Gamechanger No good deed........

Oh the woes of offering to do Game Changer.... Some will say "don't offer to do it if you can't do it right" and they have a point. However, it feels like through my experience those who complain the most do not really understand how a game is scored. They think most of time their child arrives at a base that they should be awarded a single. Let me be perfectly clear.... I am pro offense. If your child's hit even resembles a hit I will almost always give it to them. I am not looking to accredit them with an error.

On the flip side I am not a huge fan of the inside the park home run. This does happen on occasion but more times than not there is an error or miss throw somewhere that has allowed it. Take your triple or double and be stoked if your kid crushed it.

Talking to the coaches has become a thing and I am not sure where or when it became acceptable. I have to imagine that this is a by-product of travel ball and all that goes into fundraising and funding these ventures. You need parents who are involved to rally the other parents to do the bidding. As a coach I would always try and get my parents who came to me with a concern to talk to with other parents first and hold a group meeting. Sometimes I would mediate but I felt like the quickest demise to a team was to field one on one sessions where parents vented about other kids or other parents.

If you are reading this and you don't see the problem with complaining directly to your coach then I have some unfortunate news for you.... LOL. We have come to an age where 16 , 17 and sometimes 18 players are on a roster. There are only 9 positions on a field. This means that most times half of the team will not be playing. Coaches do not want to lose. They also don't want to crush your child's soul by never playing them. Try your best to be impartial and try your best to think outside of your parental role and think about the team.

This is where the parent who always complains to the coach bothers me. Do not be that parent. I don't care if it is your first season on the team or you have been in the org your Child's entire youth. You are not helping your child. They will one day go out into the real world where you can't manipulate the situation and they will fall on their face.

Coaches do not entertain these conversations. They will always get around to your team and always create the drama that no team wants or needs. Your job as a coach is to win games and babysit parents. Yes I said it. You are charging for a product and as much as you hate what I just said it is the truth. You have 16 customers and only 9 vacancies. You need to manage your customer base or they will go somewhere else. Sounds weird I know but it is the truth.

Similar to my recent weeks' writings about the 1% group, remember that your child is probably not them. With that said they are very close in ability to their teammates and therefore can be substituted for or left out of the lineup just as easily and put in. Sometimes we start to take their lack of playing time or the playing time of another player as a personal attack on us and our children. Do your best to take a deep breath and remember that it's not personal. The coach is doing what they think is best at that time. If the season continues to go on and at the end you notice your child is in the bottom of playing time or production then understand that this is where your team's coach feels your player is at. I still think that you have to make that decision that is best for your family but go where you will play as it will matter in the end when everything is done.

Gamechanger is only there for parents. There is a reason that the stats settings most often used are private and only for your player. Coaches are watching the game and watching your child practice. They know who is getting better and they see who is hitting well. They are not pulling up GameChanger before the game to make the lineup. If they are, you have chosen the wrong coach.

"Disclaimer: High School stats on max preps are now updated through GC. I have somewhat of a different take on this version of GC during the HS season. "