In Defense of the Coach - Your Coach

One of the things that disappoints me about this board is the coach bashing. I, myself, can get caught up and frustrated with my kid's coaches so this is for me as well.

I lived the life of a high school coach for 15+ years in multple sports. I loved nearly every minute of it, but it is wearing. I could see the tole it took on my wife, the comments in the crowds bothered her. Most people dont have a clue of the sacrifices that coaches make for their teams nor the hours put in.

I just read this and wanted to share:

https://medium.com/@tony_chapman76/in-defense-of-the-coach-your-coach-20aadaba90d9#.f676g6c3i

We seem to have lost the team first aspect of sports.

I know I've done my fair share of bashing and I know I've had more good than bad coaches. My DD has more good than bad. Probably like reading reviews on a toaster, more will complain about a product that doesn't meet their standards then compliment one that did.
The article is weLL written from a coaches perspective, how easy would it be to put the word parent in place of coach and still be well written. How many hours have some parents spent hitting grounders, pitching BP, hauling to and from lessons, that took away time away from spouse, sibling or other family member. How much money have some parents spent on the previous mentioned just to give their child as good as chance as possible to compete for and earn playing time on their team. As someone mentioned in another thread more parents are informed and knowledgeable than in the past and identify poor technics, strategy, mechanics etc. and they call coaches out on it.
Truth is there are bad parents out there thinking their kid Is special and create problems and those are the one the coaches talk about the most and bash the most. Truth is there are coaches out there that don't need to be for various reasons and do poor jobs and they are the ones the parents talk about and bash the most. There are more good parents than bad, there are more good coaches than bad and neither get the same recognition as the bad ones.

Oh wow - I needed to read this today. Funny, my kid understands this stuff better than I do.

Judging from this writer's main point - "But, if you think they don’t want the best players on the field — the best chance to win games — you have another thing coming." he hasn't been on a team with daddy ball.

I do appreciate the time sacrifice of the well intended coaches. But I also DON'T appreciate psycho ones who will do anything to have a winning team leaving a wake of damaged players behind him. We have had liars, immature men who act like little boys and come unglued in the heat of battle spewing out of their mouth whatever comes to mind. I feel that this guy's experience in sports isn't as varied as he might think. And I also think that this attitude of just because someone steps up to coach they are automatically qualified to teach and lead and some sort of saint it part of the reason that some of these people get away with the behaviors that they do. Just because you are willing to miss tons of time with your family doesn't mean you are a good person or a good coach. Maybe the opposite . . .

Classof2020 said:

Judging from this writer's main point - "But, if you think they don’t want the best players on the field — the best chance to win games — you have another thing coming." he hasn't been on a team with daddy ball...

Click to expand...

Having had several Administrators, AD's, and coaches tell me that High School sports are not about winning or losing, and you do not necessarily play the best players I have to agree and call BS on that statement. If you understand how the Teachers Union works you will have a pretty good understanding of how HS sports operate.

Classof2020 said:

Judging from this writer's main point - "But, if you think they don’t want the best players on the field — the best chance to win games — you have another thing coming." he hasn't been on a team with daddy ball...

Click to expand...

Having had several Administrators, AD's, and coaches tell me that High School sports are not about winning or losing, and you do not necessarily play the best players I have to agree and throw the BS flag. If you understand how the Teachers Union works you will have a pretty good understanding of how HS sports operate.

One of the best decisions I ever made was to coach DD's travel ball team. Another one was deciding give it up after 2 years lol. It gave me a whole new appreciation for what coaches have to endure, and I now know why some parents drive them crazy. Since then I never address DD from the stands during a game, I don't instruct other players on what to look out for, and I don't address or question the coach about the game unless they ask. I sit, I cheer, and I spectate during a game, and let the coaches do there thing.

I think the key word here is "bashing." We all know good and bad coaches, parents, and players. For those of us in HS ball, we also know good and bad ADs and admins. They are all part of the game. But "bashing", caused by ignorance, semi-ignorance, jealousy, egotism, hidden agendas, whatever, should never be part of the game. Unfortunately, some parents can't get past the W-L record to see and understand the bigger picture of their DDs becoming better players, individuals, and team mates.

Bashing comes easy on this site.

Bashing coaches; opposing team parents and even parents of your team; opposing team players as well as players on your team; TD's; field ground crews; hotels; tourney fees; and even umpires as well as UIC's.

Coaches need to have thick skin, do the best they can, and not worry about pleasing all the parents and players. Conversely, parents and player need to give the benefit of the doubt to the coach that he/she knows what they are doing. When I coached, most coaching decisions had a purpose even though an outsider could question many calls and decisions without much knowledge of my decision making process. I had three goals: develop the players, field a competitive team (but not necessarily a winning team), and make sure the players had fun.