Coaching youth sports means making decisions that affect kids differently, and not every decision lands the way it was intended.

A baseball coach who wanted to help a struggling hitter brought a lighter bat to a game and gave it away to a player he thought would benefit most from it.

Another player on the team had already expressed interest in that same bat and came from a family that could not easily afford new equipment.

So the coach gave it to the wealthier kid anyway, citing performance reasons. The other boy’s father didn’t see it that way and confronted him at the next game.

The coach believes his reasoning was sound, but Redditors had a very different take.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for giving away sports equipment to a wealthy family over a poor one?

I coach my son’s baseball team and recently gave one of his old bats to another boy on the team.

The boy I gave it to comes from a well-off family.

Another boy had also said he liked the bat and comes from a struggling family.

This coach explains that he had good intentions from the start.

I had brought the bat to the game because the boy who I gave it to had been struggling to hit the ball, and I thought a lighter bat would help him.

I never said anything about giving it away during the game.

I waited until after the game to hand it over to the boy and tell him that if he promised to take care of it, he could keep it.

But soon the other kid started asking questions.

During the game, the other boy had asked how much money it would take for me to sell it to him, and I said it’s not for sale.

My decision had nothing to do with money, but rather who would benefit the most in the game from it.

Then the boy’s parent got involved.

The other boy’s dad approached me at our next game asking why I was favoring “the rich” kid over his kid.

AITA for giving a bat to a kid whose parents could’ve easily bought a new one over a kid who likely can’t afford to do so?

There’s a pretty clear answer here.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a thrift store employee who refused to play “guess the price” without seeing the item in question.

What did Reddit think?

The answer seems pretty clear to this user.

It sounds like this coach pretty much answered his own question.

This user thinks this coach made a mistake.

This commenter calls it blatant favoritism.

Ultimately the coach had good intentions and made a choice that did not account for the full picture. Performance is a valid reason to give a player equipment, but it’s not the only valid reason.

On a youth team where one family is counting dollars and another isn’t, as a coach, you should factor that into your decision.

Good coaches think about the game, but great ones think about the kids in it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a high school student whose manager insists on scheduling them during school hours.