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Living Vicariously Through Your Children
Recently a friend of mine sent me an article that goes to the crux of what I am trying to say in my writing. The article in the May 2024 Atlantic Magazine by Rich Cohen entitled “The Sad Fate of The Sports Parents”, Mr. Cohen states that “a true sports parent dies twice. ‘There’s the death that awaits us all at the end of a long or short life, the result of illness, misadventure, fire, falling object, hydroplaning car, or derailing train. But there is also the death that com
oodoe4
Dec 24, 20254 min read
Competition or Development
I was recently speaking with a friend, Dr. Nicholas Molinaro, a sports psychologist and wrote who an article entitled “The Truth About Competition.” The article deals with a subject near and dear to my heart, youth sports and how the system is set up to “win” and not for “player development.” I have been saying this for years while writing this blog, the system is set up for coaches to put their best players in the most important positions and ensure they are “coached up” w
oodoe4
Dec 10, 20256 min read
It Has Finally Happened
It has finally happened: an athlete took the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJISAA) to court in an attempt to overturn the result of a state tennis match and allow it to be replayed due to “alleged improper conduct by an opposing coach and poor officiating in a state semifinal match” the player had lost. For a few months now I have written blogs about youth/High School sports ending up in court for various reasons with most of them dealing with parents runn
oodoe4
Nov 26, 20254 min read
The Post Game Handshake
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about a “violent” weekend in youth and high school sports. The violence occurred in a high school soccer and a high school football game where the players got into it on the field. The disturbance then spilled out onto the streets around the field with the parents and a final incident where parents fought in the stands of a pee wee football game. The next week there was a high school football game that was stopped early due to a fight between
oodoe4
Nov 14, 20254 min read
Finally, a Good News Youth Sports Story
I have been writing this blog for over two years now and the ratio of bad to good stories about youth sports stories is not good. Like they say in the newspaper business, “if it bleeds it leads” and the same seems to go for the blog writing business. Week after week I look for positive youth sports stories only to find stories about parents abusing coaches and game officials, children behaving badly during and following games, the costs of travel/elite/select teams exploding
oodoe4
Oct 30, 20254 min read
A Violent Day in Youth Sports
I sat down this week to write about an incident I read on NJ.com that occurred between St. Peter’s and St. Benedict’s High Schools where a St. Benedict’s player attacked a photographer who was taking pictures of a scuffle that was taking place between both teams following the game. However, on October 7 th there was another article by NJ.com entitled “It was the most violent day ever on NJ sports fields. Are we doing anything about it?” This story talks about three sepa
oodoe4
Oct 15, 20255 min read
Soccer Mom and Social Media
Again, I have come across an article published on NJ.com dealing with parents behaving badly leading to issues for a youth sports team;...
oodoe4
Oct 2, 20254 min read
Coaching Philosphy
Recently, while scrolling Facebook waiting for an appointment I came across the following quote from a site called “The Baseball Aholic”...
oodoe4
Sep 17, 20254 min read
Follow up to my bat flip story
As I have stated before I usually do not get to do follow ups on my blog posts because the matters I write about do not always occur...
oodoe4
Aug 20, 20255 min read
Bat Flipping Incident
Another day, another youth sports controversary and yet another parent running to court to have the court overturn a decision by a youth...
oodoe4
Aug 7, 20255 min read
The Selling Out of Little League
Recently, I finished reading a book entitled “Homestand: Small Town Baseball and The Fight for The Soul of America” by Will...
oodoe4
Jul 25, 20255 min read
How to Keep Youth Sports Coaches from Quitting
In the past I have written quite a lot about what I see the issues are as they relate to youth sports, making our children little...
oodoe4
Jul 9, 20255 min read
Follow up to June 2022 Blog Post
In 2022 I wrote a blog about a youth baseball umpire from New Jersey who was assaulted and suffered a broken jaw and concussion during a...
oodoe4
Jun 27, 20254 min read
Rasing Little Pro's
I recently came across the following quote “My goal isn’t to raise a champion…It’s to raise a child that believes they can become one.” I...
oodoe4
Jun 11, 20253 min read
Teaching how to win and lose gracefully
Recently, I came across the following quote on Facebook: “I would rather watch them lose with good attitude than win with a bad one”...
oodoe4
May 14, 20254 min read
What not to do at your child's youth sporting events
Recently, while scrolling on Facebook I came across a clip from the CBS Morning News that highlighted an organization called 3aathletics...
oodoe4
Apr 30, 20255 min read
More Violence Against Game Officials
So, it looks like it is back to “bad news” blogs for me. I recently started following a gentleman on Instagram named Duke Baxter. Mr....
oodoe4
Apr 16, 20254 min read
A good news blog
I have been stating in my last few blogs finding positive youth sports stories is not always easy as the negative stories always seem to...
oodoe4
Apr 2, 20255 min read
Violence in the Stands
Each week I look for articles or events that are positive in youth sports as, like I have said many times before, I feel that youth...
oodoe4
Mar 20, 20255 min read
Follow up to an Earlier Blog
A few weeks ago, I wrote a few blogs discussing children quitting sports and the mistakes that parents make that cause their children to...
oodoe4
Mar 5, 20254 min read
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