Parent coaches

[Ken Krause]

When I signed up to coach AYSO soccer (rec league level for those not familiar with it) I remember being sent to a coaching class with a whole bunch of other newbie soccer coaches from all over. They taught both soccer basics and general coaching principles as I recall (it was a loooooong time ago).

I know that soccer also has a "license" system for coaches that I think qualifies them to coach at different levels.

It would be nice if softball had some similar sort of system, especially for new coaches. Give them an idea of how to structure practices, how to prioritize what to teach, how to work with kids, etc. The ACE program sort of tries to do it, but it's online. Nothing like live instruction from experienced coaches to help bring it home.

 

[1bucketmom]

Rec volley ball has a coach training and an onsite "clinician" for all practices and games. This person is paid by the organization, played at the collegiate level and really knows the game. They also hand you a coaching booklet that explains all the skills and drills. It also includes the drills for each practice. This removes the element of the "know it all" coach that doesn't know and all the pre-planning.
Also, they are a feeder to the next level - club volleyball. They keep this level really fun and relaxed while the kids learn.
Not every kid goes on to club and that's okay. Those that do have a good foundation.
When DD played this fall, I was so impressed with the way it was run and the lack of stress. It was fun all around.
Okay - the most stressful thing was putting up the net...LOL

 

[Westwind]

Rec volley ball has a coach training and an onsite "clinician" for all practices and games. This person is paid by the organization, played at the collegiate level and really knows the game. They also hand you a coaching booklet that explains all the skills and drills. It also includes the drills for each practice. This removes the element of the "know it all" coach that doesn't know and all the pre-planning.
Also, they are a feeder to the next level - club volleyball. They keep this level really fun and relaxed while the kids learn.
Not every kid goes on to club and that's okay. Those that do have a good foundation.
When DD played this fall, I was so impressed with the way it was run and the lack of stress. It was fun all around.
Okay - the most stressful thing was putting up the net...LOL

Yes! Like that!

A manual with practice plans would help new coaches a lot. You cannot just "wing it" when it comes to practice.

 

[Jojo]

Since the term "daddy ball" keeps popping up in this thread, I would like to point out that batting/fielding/pitching instructors (male or female) who coach a team can be just as guilty when the players who "pay" for private lessons with the coach are suddenly playing more.....

This happened to a student of mine. She went to a try-out for his organization and made the team. He also ran a coaching business out of a building teaching, catching, pitching, fielding, hitting. After a few games in which my pitcher was his #1, he told her parents it was time she switched over to his hitting and pitching lessons. Both styles were not what she was currently doing. He was teaching a linear type of hitting where he just wanted his hitters to poke the ball into the field and his pitching was hello elbow, slam the door. Her parents declined on the lessons and he promptly sat her on the bench.
They had 3 more tournaments on their contract they had to watch her sit through till they could quit.

 

[Eric F]

So who makes a better coach, some aging parent, usually dad, in the stands who never played a day in his life? Someone who understands it, simply, what, from watching videos and sitting in the stands, snarking like sports talk radio? Anyone can do that....boy I think everyone should sign up to coach any sport they see.

It's not as black-and-white as you try to make it. You conveniently forget about the "aging parent" who spends countless hours educating themselves to learn about the game and how to teach it. There are lots of was to gain knowledge on a subject, and I haven't yet seen convincing evidence to prove that playing the game makes you more able to teach the game. Generally, getting better at something will involve doing it. If you want to get better at playing softball, play softball. If you want to get better at coaching softball, coach softball. A big part of coaching is about the ability to communicate a lesson, inspire your players, and provide good direction. You can be a great player and have NONE of those skills. It's also very possible to have never played the game and have ALL of those skills. For me, it's an easy decision on who I want to have my kid play for.

In answer to your question of who makes a better coach, a parent or a player? Neither...or both.

When does that former player get a chance

Let's go to an example...

Last year, my older daughter played HS softball. The head coach of her team was a former player at the school, who had graduated a few years earlier. Her assistant coach was also a former player of about the same age. Initially, I thought the idea was fantastic. However, this didn't prove to be true. Not even close.

