Parents as player agents?

[RedBirdDad]

I'm (almost) totally on board of letting coaches coach, but what about when other parents complain about playing time and are able to get traction? Do you sit back and let it happen or do you do some advocating of your own?

My DD had that happen this past spring on her HS team. The coach is now gone and the replacement will be named soon. I don't want to be "that parent" but I also don't want to sit back and let the parents that have pressured the coach in the past to have free reign with the new coach. Hopefully the new person will have more of a backbone but another wasted season at the hands of the good ole boys club will be hard to stomach.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I don't see a yes or no answer here, because every case is so unique. As a coach myself, I believe in letting coaches coach, unless the situation is so egregious that a parent has to say something to get a coach's eye on their kid.

I didn't campaign to my DD's summer coach at all. I have such a tremendous respect for his knowledge and the way he teaches the girls how to play that it outweighed any questions I may have had about lineup, etc. I will admit that as the stakes got higher at last weekend's closing tournament, I did wonder why he didn't insert my kid (specifically) in the last inning of a game where a lead had to be protected. But it's not something that I was going to talk about during or right after the game. Our team ended up losing a really tough elimination game and I think the late game defensive strategy was the primary culprit. The other team weren't going to bunt, so 3B should've played back and SS should've been closer to 2nd. It was his call, though, and there was no way this team ever would've gotten that far without him.

On the other hand, one of the other dads did campaign a bit for his DD and I will tell you it was absolutely one of the best things that could've happened to this team. I didn't know why she wasn't getting more playing time, but once she got into the regular lineup, all she did was help this team win games.

In my opinion, both dads on this same team made the right decision, even though they were completely different.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

It occurred to me that those parents that wish to see their kid get more playing time or a more attractive position are acting much in the same way a player's agent would. Do we denigrate the agent for looking out for his players best interest? Should we allow parents some leeway in speaking to the coach about stats and spots in the lineup?

I'm not talking about whining to the coach that Suzy should bat higher but talking to the coach about improvement in average = moving up in the lineup. Innings played vs errors or Fielding percentage. What do you think?

Parents should only have the authority to talk to the coach about what little Suzy can do for more time on the dirt, and never on the day of a game. There needs to be a 24 hour cool off time before an upset parent can talk to coaching staff.

Stats are a sensitive issue and parents and coaches rarely see eye to eye on little Suzy's stats.

As a coach, I use stats to set my lineup and the lineup can change from game to game depending on performance of each player.

As a parent, I let the coach use stats the way he/she sees fit. If I don't like the way the coach uses stats during the season I will consider moving DD to a different team next season.