coaching question

Question
My son is 11. He moved up to out major league this year. He plays with other 10-12 year olds. His coach this year is new to this league. We have 3 returning players from last year and 10 new to the league. My son is constantly being benched for being a sub. He either doesn't start or he is pulled after 2 innings. There are only 4 children on the team that this happens to. We have played 12 games and have won none of those tweleve. The most we have scored in a game has been 5 runs. Usually we are run ruled and score nothing. When asked how he determined that my son is sub material, he stated that he is not great ahtletically. He is not productive at the plate (he only gets 1x at bat a game)and that he is immature as well as the rest of the team. It was also stated that we have criers and whiners on the team that the try to appease also. It's not fair to my son who loves the game, knows every rule, and plays with his heart. Should this be the punishment that he receives?

Answer
Unfortunately, youth coaches oftentimes don't understand how best to approach coaching....sounds like you have a perfect example of that. While it may be true (based on your description) that your son isn't one of the better players on the team -- since they're not winning any games, there's really no reason that he shouldn't be dividing playing time amongst the players more evenly. This sort of thing can be very sad, in that it turns kids sour against what should be a terrific game to play. However, coaches are volunteers....and there's really no remedy for this sort of thing (unless he's abusive to the kids, in which case he should be reported to the league). Many leagues do have minimum participation requirements, but it sounds like your son may be meeting those. I wish I had something to suggest that could help, but having been in sports all my life, I can tell you that this sort of thing happens more often than not. Hopefully next season he ends up with a better coach, who understands that this sport (especially at that age) is for the kids -- ALL of the kids.