Weirdest EJ so far

[kylehutson]

Here was my writeup for the 10U AA state tourney today:

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During the semifinal game (teams redacted), I observed a player entering the dugout at the end of a half-inning. The player was crying and a coach was yelling at him. This coach yelled at him to stop crying. A few moments later, the coach struck the player with a closed fist in the shoulder and said "now you have something to cry about." While this punch was not full force, it was hard enough to knock the player back a step. I sought the tournament director to have the coach removed from the game.

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I later found it it was his own son. I also found out that both our UIC and the local facilities manager were "mandatory reporters" (teachers in our state and some child care workers, etc., are required to report any suspicion of child abuse to legal authorities), and they called the police. The officer took my report as my statement and then interviewed the coach. It doesn't sound like any legal action is going to come of it, but it was surreal.

To add bizarre-ness (I think I just made up a word) to weirdness. One of the loud-mouthed moms said "well, do these guys think that when they get to high school and college, the coaches are just going to coddle them?" It was all I could do not to talk to the fence. (A) they have 4 years before they get to high school, and (B) I'm pretty sure if a high school coach punches a player, a lawsuit will be the next step.

[Umpirechick1]

The sad thing is, sometimes a coach will say "He's my kid" like that makes it OK.