Doc, next time an angry parent gets upset about playing time (or anything!), offer them the team. They always back down when we do that. "Well, you know, I'm planning on going on vacation next week, and I would love it if you could step in while I'm gone!"

Remember that you are a VOLUNTEER and you don't have to do this and you will only do it for your own reasons and with your own methods and not with theirs. I take comfort in the fact that I can always quit. I can walk away just like they do every time they drop off their little darling without having fed her before practice.

Of course, I never will, but it helps me to know that I can.

Thanks for being a coach. As a person who helps a few overworked guys run a Cal Ripken baseball league for 400 kids, I am grateful for people like you.

Karen