My DH is the head (volunteer president) of a kids sports program.
We (and I don't say this lightly; he may be the president, but I see and have to deal with (even peripherally) some of the stuff that goes on)) deal with a lot; normal league stuff, as well as the inevitable issues. All in all, there's a lot of stuff.
One thing is that there's a parent who is one of the stereotypical awful kids' sports parents. Her kid doesn't play enough. Her kid isn't getting coached right. Her kid has an awful coach. Whatever....she's PO'd about it, and she lets everyone know what an awful program we have. She's very vocal. I can't convey how much. She's negative about EVERYTHING. I'm convinced that she just loves to complain.
Seeing the time that my DH devotes to this (for the past 4+ years!!), I kind of take offense to this from her. We try. We really try. We do the best we can. We are a volunteer league. We rely on parent VOLUNTEERS, and we expect a certain code of conduct among parents and players alike. She, herself, does nothing extra for the league or her team. Her son, quite frankly, is not a star player at best, and borders on being a disruption to his team at worst. He has even been caught swearing during practices and using derogatory comments toward other kids. His skills are lacking, and I know for a fact that he's received instruction on correct fundamentals because our own son was on the same team as this boy. He just doesn't put them into practice, and his parents don't reinforce this. The mom just chooses to complain instead of working with her son. (Son has admitted to his coach that he doesn't have anyone to work with him to practice fundamentals. If you know anything about kids' sports, you know you won't go as far without parental support and involvement.)
So, being on the periphery of this, is there any way that I can deal with this mom, politely but still not compromising my loyalty to our league (I know we do the best we can)? I have heard her complaining about our league for over a year. Last year, she boasted (to me!) about going to a neighboring league b/c our league was so (expletive; not kind). I, wisely, kept my mouth shut, partially b/c I couldn't think of what to say, and partially b/c I was so stunned b/c she was very vocally and rudely dissing our league when she knew my DH was the head of it. She went to the neighboring league for an abbreviated season, and I was stunned to see that she was back with our league for the main season, and that her son was on my son's team. I was able to witness his skills firsthand. He had potential, yes, but he just didn't build on it, for whatever reason.
Has anyone had experience with a parent like this? I know that I shouldn't really give her time in my brain, but by the virtue that my DH is the president and I'm involved on the periphery, I'd welcome opinions on how to deal with her negativity. If you know anything about a situation like this, you know that it's often not just my DH's problem, but mine too. So I'd appreciate any helpful advice.