Coaching little league sports takes a special kind of person who enjoys the sport and understands kids.

What would you do if you knew that one kid on your team had a short attention span, but their parents demanded that they play more minutes at a time?

That is what happened to the coach in this story, so the coach listened to the parents and left their kid in and he quickly got distracted and started acting funny, prompting the parents to shout to take him out.

Malicious compliance tamed an entitled parent.

What seems like a lifetime ago, when I was 18, I coached indoor soccer team at the local YMCA.

Kids playing sports can be so fun.

It was a coed league and the ages were 6-8 if memory serves me well. My team comprised of varying degrees of skill and interest.

One of the rules was that there was free substitution in a game. That just means that you can pull kids in and out of the game when there is action going on.

At this age, equal playing time is mostly a good idea.

I also tried to have the kids play equal amounts of time. Now onto the story.

We were maybe halfway through our season and by this time I had gotten to know the kids I coached pretty well.

Every kid has a different attention span and skill level.

Most of the kids I would leave in for about three minutes at a time. One boy and one girl I would leave on a little more because they were pretty good.

Then there was Sam. I would only leave him in for at the most 90 seconds, usually closer to 75 seconds. Despite this, over the course of a game, he played almost as much as everyone else. The difference was negligible.

Parents really want their kids to play.

We are still in the first half and I pull him out like normal. Then I hear some lady scream. “Let my boy Play!” “Stop taking him out!” “I knew the rules and I am talking to the sports director” (I guess that is her equivalent to talking to the manager).

I try to ignore her and keep coaching but her yelling never ceases. Other parents are looking but not saying anything yet.

If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get.

This has gone on for about five minutes and I can take it no more. This shrill entitled mom has broken me. “FINE, I’LL LEAVE HIM IN LONGER” I yell.

Leave him in I did. Almost as if on cue at just past 90 seconds Sam loses interest in the game and starts chasing an imaginary tail. At 100 seconds he continues chasing his tail and barks. At about two minutes he pulls his shirt over his head and plays his belly like drums.

Mom quickly realized her mistake.

Then I hear “TAKE HIM OUT! TAKE HIM OUT”!

I looked down the line and made eye contact with her and smiled. And I took him out.

It was a short but sweet encounter. The kid just had the attention span of a goldfish.

Sports are good for kids, even when they aren’t the best on the team. And a good coach knows the abilities of their team, even when the parents don’t.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this situation.

I don’t know if I would go this far.

It was a great story.

This is how parents (and grandparents) should be.

At least he is having fun.

This is a horrible way to pick teams.

Ok parents, you’ll get exactly what you want, but you won’t like it.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.