Living a dream... In the wrong way

"Not playing baseball is not an option!," screams a disgruntled parent to his son. "The only way you will ever succeed in life is through baseball!"

Once again the line is crossed. A parent has decided to put his son or daughter's life on Marshall Law, taking absolute control of every choice regarding his kid's future.

"If you stop playing, I will personally make your life miserable," he blurts out again.

Every so often this awful and embarrassing display of parenting enters an American household.

An innocent young athlete gets swept into a parent's life long dream of prosperity and fame.

In this case, a teenage baseball player with unlimited potential decides that baseball may no longer be the fun and exciting game that he once loved.

It's truly a shame as kids rush out to the nearest Little League, recreational complex, or even for those less fortunate, the sandlot, with aspirations of one day pitching in Game 7 of the World Series, or better yet, just to have fun.

Baseball is America's pastime, a game that has thrived in our society for over 100 years.

A game that has thrived because it's fun.

The smell of freshly cut grass, the rays of the scorching sun stinging your back, and the sound of aluminum bats striking baseballs high into the never-ending sky are all associated with the game kids dream of playing.

As of late, however, it seems as if the sounds of competition are coming more from the stands than where it belongs... on the field.

Don't get me wrong, parental support is excellent.

Baseball would not be the sport it is without the praise of family and friends, but when negativity gets involved, that's where I have a problem.

Feel free to cheer your favorite Major Leaguer when he belts a homerun or boo him when he makes an error, but do not publicly humiliate your son or daughter, or even worse, somebody else's son or daughter when a mistake is made in a fun, harmless, and amateur environment.

I have personally seen a family divided because of a father's obsession and desire to have complete control of everything regarding his son's future in baseball.

Talk of upcoming tournaments or talk of past games overrules typical family discussion of what happens at school or at the workplace.

So what drives a parent into this abnormal state of mind?

As mentioned earlier, it could be the parent living a childhood fantasy through his son or daughter or it could just be a dream of one day getting a share of a multi-million dollar contract.

Either way, there is no place for this type of behavior in youth sports.

A parent may believe that acting this way will urge their kid to strive to work harder and to pursue higher levels of competition, not knowing that they just may be taking the fun out of a game that their child once loved to play.

This narrow-mindedness will not fade away any time soon and as long as there are youth sports, there will be a handful of disgruntled parents taking the fun out of it for their kids.

You can't prevent this type of behavior, you can only hope to make people aware of it, and hopefully this article will do just that.

If this story helps just one parent realize that they are out of control, I have done my job.