Stop me if you’ve heard this one:
At one point during a game, the coach called one of his 9-year-old baseball players aside and asked, “Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?” The little boy nodded in the affirmative.
“Do you understand that what matters is whether we win or lose together as a team?” The little boy nodded ‘yes’.
“So,” the coach continued, “I’m sure you know, when an out is called, you shouldn’t argue, curse, attack the umpire, or call him a pecker-head. Do you understand all that?” The little boy nodded ‘yes’ again.
He continued, “And when I take you out of the game so another boy gets a chance to play, it’s not good sportsmanship to call your coach a dumb ass is it?” The little boy shook his head ‘NO’.
“GOOD”, said the coach.
“Now go over there and explain all that to your grandmother.”
Parents are unbelievable in sports today. The sad thing is that the apple doesn’t fall far, so as the parents do it (talk back to the coach, refuse to cooperate, act like their child is special) so will the kids.
The weird thing is that diva-ism is as widespread among middling talents as exceptional players. Just like the entitlement we complain about here so often.
Not to mention that Little League Dad syndrome is so often a projection complex, putting harmful pressure on the kid.