Mommy UN-Dearest

[skippy]

Mother protests Freetown league's benching of 7-year-old son

By Kim Ledoux

Standard-Times correspondent
May 15, 2008 6:00 AM

FREETOWN — A youth baseball parent is unhappy that her son was benched because she could not work the league's concession stand.

Jodie Hooper says she really wants to volunteer at her son's baseball games, but last week she had to work the night she was scheduled to staff the concession stand.

The next day, Mrs. Hooper learned her 7-year-old son was going to be benched for two games because his mother was a no-show.

"It is not right that a child is punished because his mother has to go to work to help put food on the table," Mrs. Hooper said. "And it isn't as if I do not want to volunteer. I found out on Monday that I was not going to be able to work the concession stand on Wednesday.

"I tried to find somebody to take my place, but there was no list for me to go to. I am new to town, so it isn't like I know many people."

Mrs. Hooper, noting that she has a background in coaching, said she and her husband were active volunteers for leagues in their former home of Wareham. They recently moved to Freetown with their two sons, 2 and 7.

According to Dave Brouillette, president of the Freetown Youth Athletic Association, the policy is necessary to be fair to everyone and keep the league financially stable.

"The board of directors for the FYAA voted on the rule two years ago. We re-examined it this year and decided that it has been working," Mr. Brouillette said. "Everyone can come up with an excuse. The night (Mrs. Hooper) didn't show, guess who ended up working at the concession stand? I did. I was supposed to be helping my son's coach. I didn't get to help him or see my own son play."

He said parents are asked to volunteer one night per child with a maximum of two nights per year and, with the dates scheduled in March, they get considerable advance notice.

Although parents are not allowed to change their dates, they can find a suitable replacement to report for them.

Asked whether parents are provided with a list of other parents, Mr. Brouillette said every manager does things differently.

Mrs. Hooper said, in her opinion, the FYAA should do things differently.

"This has been very hard on (her son). He is embarrassed," she said, not wanting to identify him by name. "He said he didn't want to go to the game, but I told him that we had to go anyway because he is part of the team, even if he doesn't get to play.

"It breaks my heart to see him sitting there, but I am so proud of him for doing it," she said.

"I don't have a problem with volunteering," said Mrs. Hooper, who signed a contract at the start of the season, agreeing to work at the concession stand. "But I think that a parent should be able to change the date. When I spoke with Dave Brouillette, he said that since he can't punish the parents, he has to suspend the kids.

"Don't get me wrong. I think that he has done a fabulous job with the association, and I understand 100 percent that that concession stand is important and that the association needs money. But there has to be another way," she said, adding that perhaps more could be done with fundraisers.

Mr. Brouillette said Mrs. Hooper is the one "making a big deal out of this. If she wants, I'll resign and she can come and run the organization.

"I had seven other parents this year not show up," he said. "A million times over it (stinks) to suspend a kid. We even had to do it to a 5-year-old."

But there have to be rules, he stressed.

"The concession stand is what pays for us to maintain the fields," he said.

"We recently lost $400 one night because a parent didn't show up, and we had to close the grill."

[ZoomVT]

lol. what a bunch of assholes.
im all about toughening kids, and i would have no problem benching a 7yr old kid for discipline; but not to punish his parents. thats ridiculous.
maybe if they are so short in money, they should give parents an option to either volunteer or pay what it would cost to have someone come in for the 6 hours of the stand at $10 hour. big f*cking deal.

[Wellahiya]

when i quit hockey, i tried to play another sport, soccer, but i was really small until i got a huge boost at age 16.

when i were at first practice in november, everything was fine, the coach told me that i was too small for goalie, but that i can play in winter's indoor-games and the rest of the year, defender when they are in need... i was okay with that, it was all about participating for me and to stay in good shape. in my first season i got injured and after my injury was all fine again, the coach kicked me out of teh team as i wasn't of any 'value for the team' or what how ever to write that in english. when i was picked up by my parents, my mother asked me when the next game will be. and when i told them that i was kicked out, my father's face turned pale and without saying a word walked into the locker room and dealt with the coach.

kicking a kid from a sport team is in my humble opinion a no-go. no matter how bad. you can punish kids for misbehavior, but nothing else. it's not like the team has costs that are linked to the team, it's vice versa, the kids pay a monthly fee.

[skippy]

Originally Posted by eekchac

when i quit hockey, i tried to play another sport, soccer, but i was really small until i got a huge boost at age 16.

when i were at first practice in november, everything was fine, the coach told me that i was too small for goalie, but that i can play in winter's indoor-games and the rest of the year, defender when they are in need... i was okay with that, it was all about participating for me and to stay in good shape. in my first season i got injured and after my injury was all fine again, the coach kicked me out of teh team as i wasn't of any 'value for the team' or what how ever to write that in english. when i was picked up by my parents, my mother asked me when the next game will be. and when i told them that i was kicked out, my father's face turned pale and without saying a word walked into the locker room and dealt with the coach.

kicking a kid from a sport team is in my humble opinion a no-go. no matter how bad. you can punish kids for misbehavior, but nothing else. it's not like the team has costs that are linked to the team, it's vice versa, the kids pay a monthly fee.

It doesn't matter how big/small you are.....no one is able to cover the entire soccer net.

I am surprised that 0-0 draws (and low scoring games) are so frequent in soccer.

Look at the size of that freaking goal!!!!

[Wellahiya]

well, even youth teams play the big goals, but with 1m50cm you are WAY too small

during indoor season soccer is played with handball goal size.