Beware of junior baseball leagues, especially if you are a coach

     Many homeschooling families use some form of organized sports, such as baseball teams, for their physical education, and many homeschool dads serve as coaches for such teams. I did for several years in St. Louis, MO. The following story comes from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform to encourage support for lawsuit reform. I pass it on just to make homeschooling dads who may coach or plan to coach their children’s sports teams aware of what might happen so that they can be careful. Mike Meissner, had been a youth baseball coach in Waynseville, NC for sixteen years. He sought to teach his players not only about the game but about sportsmanship and being a good loser. But, when he thinks back on those sixteen years, the first thing that comes to mind is not the positive lessons he imparted upon his players — it is the lawsuit. One Saturday during a pop fly drill, a player dove for a ball. The sun got in his eyes, the boy said, and, instead of landing in his glove, the ball hit him in the mouth. The players’ family sued Mike and the league. "When I first heard about it," says Marion Mayes, director of a nearby youth league in North Carolina, "I was kind of shocked because of the fact that that’s just normal play." The plaintiffs alleged that Mike had been negligent in conducting his drill. The lawsuit dragged on for years before going to trial. "It was very, very stressful," Mike said. Though he was eventually vindicated, the lawsuit still taints Mike’s memories of the many years he spent as a volunteer coach. "What you don’t need is something like this discouraging people from the thought of going out and helping other children," he says.