Sportsmanship Award - Not

My 12 year old daughter came in to pitch in her Little League game last week after our first pitcher threw 4 excellent innings. She started pitching and one of the parents on the other team started saying to his kids, “She’s throwing meatballs.” He said this several times. If you don’t know what that means, it’s not a nice thing to say. It’s derogatory. It means she’s throwing them straight down the middle with no speed, meaning anyone can get a hit. It means she can’t pitch, is pitching poorly - you get the picture. I just get so angry when someone criticizes my child. You know, you can think whatever you like, and you can get frustrated when the kids aren’t playing well or are making dumb mistakes, and I don’t really care what you say in the privacy of your own home or among friends, but under no circumstances should anyone, especially a PARENT, yell derogatory comments at one of the kids on the field. I just couldn’t get over it. How incredibly rude, and mean-spirited. What a great role model.

Well, the best way to stop that type of behavior is by performance, and she performed. She finished out the next three innings and the game by not allowing a hit; just one batter got to first on an error.

Remember to always root FOR your team, and not AGAINST the other team. Coaches, it would help if you’d make sure your girls only cheer positively for their teammates, and not negatively against the other team.