My son is afraid of being back catcher

Question
Last week while practicing at home crouched down in the  catchers stance, w/o a helmet on my 8 y/o son was hit in the nose by a baseball.  He broke his nose and is now terrified of catching a ball as back catcher.  He'll catch pop flys and line drives no problem-it's just when he's at the back catcher position with a batter up to bat and the ball comes off the pitching machine he can't handle it.  Last night he started crying after the 1st pitch.  He made it thru 3 pitches and them could not.  One problem is my husband (his daddy) is his coach.  My son thinks he can play whereever since daddy is coaching.  He is greatly needed at back catcher.  We've been giving pep talk after pep talk and he says he's going to do it.  We get to practice and he gets the gear on and gets down and ready for that 1st ball then out of the blue starts crying.  We don't want him to be a quitter.  Any suggestions for how we can get him out of this?

Answer
Shawna,

Thanks for the question and this is tough.  I am so sorry that this has happened.

First of all, the cardinal rule is never try to play catcher without a helmet.  But I think you all realize that now.

Second, I don't blame him for being afraid.  This is not like he has been hit by a pitch as a batter in the back.  He got hit in the face and broke his nose.  I think some serious slack needs to be given to this young boy.  Let's remember that he is only 8.  It would be one thing if he was 15, but he is 8.  He is still just a little boy.

I understand that he might be a really good catcher, but he is only 8.  Is an 8 year old baseball team that important that we cannot give the boy some time to heal from this emotional event?  I don't think so.  I know that we all, as parents and coaches, have the vision that our 8 year old son's baseball team's performance is a matter of life or death.  But it isn't.  What is most important is the health, and emotional health of your 8 year old son. To call him a quitter because he is having some trouble getting back behind the plate to try and catch a pitching machine pitch is a little bit rough.  Don't you think?

I have three recommendations to get past this.

First, lay off the boy and give him some time.  He needs some support and love right now.

Two, buy him a new mask.  If he doesn't have a hockey style catcher's mask, get him one.  This will help the emotional side of this situation.

Three, play him at another position in games right now and start working in practice or at home on catching dad pitching to him, without a batter.  Get some confidence in him and then slowly work up to a batter in practice and then into a game.   The catcher in coach pitch is one of the least important positions on the field.  Take is slow and easy and next season he will be back in the saddle.

Remember, he is 8 and he is your son first.  Coach pitch is supposed to be fun.  I know it is important, but what is most important is the relationship between your son, yourself and his dad.

I hope this helps.

Mike