[mikester]

I couch a little league team.

4 of the kids aren't getting along for various reasons:

1) is kind of a hyper and generally known to be a disruptor. He is a very nice boy though but doesn't make the greatest choices I guess. Divorced parents but in a stable home with a very good step dad. When step dad is around he is better but that isn't always possible.
2) Slightly older in the bunch, very skilled but picks on every other member of the team. Divorced parents - both parents very involved and supportive.
3) Angry boy - he's just angry. When he misses a ball he gets pissed and if the kid behind him covers the miss like he's supposed to instead of leaving it for him he gets physical. Divorced parents - again - both very involved and supportive and dammit even friendly. I have known them for years and didn't even realized they were divorced until she kept bringing around this other dude.
4)Slightly less angry boy - he is probably the youngest on the team and plays along with number 1, 2 and 3. Parents are together, Dad is one of the coaches.

The rest of the team is probably a year more experienced and generally more mature. They get it perfectly. These 4 though aren't and it's disrupting the team.

I only mentioned the parental status because it seems the majority of the kids do come from disrupted homes. While I think it is contributing to their behaviour I don't really fault these parents. I've known them all for a long time and am friends with them. They are doing WAY better than most folks in this situation. Most of them I didn't actually know they were divorced until some awkward moment for me happened where I realized it. Of course my wife knew everything and never told me...

Anyway - I was trying to find some team building stuff to help these kids rather than simply making them run until they are too tired to be a problem. I just can't find anything. If I don't have them run then my other option may simply be to tell the parents that they have to hang out and monitor their kid's behavior because I can't watch them 100% of the time. I ask a pair who have gotten into it what happened and I get fingers pointing at each other and yelling he did it no he did it! If I have the parent watch their own kid and make the kid realize that he's being watched because of his behavior then maybe they will get it then. But then they are supposed to be out here having fun and that doesn't sound fun to me.

I can only afford to send one of them home if that were an option. I'm not even sure it is - I'd hate to do that though. I like every single one of these kids. They are fantastic kids who I have known for years and I love coaching them but this year they just really seem to be a bad combination.

I'm not sure what to do...