[Mark Padgett]

As I've stated in other posts, there's different "levels" of kids rec ball around my area. There's plain old everyday recreational leagues and there's "competitive" leagues. There's a huge difference in the attitude of the coaches and parents between the two. Of course, that's a generalization - some of the "competitive" parents and coaches are just fine and a few of the "recreational" parents (virtually none of the coaches) are aggressive in their behavior.

It's been this way for about the last five years or so, which is when the "competitive" leagues formed. The idea is that, for the most part, these are the kids who will filter into the HS programs and play on the HS teams. Mostly, that's how it happens, although some really good players don't play in that league due to financial considerations. It cost four or five times as much to play in that program as in one of the local rec leagues.

How do I put up with it? I come up with retorts that I think are humorous and/or just say to myself when someone says something stupid - "What a maroon."

BTW - our local kids rec league pays $27 for MS (and below) games and $30 for HS games - you get a monthly check. The competitive league pays $30 for all games and you get paid by cash or check at halftime of the game by the home team. The local YMCA, which has a pretty big program, only pays $20 (paid by check bi-weekly). The bad part is that if you wind up working a game alone (which almost never happens, BTW), the competitive league pays only an additional $5 while our local kids rec league pays 1 1/2 times your normal rate, which is eminently fairer. I don't know what the Y pays for that.