New high school varsity coach benches seniors

[Greenmonsters]

Seems there was a method to the madness. IMO, seniority-based entitlements are a poison and that you don't stand a chance of getting the most out of your players unless they are working as hard as they can every time out.

BTW, how has the team responded?

 

[left turn]

The team has suffered in terms of wins & losses. However they are gaining ground at the end of the season. Two freshmen are starting with a third getting quality time on the field. The do seem to be a cohesive team.

 

[Greenmonsters]

The team has suffered in terms of wins & losses. However they are gaining ground at the end of the season. Two freshmen are starting with a third getting quality time on the field. The do seem to be a cohesive team.

Better to start slow and finish strong than vice versa

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Playing good all season does little but help me sleep at night and get you a good seed for playoffs. Winning playoffs is really all that matters. So I'll agree starting slow and finishing on top aint bad. But personally.......I'll push for both.

 

[Sparky Guy]

From the new coach’s perspective, some of the seniors were not hustling as much as the others. She felt some of the seniors thought they were entitled to their positions. She benched these seniors, telling the team she was putting the best 9 players on the field, regardless of grade. Some of the seniors (several of which were really good players) seemed to feel the season should unfold with them being in their rightful starting positions.

When the benching took place, there was quite an uproar amongst the parents. One of the senior’s parents marched into the AD’s office and threw the girl’s jersey in the AD’s face. Several others quit in disgust.

Sounds like the new coach confiscated all the parent colored glasses. Sometimes it takes a fresh set of eyes to REALLY see who the better players on a team are.

I'm so glad my DD had a HS coach who played those who earned the positions no matter what class they were. Had a couple of parents up in arms, but it's hard to argue when the team is winning over 3/4 of it's games and the underclassmen were big producers every season.

 

[BaldNBeautiful]

In a sense (if I read this situation correctly) the returning seniors were acting as they had been conditioned to act. Show up, practice, and play, with little liklihood that the status quo would change. It is hard to change the culture of a program if it has been in place for four years or more.
IMO opinion there should be very little preferential treatment given to Seniors in such a case. In fact they need to understand that there will be MORE expected out of them than every before. They should be the leaders (in action not just words) and hold themselves to a higher standard. They should be setting the example to the underclassmen in how to practice, handle adversity, show up for off season sessions, etc. etc. etc.

 

[tguwarrior]

We got a new high school coach where I live and the only changes I have seen have been for the better.

For a llloooonnnngggg time we had a guy who was convinced that it was baseball for girls. The unfortunate thing is that we are in a weak league so even a mediocre team looks like a bunch of world beaters so one complained. For years these 2 old guys hung around the field and offered to "help" the girls with batting and pitching. They weren't really much help.

When the old coach stepped down they hired a woman who just finished playing college ball, she was a pitcher. She has people who played with her in travel ball helping her out and she won't allow any of her players to get any "help" from the old guys. Naturally they aren't very happy about that.

It's absurd that they thought stepping on her feet was going to fly. I mean how would it be taken if she went down to the football field, told the linemen that they aren't using their hips to explode into their blocks and offered to "help" them after practice sometime? How would it be any different than what they did?

 

[HornetsCoach]

One thing I liked about high school and college wrestling is that this problem is practically eliminated by the 'wrestle off'. If i want your staring position I challenge you. If I beat you two times in a row in matches held before practice and reffed by one of the Seniors, I start. Period.

 

[left turn]

I think BaldNBealtiful got it right.

One of the seniors that left had been lauded for years by local parents as a sure-thing D1 catcher. Great arm, good foot-speed and a really good bat. The senior 2B was not as good as the sophmore that replaced her. Several other seniors were little if any better than the underclassmen that replaced them. They (and the parents) were shocked and offended when the new coach believed what she saw instead of following the conventional wisdom of the previous coach. I believe they lost a great chance to make an impression on the new coach by loafing.

BTW, the "sure-thing" D1 catcher did not work hard over the winter to continue to improve. I don't think the other seniors worked very hard either. There is not a tradition of playing club ball in our town. I doubt if the parents really understood just how good a player needs to be to play D1.