I have had the opportunity to help coach two youth baseball teams over the last year.

The first team was made up of new or casual players; the second team was made up of what is often referred to as travel players which are players who are very experienced, knowledgeable, and motivated.  Let’s call the first team the Blues and the second team the Reds.

At the first practice the entire Reds team was in attendance with the majority of parents there as well.  The Blues were missing four players, two more showed up late, and only one parent bothered to attend.

The kids on the Reds listened intently as we explained our backgrounds and qualifications, our baseball approach and philosophy, our team rules, and our playing decisions.  Several asked questions as did the parents who were standing by listening just as closely to all we said.  By the end of that first team meeting the players seemed quite comfortable and confident in what it was we were trying to do. 

Our goals with the Blues were different of course because the skill and experience levels as well as the general knowledge of baseball were likely average at best for kids at that age.  As it turned out average would have been an improvement.  These players mostly looked around with several goofing off and needing to be called out so as to maintain order.  No questions were asked except by one young man who wanted to know if he needed to be at every practice.  The parent stayed back from the huddle and asked no questions.  Only two players made eye contact and seemed interested and engaged.  I felt somehow that they wanted to ask questions but were either afraid or unsure of how to do so.

As the practice season progressed it became apparent that we would need to invest a lot of time with the Blues if we wanted them to improve even a little bit.  They might also get the needed practice and education at home but, in my experience, this was not what usually happened on the so-called rec league teams.  It was my experience that the best rec league teams were formed by a draft process that favored the coaching team with more experience and also, interestingly if not surprisingly, with coaches who were in some way closely involved in the league activities.  We might try to improve the players who needed it most but, as we stood watching one 10-year old player chasing a butterfly around in left field during flyball drills the manager turned to me and said “we just need to get through the season.”  Okay then.

The Reds practices were crisp and mostly intense though executed with a good bit of fun and well-intended competitiveness.  The players got better, the team got better.  The coaches needed to know their stuff if the players were going to respond.  These were smart kids and involved parents.  The coaches needed to work as hard if not harder than the players.

On the Blues it really didn’t matter if the coaches knew their stuff and many in the rec league seemed not to.  Or maybe they just didn’t show it or seem to care too much- it all seemed too laid back, too programmed.  It was puzzling to me.

“Why is this?” I asked each of the head coaches.

“I just want to keep coaching my son” said the Blues manager.  “There is a rating survey at the end of the year so if I keep letting the kids do pretty much what they want and if playing time is doled out equally so the parents stay happy and if I provide free pizza and soda a few times during the season then everyone is happy and I get to manage again next year.  It’s that simple.”

I was pretty shocked.  No talk of making the players better or smarter, no mention of enhancing the expectations of the parents, no discussion of winning as a desired goal, no worries that in the end he- or us, by default- would be held responsible by the league for making sure these kids, these players, at least the ones who wanted to, could compete at the next level, maybe even one day make a travel or high school team.  Just worried about his own son and the boys of families he simply did not wish to alienate.  He had his favorites and my son was not one of them from what I could tell.  He did however gladly accept my help babysitting at the practices.

“We want each and every player to be at his best so the team can be at its best” the Reds manager answered when I asked him the same question.  “It’s hard, and coaches and managers in this league get replaced if they fail in their goals.  We get rated too but it is by players and parents who know a lot, who expect a lot, and, in the end, demand to get what they have invested in- both time and money.  The rec league guys just get to keep coaching and, I have to say, mostly failing their kids.  The worst part is that their kids and parents don’t know or expect any better.  It may seem strange but if they coached better then they might have less of a chance to keep coaching if they or their teams plateau or fail to reach the goals that were promised.  

I looked on in quiet disbelief at what I was hearing.  The Reds manager, a very good coach and man in my opinion, went on.

“I teach at the high school and have to say that the situation there is similar.  Also in politics as well” he said.

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, we came from another community where I was elected as a village trustee for several terms.  No one asked much of me or asked me much- they just liked me because, I guess, they knew me from either coaching or teaching or both.  At the townhall meetings, if the residents even attended, there was little controversy and almost never any questioning of what it was the village board was doing or saying they were doing.  Still, I kept getting elected by the folks no matter what.  I thought I was doing a good job but it turns out that I simply had to go along.  I hate to say it but the reason I kept getting elected to the board was because the folks were not involved and not smart enough to do anything different, even if the choice against me had been a better candidate.”

“And here?”

“I ran and was elected the first time but since my training from our last community was to basically not do much and just keep the folks happy by not rocking the boat and not raising any expectations that is what I did by default.  Another candidate, more qualified I think, came along and I was voted out by a large margin.”

“You lost?”

“Yep.  You might say I was voted out because the people were just too smart.  Better to keep them dumb and happy I guess would be the lesson.  Politicians, teachers, coaches.  Might be true for all of them” he concluded as I pondered all he had so openly shared.

I thanked him for his time and as I gathered up my gear and my son I realized how very likely it was that he was completely right.