I hate to be the bearer of bad news.......but.......if you allow them to be butt-heads at 10U........they will most likely be *#$#$@*$@ by time they are 12 or 14 and under.......or maybe worse........d;-)

As Barney Fife would say........"Nip it......Nip it......Nip it in the bud"

This is a special condition...........dump the bad coaches......early and often.

JMHO

Joel

Invite your TD to the field when you know that you will be calling a game of one of the habitual offenders. Point out to the TD or highlight in what ever rule book your league is following the rule that prohibits the coaches from arguing judgements calls before the game begins. Have the TD join the pregame meeting with the coaches and let the TD set the tone of the game, the TD will read the rule, verify the coaches understand it and then you tell the coaches that you are sure there wont be a problem but if there is, one warning will be issued and the next violation will include their dismissal from the field. Unfortunatle many coaches at this level feel that "they" are not governed by the Blu, only thier players are. Having the presence of a TD or a local league official involved may provide the "show" of support you need to control the coaches that have trouble giving you the respect that you are due.:)

I agree that the show of solidarity is good. I don't think I need the TD (or want him) at my plate meeting. I simply tell coaches if they want to discuss a rule to call time and be properly recognized - if they want to discuss a judgement call to just simply bang their head on the dugout - might not do them anygood but at least they'll have a red mark on their forehead to show for it!

:eek: Saturday, July 8, 2006 - everyone mark this down. Mike and I agreed on something!! I'm getting all choked up . . . :o

My standard plate meeting includes the Sportsmanship Speech. In this, after the usual yadda yadda, I say the following, "If either of you coaches have a question about a call or a ruling, I am happy to discuss it, so long as you request TIME, and when granted approach me in polite, professional manner. I am less willing to argue about calls, though. You will get a result if you yell across the field, but it may not be the result you want." This is delivered, not as a lecture, but in a somewhat lighthearted tone, with a smile.

I've found that the coaches of younger teams joke back at this, but get the message. For the few that don't, I can refer them back to the plate meeting as a reminder to calm them down short of ejection, etc.

The lines that usually work for me are similar, with the inclusion of:

a. Coach, don't remove yourself from this game. Your players need you here...
b. Coach, I don't need you in this game to continue, but your players do....
c. Coach, I want to keep you in this game. Now here's what's going to happen...

Man, I can't believe some of the horror stories you folks are spinning!

So far this year I've done about 50-60 games. I have had one coach argue a call with any real vigor (10U baseball) and one other (12U softball) be a general jerk and come up to the brink of ejection before I cooled him off.

I've had zero incidents of abusive parents.

I must be doing something wrong!:D

Hurmph,,,must be a homer or something.:p

I was a 10U coach a few years back. The problems I had with other coaches was based on a lack of rules knowledge. Our league had coaches meetings and handed out the ASA rule book, but I don't think some of the coaches bothered to even open the book. A few of the coaches tried to argue the calls, but usually they got over it with minimal "bluster". The only time I questioned an umpire's judgement was when she repeatedly called strikes on my girls when the ball was hitting in front of the plate. I waited until between innings, and asked her why she was calling strikes when the ball wasn't even getting to the plate. She told me my girls were just standing there not even trying to hit the ball. I could understand that; no one wanted a walkfest. So, I asked if it was okay to redraw the batter's box so the kids could stand closer to the pitcher (it had been drawn incorrectly, and stopped at the front edge of the plate). The opposing coach actually agreed, and came over and helped redraw it! I was reluctant to question the umpire at all, but some of my parents were getting a little heated up over everything being called a strike, so I felt I owed it to them to at least ask. By the way, my pitcher was actually throwing a lot of "real" strikes and the umpire wasn't giving her the same "anything hittable" strike zone. The game ended a few innings later because of a lightning storm. The weather was charged up, but at least my parents were calmer!