Are you coaching the team or individuals?

[NBECoach]

I'd like to say I coach individuals into a team.
At least that's my goal.

 

[BT3100]

If the parents trust you their kids will stay with you. Despite the notion that all parents are dopes and have no idea what they're talking about, many do understand the game and and the process. It's easy for a coach to say "parents are idiots and move their kids all the time". Some do for bad reasons but don't underestimate smart parents.
Be honest, work to gain parents respect and treat the kids fairly. Tell the truth.. and magic happens.

 

[Tide_will_Roll]

If the parents trust you their kids will stay with you. Despite the notion that all parents are dopes and have no idea what they're talking about, many do understand the game and and the process. It's easy for a coach to say "parents are idiots and move their kids all the time". Some do for bad reasons but don't underestimate smart parents.
Be honest, work to gain parents respect and treat the kids fairly. Tell the truth.. and magic happens.

This and only (almost) this.

 

[canyonjoe]

How important is individuals in a team? Would you rather coach a team of All-stars or develop a team of youngsters into a winning team? I personally like the challenge to take a team and develop the players to create a winning team.

If the players don't get better you won't have much of a team so I think it's mostly player.

Great to see a UB poster on the board!!!

 

[Imalt]

Most always look at it as the player bailing on the team. As a coach if you develop a player that ends up being better than the other talent your organization can put around her, you should be happy that you built her into a player good enough to play for a upper level organization. It would be unfair to waste a players talents being on a team constantly waiting for the other girls to catch up to her level. If a coach really believes that it's all about the girls than they should understand that their organization isn't the right fit anymore.

 

[sluggers]

How important is individuals in a team? Would you rather coach a team of All-stars or develop a team of youngsters into a winning team? I personally like the challenge to take a team and develop the players to create a winning team.

You have to be kidding.

Generally, I'll take the catcher with a rocket launcher for an arm, three 2.4 second OFs, an acrobat SS, two stud pitchers, and a player who swings an oak tree in the on-decik circle over a bunch of kids who don't know 1B from a hole in the ground.

There are different coaching challenges for "good" players. But, geez, coaching a team loaded with talent against another team loaded with talent is a blast.

 

[mmeece]

How important is individuals in a team? Would you rather coach a team of All-stars or develop a team of youngsters into a winning team? I personally like the challenge to take a team and develop the players to create a winning team.

I'll cheat and choose option C. A group of all-stars who I develop into even better players with a true team-first attitude and family environment. But seriously, the idea that you'll develop an unskilled group into a cohesive, winning team is mostly a myth. I understand where you're coming from and it's very rewarding to build girls from projects into starters. But, if you can take a small core and create a culture that is team-first and no drama allowed regardless of talent level, I'd rather have the all-stars all day. They won't all be angels, and often the most competitive players will have a bit of an edge to their attitude, but learning to manage that and teaching the girls to learn how to play on a team without everyone being best friends is just part of the journey.

 

[GOBulls!]

Option C, throwing a curveball Good choice. A few years ago I decided to take on a young girls U12 team, year one we had a record of only 2 wins in the season, year 2 we improved to only 2 losses in the season, year 3 and 4 we had no losses in regular season, ending 3rd and 2 in playoffs. In year 2 we had 5 of the team chosen for the regional team, by year 3 we had 6, during the regional tournament we won the championship scoring 113 runs for and only 6 against. Interesting thing happened over the period from U12 - U16, the team dynamic changed when players became more skilled, their attitude (read ego) changed to a point where there were division in the team, although we were winning it wasn't fun anymore. Parents got involved and instead of cheering on the team they started to take out their own players seen as competition to their own kids. I personally like to take an underdog team and build them into a winning team, I like to see how they develop into great players but after investing so much time and effort bonding with them it hurts when they leave for a new team. You still follow their progress when they move on, and the interesting part is some still come and greet you at tournaments when they see you, while some just ignore you. The challenge when building a team is to have a balance, some players blossom when they get attention but if they feel they need to get ALL the attention, you need to manage it otherwise they might feel they're not valued. Does it hurt when they leave, yes, will I give up the opportunity to do it again, no. Coaching a team instead of individuals is the most rewarding experience for a coach. Agree with you that building a core and adding to it while keeping the team's value in place is a good strategy.

 

[RIZZARIJOE]

How important is individuals in a team? Would you rather coach a team of All-stars or develop a team of youngsters into a winning team? I personally like the challenge to take a team and develop the players to create a winning team.

The best job I ever did coaching was coach a wretched, young 12U team for a summer league. We went 0-14 for the summer, but I worked my ass off trying to keep everyone engaged and getting better. Throughout the year, there were signs of improvement, even though we didn't win. The next year, the team was older. We went undefeated, 14-0 that year, with the same roster as the year before. The most remarkable thing was that every girl that I had coached the year before signed back up and was on the roster. Unfortunately, the year after that politics took over. I was given another younger team and the president of the league took over the winning team ( they went 9 - 5. But the satisfaction in knowing that every girl looked forward to the next season, and had signed up despite the losing record was tremendous.

 

[RIZZARIJOE]

Option C, throwing a curveball Good choice. A few years ago I decided to take on a young girls U12 team, year one we had a record of only 2 wins in the season, year 2 we improved to only 2 losses in the season, year 3 and 4 we had no losses in regular season, ending 3rd and 2 in playoffs. In year 2 we had 5 of the team chosen for the regional team, by year 3 we had 6, during the regional tournament we won the championship scoring 113 runs for and only 6 against. Interesting thing happened over the period from U12 - U16, the team dynamic changed when players became more skilled, their attitude (read ego) changed to a point where there were division in the team, although we were winning it wasn't fun anymore. Parents got involved and instead of cheering on the team they started to take out their own players seen as competition to their own kids. I personally like to take an underdog team and build them into a winning team, I like to see how they develop into great players but after investing so much time and effort bonding with them it hurts when they leave for a new team. You still follow their progress when they move on, and the interesting part is some still come and greet you at tournaments when they see you, while some just ignore you. The challenge when building a team is to have a balance, some players blossom when they get attention but if they feel they need to get ALL the attention, you need to manage it otherwise they might feel they're not valued. Does it hurt when they leave, yes, will I give up the opportunity to do it again, no. Coaching a team instead of individuals is the most rewarding experience for a coach. Agree with you that building a core and adding to it while keeping the team's value in place is a good strategy.

You absolutely bring up a great point. PARENTS SUCK! I don't like drama, but some parents are drawn into it. They'll talk with anyone that'll listen about how crappy the coach is, or how terrible that the shortstop is, and by the way, my little Suzy is much better! Sometimes there's addition by subtraction.