The little boy nodded 'yes' again.
He continued, 'And when I take you out of the game so another boy gets a chance to play, it's not good sportsmanship to call your coach 'a dumb ***', is it?
The little boy shook his head 'NO'.
'GOOD', said the coach.
'Now go over there and explain all that to your mother.'