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I am on the middle of the fence on this issue. I, being a large male coach figure should never get in the face and yell at a small female player. I do coach in a small rec league, and am UIC of the softball league, and a park board member...so I get to deal with all sorts of stupid coaches! As mentioned above I agree that you have a huge intimidation factor over these youth players, and leave a lasting impression on them with your words and actions, but also I think parents should be there to guide players though things. Life is rough, and there will be times when you deal with bully figures and knowing how to let it slide is going to have to be in your nature or you will not survive. There are a million examples, but one that fits into the bully catagory is the following: large internal company meeting preparing for a customer presentation a Sr VP of our company enters the room 1/2 way through one persons review waits about 2 minutes then says "hey, I need to get to another meeting but I wanted to let you know your slides look like s--t, just so you have no doubt and might think they look good." Now do we run and find another VP to work for? Maybe, but those things take time in the corporate world several months and quiting is not an option.....too many bills to pay. Might argue it is different than a teenager vs coach, but jr level engineer (30-32) vs Sr. VP (50-55) is very close to the same level of respect / intimidation. Lessons learned young will lead to better ability to survive later.
Like I said I am on the fence, work vs an activity that should be fun are different and I agree taking crap from an abusive coach is not something I would let me kids deal with either....only debate is what each persons defination of abusive is.
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