At Least Give The Kid A Sporting Chance!

I used to work at a sporting goods store. I mostly worked in the baseball section since baseball is my favorite sport.

One day, a dad and son (fourteen years old, if I remember right) came into the store and checked out all new gear for the season. I asked his son his position, what level he played at, and what hand he threw with. The dad answered for him, kind of snobbishly.

Dad: “He plays elite travel ball as a right-handed shortstop.”

I thought nothing of it at first. I played travel ball and knew the bats allowed, and I also know the type of parents who get their kids into it.

I took [Son] to the gloves first, and he grabbed a “lower” priced infield glove, maybe $170 or so. It’s the glove I used, so I recommended it to him; it really is a great glove. Then, [Dad] saw the $300 A2000 glove. Before [Son] even tried it on, he said:

Dad: “We will take this one.”

I could tell that [Son] was not thrilled, and this was probably not his first rodeo with his dad making choices for him.

Then, we move over to bats, and this is where things got a bit interesting. I asked [Son] his height, and again, [Dad] answered for him. I recommended a bat size, and they browsed for a bit. [Son] followed my recommendations and picked out one that he liked — again not the most expensive, but it did look cool. Honestly, at his age, the bat does not make much of a difference since regulations are tight on what is allowed in the league anyway. [Dad] then picked up a bat two inches too big for his son. He should’ve been swinging a 31-inch. He might’ve been able to get away with a 32 if he was strong, but a 33 like [Dad] had picked up was too big for his son until he hit his growth spurt.

I explained this to [Dad], but he did not care; he just wanted the “most expensive bat”. It was kind of clear to me that it was not even about [Son] at this point; it was about [Dad] gearing him up to appear better than the other kids.

I was still trying to explain to [Dad], from my own personal experience as a smaller kid, that a large bat was not the best idea for [Son].

Dad: “I know what’s best.”

[Son] looked upset. I felt so bad for him. I could tell he was passionate about baseball. He was not in it to look cool but had genuinely done research on what was best for his use case. The products he gravitated toward were all great for him.

The last thing before they got cleats (out of my department) was batting gloves. [Son] asked me what gloves I liked to use, so I started to tell him, but [Dad] cut me off.

Dad: “These ones look good.”

Guess what? They had the highest price tag, as well. They were great gloves but not worth the extra price in my opinion.

They walked away to get the cleats, and they checked out with me. Their total was hundreds more than it had to be, and [Son] did not even get to pick out what he wanted.

[Son] came in a few weeks later with his older brother to get another bat, since the one his dad picked for him was too big for him. He and his brother where both very grateful for my help, and they apologized for their father.

I talked to [Son] a bit about baseball, and he really was just in it for fun. He told me his dad put a lot of pressure on him and spent tons of money to get him a spot on an expensive travel team, but he just wanted to go out there and have fun with his friends. He also told me that the pressure had made him think about quitting. 

Son: “I love baseball, I really do, but my dad wants me to be the best, and I’m not that. I just want to have fun with my team.”

I gave him a pat on the shoulder and told him he was the best player he could be, and then I looked to his older brother, who told him the same thing.

Not going to lie, I got a bit emotional after they left. That moment has stuck with me for over a year now, and it really does suck how much some parents dump money into their kids sports instead of just letting them play and have fun. In my time working there, I saw lots of parents similar to [Dad], only wanting the most expensive products while not even critically questioning if those products are the best ones to buy for the use case.