Firing a Coach

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Feb 17, 2014
15
0
I can't believe that parents would go up to a coach in the middle of a tournament and ask to see their kids batting average(most know already anyway). You don't say if the third hitter struck out 8 times or if she hit a bunch of HH balls that were caught. Maybe it was his kid, or maybe he's coached her for 5 years and knows she's a good hitter just had a couple of bad games. With all that said, he shouldn't have taken it out on your kid. I keep score for our team. If the coach asked me a question I will answer and will sometimes say number 12 for the other team has 3 triples so far, but I would never suggest the batting order. IMHO you were wrong to do it during a tournament.

I missed the parents asking to see the batting averages during the tournament. I would not have let the parents see it during a tournament. Afterward, in discussions with the players, I can see making general points with the team as a whole and then discussing improvement that need to be made with with player individually but not the parents at the 18U level.

The AC's job with the stat's is to point out things the HC might not see or think about during the games. Now if the HC gets mad over a private conversation with the AC the HC is in the wrong for the AC doing his job. If the AC was showing the stats to the parents during the tournament, that was wrong on the AC's part as it can only cause problems.

The coaches job is to discuss things during and after games to try to correct problems with the team. If the coaches have different opinions, things can be tried both ways to see what works for the team. The team is the most "Important" thing. Not the coaches ego's, not the parent's expectations, or the girl's ego's. Me, Me, Me does not ever work in a team game.

As a former coach and now sideline parent, you can't help but think what would I do in this situation. But as a parent, you can't stir things up that hurt the team. I don't talk to other parents about playing time or positions since it will always lead to problems in the end. Now if someone point blank asks you something, it is harder to dance around an issue. Everyone reaches a point where they have to decide to stay and grin and bear it or leave for what you hope is a better situation for your player.
 
Jun 27, 2011
5,089
0
North Carolina
We had our first tournament. I kept track of all the batting averages and errors. My daughter (who is 16) was batting .570 (7th in line and tied for second highest) and the 3rd position was batting .000. When I showed this, he refused to change the order.

As others have noted, it's just three games. Not enough information to indict head coach on the basis of that.

More importantly, it's not appropriate for an assistant coach to advocate for his daughter w/ stats in the middle of a tournament. I'm not saying that was your motive, but it might've come across that way. If I were the head coach and suspected that you gave me those stats to influence your daughter's place in the order, I would not want you in the dugout.

I requested my daughter be made a sub not a DH or EP. He refused, so I pulled her. 24 hours later, another team grabbed her from another city.

Not appropriate for a parent to make a request like this, IMO. The coach needs to make decisions based on what's good for the team, not what a player or her parent wants.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
One day both sides of one of these incidents are going to come to DFP on the same day.

It is going to be great. I'll bring the popcorn.
 

Huskerdu

With Purpose and Urgency
Sep 4, 2011
130
0
You had me at my daughter... I have read alot of posts here and if I were that coach, I would have probably done the same thing. I have a question, did he ask you to track batting averages, or did you do it to develop evidence to use against his batting lineup logic? Batting averages are just one metric of measuring productivity and effectiveness. His first mistake was to ask you to help coach, his second is to keep you on the team and if you started the movement for parents to begin asking about batting averages as it appears through your post, I would have asked you to leave. Sorry, that is my gut reaction to your post.
 

obbay

Banned
Aug 21, 2008
2,199
0
Boston, MA
Oh the joys of softball. No pain, no gain. What was that commercial on Saturday afternoons, the "Thrill of Victory or the Agony of Defeat". I still see that ski jumper crashing off the course.
That was no commercial, that was the opening of ABC's Wide World of Sports! That was a great show!
 
Jun 7, 2013
984
0
As a parent (I also coach), I have conditioned myself to not speak/ask/complain to the coaches. This seems to make life smoother for my DDs. They would prefer that we suffer the consequences of abject stupidity or gross prejudice rather than me becoming one of "those parents".

With that said, I did call up the league director recently to ask why my DD, coming off of five victories in nationals, was placed on the "B" team. Not only did she have five victories, she only gave up four runs in the first six games! We had a nice talk and he said that the ace for the "A" team will be a girl who pitched on JV last year and they thought it'd be better for her to be the ace of the "B" team. I don't totally buy it but my DD is, currently, content because her best friends are on the team. However, we are certainly looking elsewhere for her next team.
 
Oct 2, 2012
242
18
on the Field
I agree with everyone that it's just too early to tell based on 1 tournament. Sometimes as a coach you try something and it doesn't work. Sometimes you change things up to get a spark. You could probably pole different coaches and each would have a different lineup philosophy. IMO...a player needs to do their job where they are in the line-up and shut up. If they need to bunt, then they better do it, if they need to get on base, then do it etc. If you "think" you need to move up, then hit so well the coach has no option but to move you. I am no longer coaching, but I tell my daughter to do her job where ever she is in the line-up and let her performance dictate where her position will be.
 
Jul 10, 2014
1,283
0
C-bus Ohio
Just a rec coach here, but I use straight Saber stats to generate my batting order. I have a spreadsheet that will auto generate a Saber lineup based on OPS (I actually use a modified OPS as The Book describes how OBP is 1.8x more important than SLG for run generation). Yes, initially the sample size is tiny. The point is that I explain this to the parents ahead of time, noting that the lineup will swing wildly at first, but will settle out after more PA. It doesn't always put the best lineup in play, but it is 100% impersonal, impartial, and numbers driven, and when I use it for my All Star teams nobody complains.

Ray
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
I'm assuming that "The Book" is baseball based? If so, what modifications do you make so that it accurately translates to FP SB? Although I don't have any data or source to support it, SLG is of greater importance in FP SB than baseball IMO.

Even assuming that you have a knowledgeable and unbiased scorekeeper, the only good thing I can say about using a stat to make a line up is that it is reproducible. I know you said that this is rec, but even so, if possible, I'd avoid being on a team that employed this approach as it is likely indicator of an inexperienced coach.
 
Jun 7, 2013
984
0
Even assuming that you have a knowledgeable and unbiased scorekeeper, the only good thing I can say about using a stat to make a line up is that it is reproducible. I know you said that this is rec, but even so, if possible, I'd avoid being on a team that employed this approach as it is likely indicator of an inexperienced coach.

I know this is rec league so, maybe, it is not as important. But I believe that a good coach would be able to stick to their guns and handle the complaining parents.

The other downside to comprising a lineup base on such statistics is that it does not necessarily get the fleetest runners to the top of the order and the power hitters in the middle.
 

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