The HC tried her best, but really didn't have enough knowledge to teach the skills necessary to play the game well...or even get better at playing the game. My DD taught other players more about hitting than the HC did. It became obvious very quickly that she was over her head. The AC was a bully and an idiot. Her idea of "coaching" was yelling insults and handing out consequences. The pictures of her getting stoned regularly posted to her social media feeds was the final straw for many parents. Neither are coaching this year.

My point is that being a player doesn't always make for a good coach. I know for a fact that 3 of the parents on the team would have been significantly more effective coaches than this young lady. Why? Because they have coaching experience, knowledge, and are effective teachers. Not one of them has played softball.

While this example is used as a counter-point to OILF's contention, it's not - as I sad before - a black-and-white issue. There are former players that make great coaches just as there are great coaches who never played the game.

 

[PA SB Dad]

There has been an explosion of facilities in NJ and PA which advertise professional coaches who are former collegiate softball players. For anywhere from $2500 to $4000 per year at 12U and 14U, you get non-parent coaches who have played the game and can take your DD to "the next level". In order to get extra work in with the coaches, you book time at the facility and pay for private lessons that most parent coaches do in their spare time for free.

Some of these coaches are probably worth the expense. But if you look at the softball resumes of the instructors and coaches, many of these former collegiate players played in community college and/or DIII programs. Not that they can't be good coaches, but are these the coaches that will help your DD get the attention of D1 coaches?! Do they have the contacts, relationships, and confidence of D1 coaches that they can make the claims they're making?

It seems to me that many former players go into coaching because they miss the excitement of playing, but quickly realize that coaching and playing are two very different things. Turnover is high. There has to be some other reason to go back out to the field when things get tough since no one gets paid enough to coach to make it worth it. That's why you will always have parent coaches involved in softball.

I'm sure there are plenty of great parent coaches just as I am sure there are great non-parent coaches, and I am sure there are not so great parent and non-parent coaches out there. I am all for a certification system for softball coaches, and would be the first one to sign up for it, and I think most of the parents on this site that coach would do the same. I'm sure I will get flamed for this last sentence, but from what I have seen from the recent college grads, I just don't see coaching a youth softball team is something they see as a long term career.

 

[CoogansBluff]

At the rec program where my DD started, we had to talk and cajole people into being coaches. If a former player had called me saying she'd like to coach a team, I would've returned that call promptly. And then, anybody can start a travel team. The reason there are more dads is that dads are predominantly the ones who want to do it. As far as I can see, the dearth of female coaches is the lack of supply, not demand. I wish it were not that way.

 

[JJsqueeze]

I love the lack of logic in the OILF anti dad as coach stance. On the one hand it is somehow sexist since dads are dudes and girls aren't getting the chance to coach, but on the other hand this generation of fathers is actively engaged and encouraging their DAUGHTERS' athletic pursuits and this is a huge change in fatherhood that has happened in the last 30 or so years and represents a shift in how dads view both their role as fathers and how they view their daughters. So dads coaching daughters is actually a huge stride in the right direction for gender equality.

 

[JAD]

I love the lack of logic in the OILF anti dad as coach stance. On the one hand it is somehow sexist since dads are dudes and girls aren't getting the chance to coach, but on the other hand this generation of fathers is actively engaged and encouraging their DUAGHTERS' athletic pursuits and this is a huge change in fatherhood that has happened in the last 30 or so years and represents a shift in how dads view both their role as fathers and how they view their daughters. So dads coaching daughters is actually a huge stride in the right direction for gender equality.

I wonder if Title IX is one component behind the increase in the number of dad's coaching their DD's sports teams?

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

I wonder if Title IX is one component behind the increase in the number of dad's coaching their DD's sports teams?

I coach softball because, while I'm woefully uninformed vs many DFP-ers, I get far less pushback from parents than I did coaching baseball, where everyone knows everything about the game; the girls are more coachable, in general; and it's a special, unique thing DD and I get to share, not necessarily in that order. Hell, it's fun!