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I always ask my little league questions in this category, because most of my players are from single families, so I want to get the opinions of parents & not sports fans.
I coach a little league baseball team of kids 12 and under. We have our first preseason game today and I'm trying to figure out who starts, who gets the most playing time, etc. We have a team rule that if you miss practice you don't start. However, many kids have missed practice at least once in the past two weeks so I wouldn't be able to put a full team on the field if I stuck to that rule. A good majority of the kids that have been at every practice are coach's kids (my child included), discipline problems or have shown extremely poor work ethic (walking laps instead of running, goofing off during drills, etc). I really don't want to reward a kid by starting him that talks back, is disruptive during practice & has a low skill level just because a couple starters missed practice due to their parent's work schedules. The kids that come to every practice usually live across the street and walk to the park after school. These kids' parents never come to the park.
If you were a parent of one of the kids who missed practice because you had to work & couldn't get transportation for your child, or your child missed practice because of homework or behavior ONCE how would you feel the coach should handle this (especially if your child was a started & major contributor to the team)?
Answer
I am a step-parent of a kid who is a Division I athlete and played on travel teams for many years. Travel teams require an insane amount of time and commitment from the child and the parents. There is a world of difference between little league and those elite travel teams, so I admit that I have a very skewed perspective on this. The goal of kids in little league is to enjoy playing the sport. The goal of kids in travel teams is to get a full college scholarship.
With the travel teams my step daughter was on, if a kid was even 1 minute late to practice (or to pre-game warm-ups), the kid sat out the first game of the day. You'd better believe that if we were running late leaving, there was heck to pay from the ballplayer in our family who did not want to warm the bench! And if a kid were lippy or rolled her eyes at the coach or didn't run laps fast enough, the kid sat out the first game as well. The coaches were strict but they held the kids (and their parents) accountable for their behavior.
I hear what you are saying about you not having enough kids in the line-up if you sat out kids who missed practice or had behavior issues. But sometimes you have to do something completely outrageous to get the kids' attention. If you told the kids that they would sit out the game if they missed practice, then hold firm to that. Even if you are sitting out the stars and only have 7 kids in the field. And have the benched kids sit on the bench in the dugout for the entire game. They will be so bored and frustrated out of their skulls that not only will they never want that to happen, but the other kids on the team will learn the lesson through observation.
So what happens if you only have 7 kids in the field? You lose a game. It's a game...and a pre-season game at that. This isn't the World Series. It is a little league game. You know what happens when you do something that shocking and outrageous??? You get the kids attention that they have to obey you. AND...imagine those parents who show up to watch their kids' Little League game and their time is basically wasted because their kid is sitting the entire game in the dugout. You have their attention too.
Guess which kids are going to make sure that their parents arrange transportation with another mom or ride their bike to the park so they don't have to sit bored in the dug out? Guess which kids who played (and lost) are going to exert peer pressure on each other because they didn't have a full team on the field? Guess which parents are going to make sure their kid is at practice on time so that they can actually cheer for their child at a little league game instead of sitting bored in the bleachers.
So in a pre-season or early season game the low skill level plays the entire game. Don't you think THAT will get the attention of the self-centered STAR and his parents?
Since my step-daughter is a Division I athlete, you can imagine her skill level. There is no "I" in team. If she was late or had a poor attitude, she was benched. As she should be.
If it helps, think of it this way. You are teaching the kids invaluable life lessons. As the boss...would you continue to employ someone who was perpetually absent/late, was insubordinate and who thought they could do whatever they wanted because they thought they were the "star." That person would not work for me very long. So in addition to teaching the kids about baseball, you are also teaching them about life.
I am a step-parent of a kid who is a Division I athlete and played on travel teams for many years. Travel teams require an insane amount of time and commitment from the child and the parents. There is a world of difference between little league and those elite travel teams, so I admit that I have a very skewed perspective on this. The goal of kids in little league is to enjoy playing the sport. The goal of kids in travel teams is to get a full college scholarship.
