Coach Experience

coaching is teaching......when i was an AD at the middle school level, i'd generally prefer a teacher who was willing to put in the time over a parent or ex-player with no experience......all other things being equal, the one that could deliver the material best ended up being the best coach


some ex-players are great, i love having an assistant now who has been there/done that......but.....

CoachBroker said:

After several years of dad coaches my daughter finally got a former D1 coach on a high level travelball team. We were very exited about it at first. It was the worst experience we have had in travel softball. She was young and arrogant. It almost caused my daughter to quit the sport she so loved. In a 3 month period my kid went from wanting to play in college (for the last 4 years) to not wanting to play in college or attend camps. We left the team at the end of fall and have had to walk on egg shell going into this year. 10 years from now she may be a great coach but I have no desire to deal with a 20 something year old as a head coach again.

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I can totally relate to this story. Fortunately the travel team my daughter was on fired the HC after numerous complaints.

Having a former D1 coach is a hook for many teams. Like yourself, it's very appealing knowing you're getting someone with the technical knowledge and the competitive experience.

But what they miss it that just like becoming a D1 player doesn't come over night, neither does becoming an effective coach. Just because a catcher has experience with a pitcher and knows the what the different pitches look like, it doesn't mean she can become a pitcher in a short period of time.

When clubs hire former players directly into HC roles, while they might be making it appear they have value in that role, what they've actually done is undervalued the role a coach plays leading a team.

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