I coach my son’s recreational basketball team. He’s 9, the kids on the team are all 8-10 and play the way kids that age play.  Today was the last day and it really bugged me that not one parent thanked me for coaching, for helping their kids, for the encouragement and support.  Hell, even for simply babysitting their whiny butts.

One kid in particular was a whiny little suck. “I haven’t made any baskets.”, “I suck”, and “I don’t want to play” came out of his mouth virtually every week, and this week was no exception. He actually took himself out of the game and sat dejected on the sidelines. I stopped the game, went over to him and gave him a pep-talk, getting him back on the floor and putting him in a position to score, which he did. His dad watched the whole thing. Nothing. No wonder the kid is the way he is based on the inaction of the father.

Then there are the other coaches. They do NOTHING. I’m the only one that called fouls, that coached both the teams, that played with the kids and tried to teach them something. I hate to even be considered a ‘coach’ if what they were doing was considered to be coaching. It’s not hard. Call a foul. Tell them what they did wrong and help them understand how to do it right.

Finally the parents. We were presenting the awards, photos and talking to the kids about how far they have progressed and they were all chatting and talking above what we were trying to do with THEIR KIDS. I yelled at them. I hate that I had to, but no one else was speaking up.

All of this bugs the crap out of me. Makes me not want to ever coach a team again. Dealing with the little shit kids, the big shit parents and the don’t care a shit coaches.

But I will, because I get to spend more time with my son. I would walk through fire for him, so a whole bunch of me feeling like crap once a week is nothing. I love him.