With the travel teams my step daughter was on, if a kid was even 1 minute late to practice (or to pre-game warm-ups), the kid sat out the first game of the day. You'd better believe that if we were running late leaving, there was heck to pay from the ballplayer in our family who did not want to warm the bench! And if a kid were lippy or rolled her eyes at the coach or didn't run laps fast enough, the kid sat out the first game as well. The coaches were strict but they held the kids (and their parents) accountable for their behavior.
I hear what you are saying about you not having enough kids in the line-up if you sat out kids who missed practice or had behavior issues. But sometimes you have to do something completely outrageous to get the kids' attention. If you told the kids that they would sit out the game if they missed practice, then hold firm to that. Even if you are sitting out the stars and only have 7 kids in the field. And have the benched kids sit on the bench in the dugout for the entire game. They will be so bored and frustrated out of their skulls that not only will they never want that to happen, but the other kids on the team will learn the lesson through observation.
So what happens if you only have 7 kids in the field? You lose a game. It's a game...and a pre-season game at that. This isn't the World Series. It is a little league game. You know what happens when you do something that shocking and outrageous??? You get the kids attention that they have to obey you. AND...imagine those parents who show up to watch their kids' Little League game and their time is basically wasted because their kid is sitting the entire game in the dugout. You have their attention too.
Guess which kids are going to make sure that their parents arrange transportation with another mom or ride their bike to the park so they don't have to sit bored in the dug out? Guess which kids who played (and lost) are going to exert peer pressure on each other because they didn't have a full team on the field? Guess which parents are going to make sure their kid is at practice on time so that they can actually cheer for their child at a little league game instead of sitting bored in the bleachers.
So in a pre-season or early season game the low skill level plays the entire game. Don't you think THAT will get the attention of the self-centered STAR and his parents?
Since my step-daughter is a Division I athlete, you can imagine her skill level. There is no "I" in team. If she was late or had a poor attitude, she was benched. As she should be.
If it helps, think of it this way. You are teaching the kids invaluable life lessons. As the boss...would you continue to employ someone who was perpetually absent/late, was insubordinate and who thought they could do whatever they wanted because they thought they were the "star." That person would not work for me very long. So in addition to teaching the kids about baseball, you are also teaching them about life.
berkely? is it a good place for a college kid to live?
yusss
like is there stuff to do like for a college kid?
and how is crime??
hows the weather??
are there like any good beaches??
hurricanes?
Answer
It is a good and fun place for a college kid. The schools are very good assuming you're going to the UC but other community colleges like DVC and Laney are also very good.
Weather is nice, typical warm in summer, wet and cold in winter, nothing extreme like back east. It's pretty moderate here, rarely ever gets into the 100's, occasionally it will get into the 90's but not often. It never snows here either so it doesn't get terribly cold.
If you want nice beaches you have to goto Half Moon Bay which is probably a good hour drive. You can go for a couple hours south to Carmel or Monterrey where they have nicer beaches.
The crime is not that high, but I have to warn you that if you bring a bicycle you must lock it up really well. My best friend took some ugly paint and covered his brand new bike with it hoping that by making it ugly nobody would steal it. Well, they tried stealing it twice within a 3 month period. They decided to trash the bike when they couldn't break the lock so they mashed the brakes, seat, and other parts of the bike. I would bring two strong locks for all the wheels and maybe a third for the seat.
It is a good and fun place for a college kid. The schools are very good assuming you're going to the UC but other community colleges like DVC and Laney are also very good.
Weather is nice, typical warm in summer, wet and cold in winter, nothing extreme like back east. It's pretty moderate here, rarely ever gets into the 100's, occasionally it will get into the 90's but not often. It never snows here either so it doesn't get terribly cold.
If you want nice beaches you have to goto Half Moon Bay which is probably a good hour drive. You can go for a couple hours south to Carmel or Monterrey where they have nicer beaches.
The crime is not that high, but I have to warn you that if you bring a bicycle you must lock it up really well. My best friend took some ugly paint and covered his brand new bike with it hoping that by making it ugly nobody would steal it. Well, they tried stealing it twice within a 3 month period. They decided to trash the bike when they couldn't break the lock so they mashed the brakes, seat, and other parts of the bike. I would bring two strong locks for all the wheels and maybe a third for the seat.
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