Fair play

Question
Any literature that I can find regarding coaching and what seems to be fair and what does not seem to be fair.  My daughter is on her middle school softball team and it does not appear that she is being given a fair shake.  Last night she starts in left field.  The infeild gives up multiple runs in the first inning.  She is fifth in the line up.  Four come up to bat with her turn next.  Three outs then the coach substitutes her at the top of the second and does not put her into play again nor does she even get to bat.  I know I may seem like whining but I would like to find some information that I can pass onto the coach regarding fair play and what the outcome to a child that is treated this way.

Answer
Hello Owen,

Unfortunately there always has been and probably always will be "politics" involved in school sports.  That doesn't necessarily apply to all schools, but many Coaches feel obligated to play kids of other faculty members or kids of friends ahead of other kids when the talent level isn't significantly different.  ( in rare cases, even when it is obviously worse.)  I've fell victim to it and seen it my whole life, but I don't know that there is an answer.  I've never been able to consciously let my feelings for a player or parent influence my decisions about who plays where and how much they play.  I've been very fortunate in that I've only been questioned by one parent in 20 years of coaching. When asked who her daughter should be playing in front of, she couldn't give me an answer and realized how crazy it was for her to complain.

I'm not trying to say all Coaches give in to politics.  I'd say, if anything, just the opposite is true.  There may be things going on at practice, at school, or in the dugout, that you are not aware of.  If you have discussed this with your daughter and watched the practices, I'd catch the Coach one day after practice IN PRIVATE and ask him him what your daughter needs to work on to gain more playing time.  If he is a good coach, he'll take the time to list her weaknesses and tell you why she isn't getting more playing time.  Most Coaches are reasonable and will be happy to discuss this with you as long as you are tactful and come to him in private with your concerns.

I did find one interesting article titled "win at all costs" you may be interested in reading.  I'll post the link below.  Please let me know how the meeting goes.

http://www.asbj.com/2003/08/0803coverstory.html

Coach Mike