Jim Boulder, CO Dad to Cole, Luke, Trev & Delaney Regional Coordinator, DaddysHome Inc.

That is awesome Hogan as I am sure that your assessment is quite accurate in what the coach is perceiving.  I enjoy being around while Sammy is practicing his hockey at this point and I am learning to play the sport properly myself so that maybe I am able to help him out as he grows and continues his desire to play the game.  The one thing I do notice as well that even with some of the dads that are at the hockey practices, some still do not get it and allow their sons to do idiotic things.  I also understand Mike's point as well and think that no matter what; that you and the rest of us should do what we want and who cares what others say or think.  I am looking forward to being able to see even more sport practices for my twins and watching their games as well.

Robb Midwest Regional Coordinator

Daddy's Home INC - The National At-Home Dad Network www.daddyshome.org

I agree with you, Hogan, this time to enjoy your son's athletics is crucial for both of you. My oldest is only 13 but he's a hockey kid and with travel hockey we often see ice time 5 or 6 days out of the week between practices and games. I am on the board of directors there so I usually hang around to watch practice so people can pick my brain and voice their concerns, but it's sad how hockey has become a glorified baby-sitting service for some of these parents. They drop them off 30 minutes before practice and the kids go out and do their thing on the ice and the kids change back into their street clothes and the parents pick them up in the turnaround out front, never having set foot in the building, let alone watched their kid work out. We pay a lot of money to have our kids play hockey and from an economic standpoint alone, you'd think they'd take more interest, but sadly many do not.  Sure, it can be boring, but as a wise man once told me, nobody ever says on their death bed, "I wish I'd spent more time at the office."

As my son gets older, it gets increasingly more difficult to find things that we both like to do and losing touch with my oldest is going to be hard enough to prevent without me going out of my way to ignore the things that are important TO HIM, which is why I sit in the stands and watch him play. He's good at it, he loves it, and we always have at least one thing we can talk about, so for that alone I am grateful.

Maybe your coach gets it, but probably not. Maybe he is simply projecting onto his players how he felt growing up, or maybe not. We'll likely never know, but one thing you mentioned is most telling. There were other players' parents there, but they were women. Any bets he didn't ask them the same question? In my mind, that's the truly telling part of that coach's behavior. If mom watches, that's normal because, what? She's a housewife and therefore of course has nothing better to do as he put it? Some kids may act differently around their parents, but it's not likely to be as noticeable on the court unless you're the overbearing, shouting type and we all know that just isn't you. Sounds to me like we have a gender bias from an unlikely and disappointing source. But why should he be any different?

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. -- Albert Einstein

Before volleyball Matt played drums.  I took drum lessons with Matt.  He turned out to be an excellent drummer.  I sucked!

Matt did not play an organized sport until age 13.  I thought he was going to be a rock star.

Then one day he picked up a volleyball and couldn't put it down.

Today, Matt is one of the top 50 USA indoor volleyball players in his age group and top 10 in USA Beach Volleyball Under 19 group.

Last year at age 16, Matt won a USA Beach Junior 18's Division Tournament with partner, Eric Barber (17).  Matt also played in three of the professional AVP Tour stops and five other Men's Open Tournaments.  He won his first Open Qualifier match with partner Boris Blecik (38), a former Yugoslavian National Player, against a reputable AVP team.

Matt has also practiced with several top AVP players, including volleyball legend Karch Kiraly, Jake Gibb, Sean Rosenthal, Matt Fuerbringer, Casey Jennings, Ed Ratledge, Ty Tramblie........

This year we have made plans for him to play in more AVP and other Open Tournaments.