7th grade team is too good- asked not to score so much

[Da Coach]

I thought this story was a little funny.
A 7th grade team in a parochial league in Birmingham, AL, has been winning games by an average of 55 points and parents of the other teams' kids are complaining. So the league has asked the coach to stop embarrassing the other teams so much. The league president has suggested to the coach he have his kids pass 10-15 times each possession, not try to steal the ball, or shoot with their opposite hands to keep the scores down.
But the coach says he is going to keep running up the scores. He is quoted as saying-
"The parents are adamant that they don't want me to abide by the rules that they're applying to our school, and I'm not going to do that," he said. "I've been told if I don't do what they ask they're going to suspend me from coaching."

http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/116989295852500.xml&coll=2

[Dallas Brave]

Hey, 7th grade isn't too early in life to teach little junior that if you are not able stay up with the competition, then ask for the competition to back it down. What a nice lesson on work ethic for those boys.

[houstontxbrave]

Hey, 7th grade isn't too early in life to teach little junior that if you are not able stay up with the competition, then ask for the competition to back it down. What a nice lesson on work ethic for those boys.

But, everyone gets a trophy right?

[abesimpson]

I wish the article would have said whether or not the lead was so much because the coach left in the starters or not. When I played in 7th or 8th grade, one coach from another school in our conf. left all his starters in for the entire game against the worst team (by worst I mean smallest size school, had to get 6th graders to play on the 8th grade team, only could afford 5 nice looking jerseys for games while the others had to wear practice jerseys) just to see if he could get his team to 100. They did and beat them by 50 or so. When we played them next, everyone on our team wanted to hammer them for doing that to another team.

For grade school, once the lead is safely in double-digits, the right thing to do is get the bench in and let everyone have fun. The only excuse for this coach is if he only has 5 or 6 guys total on the team. Otherwise, there is no honor in winning like that.

[RocketWatcher]

What a bunch of pussies.

This is what you get when you let politically correct pussies get away with stuff.

[DUBulldog]

For grade school, once the lead is safely in double-digits, the right thing to do is get the bench in and let everyone have fun. The only excuse for this coach is if he only has 5 or 6 guys total on the team. Otherwise, there is no honor in winning like that.

Merriweather's eight-member team has seven seventh-graders and one sixth-grader. And while youngsters who are active in a parish are eligible, all of his players are students at the school in Roebuck.

[abesimpson]

Thanks for the catch DUBulldog. I'm surprised they burried that info late in the story. Not much of a bench to get in I guess...ah well...

[Dallas Brave]

I don't subscribe to any coach who has a tendencey to pile on. The guy may or may not be a dickhead.

My reaction as a parent for a kid that is on a team that is getting dog piled is to suck it up and get over it. Youth sports are much more than just the outcomes of the games. I think a lot of parents lose sight of the benefits kids get from day-to-day participation in sports. Practices give kids an opportunity to build friendships, sometimes life-long ones. The kids are focused on healthy activities and not wasting their free time away on computer games or more dangerous after-school activities. Kids learn the importance of team work. The games are what you work toward and where a lot of the emotion is (especially for parents), but the games are only a small part of the overall value proposition. Sure, you want to win 'em, but you can't win them all and occassionally you're going to get your rear-end kicked. Look at it as a means to motivate the individual and the team to work harder - don't ask the other team to take it easy on you. To make such a request is pathetic.

[Bravesfan]

Re: 7th grade team is too good- asked not to score so much

I thought this story was a little funny.
A 7th grade team in a parochial league in Birmingham, AL, has been winning games by an average of 55 points and parents of the other teams' kids are complaining. So the league has asked the coach to stop embarrassing the other teams so much. The league president has suggested to the coach he have his kids pass 10-15 times each possession, not try to steal the ball, or shoot with their opposite hands to keep the scores down.
But the coach says he is going to keep running up the scores. He is quoted as saying-
"The parents are adamant that they don't want me to abide by the rules that they're applying to our school, and I'm not going to do that," he said. "I've been told if I don't do what they ask they're going to suspend me from coaching."

http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamn...500.xml&coll=2

The dummying down of America continues!

[Bravesfan]

I don't subscribe to any coach who has a tendencey to pile on. The guy may or may not be a dickhead.

My reaction as a parent for a kid that is on a team that is getting dog piled is to suck it up and get over it. Youth sports are much more than just the outcomes of the games. I think a lot of parents lose sight of the benefits kids get from day-to-day participation in sports. Practices give kids an opportunity to build friendships, sometimes life-long ones. The kids are focused on healthy activities and not wasting their free time away on computer games or more dangerous after-school activities. Kids learn the importance of team work. The games are what you work toward and where a lot of the emotion is (especially for parents), but the games are only a small part of the overall value proposition. Sure, you want to win 'em, but you can't win them all and occassionally you're going to get your rear-end kicked. Look at it as a means to motivate the individual and the team to work harder - don't ask the other team to take it easy on you. To make such a request is pathetic.

I strongly agree. It is obvious that this team is a very talented, very well coached team, and that the lack of competition is the problem, not the coach. Now, the easiest way to keep the games from becoming out of hand is for the league to instill some sort of "slaughter" rule that can halt a game when the margin becomes too big. But to go and ask a coach to have the team play conservatively because a few parents and kids might have hurt feeeelllliinnnggggss hurt is not the right message to be sending kids who are going to have to face much more difficult challenges as adults. All "pulling back" during a game is going to accomplish is make today's generation of children a bunch of wimps!