What is it about little league sports that exposes the character of the adults who coach it? Last night, the coach of my daughter's OPPOSING team was having his weaker hitters intentionally "bunt" with no intention of swinging the bat (or really even bunting, just distracting the pitcher) in hopes of drawing walks so they could get on base.

Okay, I understand that the pitcher should throw strikes and that the defense should make the plays, but these are 10-12 year-olds who don't throw strikes consistently (it's normal to have 5 walks per team in ONE INNING) yet and the odds of a catcher making the throw to first are slim, too. But this isn't the competitive league (it's actually called "select" softball...but don't EVEN get me started on that) that our community also offers.

In short, the coach was manipulating the rules to WIN the game in a RECREATIONAL league instead of coaching the girls to get better and learn the game. They may score runs and win games (which they didn't win this one, they actually tied due to time limitations, so this isn't about sour grapes) but they won't learn the game (or respect the game) or get better.

Why can't an adult see that the smile of the last batter in the lineup after she gets her first hit of the season (which we got to see last night) is worth sacrificing a few walks and runs...or wins?

I'm glad I told him the things I'm blogging about last night, too. Needless to say, he was unmoved by my insights.

The sad thing is he really believes a 12-year-old winning one game is important. Deep in his heart he really BELIEVES this stuff.