5 Things to STOP A Doing in 2020 | Softball Is For Girls

The holidays and New Year are a time for new beginnings. And new seasons. And hey, maybe we can all do a little better in the New year. So today……

Softball is For Girls’ 5 Things to Stop Doing in 2020!

(We promise, these will make your life better!!!!)

1. Stop analyzing and AGONIZING over every single bad call that comes your way. Stop posting it on social media, days after the game is over, just to see if you can get some proof from someone who wasn’t even there, that YOU were right and the umpire was wrong. Just stop. A call is a call. Umpires are human. They are going to screw up, and it’s not worth your energy, your time, or your frustration to carry on about these things for days on end. Did you lose a game because of a bad call? Maybe so. But move on, and get over it because you aren’t going to change anything and your posts on social media look like a rendition of Abbott & Costella’s Who’s on First?
2. Quit making excuses for your kid’s performance on the field. So she sucked one day. So her batting average is going down the tubes. So she made a few errors. It is a GAME, and it is what IT IS, and more than likely it is just a phase that she will come out of. But you look a little silly making excuses for her, especially when everyone at the game sees the same thing, and no one but you saw the little rock that caused the bad hop, that made her miss the ball – fall on her face and blow a big play. It’s ok. It really is ok. Look. We have said this once and we will say it again. YOUR DAUGHTER’S PERFORMANCE on the field is not a DIRECT REFLECTION of your or her worth, or your parenting.
3. STOP TALKING ABOUT COACHES, TEAMMATES, and other PARENTS in front of your kid. Keep your opinions to YOURSELF. Just saying it, changes the way your kid feels about people she otherwise enjoys spending time with.
4. Speaking of talking – STOP TALKING for your kid. I’ve spent enough time in a dugout to know that what YOU say your child wants, and what SHE says she wants are totally different. She’s begging me to play outfield instead of 3rd, and you’ve got your panty in a wad because your daughter isn’t on 3rd. Your daughter WANTS to sit out, and your stalking me behind the dugout fence asking WHY she is sitting out. Please, EMPOWER your kid to ask for, WORK for, and talk to people about what SHE WANTS. Putting a coach between a player and a parent is a difficult position for them to be in, and most kids LIE to their parents just to appease them.
5. Please, please, please, quit coaching from the stands. Quit hollering at them while they are playing. I have had more players thrown out because they hear the shrill squeals of parents telling them to RUN, then I have gotten thrown out on my own base coaching skills. STOP coaching them while they are in the batters box. If you must open your mouth, say something positive to the ENTIRE team, and CHEER for the entire team. We promise – your kid will thank you later!

So we want to know! What would you add to the list. What are some things you’d like to see parents stop doing in 2020!