Public School District Parent Coach Policy

[Easton33]

You guys sure are coming.down hard on dads. Why not just make a state wide rule that all coaches be sterilized so the issue doesn't come up?! Don't get me wrong, there are some really bad daddy ballers out there BUT there are some really good coaches that have become better because of their dd's. I will tell you now, most class A or B teams coached by dad's are better coached than the majority of high schools.
Back to the OP, limit the number of asst coaches so you don't end up with a "hey Sally's dad is in there, why can't be?" argument. Let the head coach and AD decide which assistant parents they want in the dugout. If you guys are dead set on making a rule then have it where maybe only head coaches or asst coaches of current teams can be in the dugout with the AD having final say as to who can and can't.

 

[Doug Romrell]

So imagine that you have the best HS football coach in America, and he's got a kid who is 10-years-old. Does the coach have to resign when his kid becomes a high school freshman?

Of course not.

As stated earlier, this is more about 4 of the 9 starting varsity players having dads in the coaching staff. It's actually set up that way by the head coach, who is one of the four.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Or are you saying there should be a policy that doesn't allow the hiring of a new coach who might have a current player on a team?

Nope, not saying that.

I certainly understand the concern there. DD's high school just hired a new head softball coach, and several parents were relieved that a couple of candidates w/ daughters or nieces were not chosen. Just don't know that you should make it a policy. It disqualifies some very good candidates who don't play daddy/mommy ball. Just got to hope that principal/AD are good at their jobs.

In my mind, this is only a matter for the school board when the AD isn't keeping this kind of thing under control.

 

[Doug Romrell]

I am a huge fan of not having more policies in general and especially in public schools. Aren't public schools overridden with enough? As an example my girls could not wear ANY Halloween costumes to school this year because about 2 students are Jehovah's witnesses and would not be included.

Boy, I agree with that, and not just with regards to public schools. HOWEVER, there are abuses of power that do arise in this regard (i.e., daddy coaches aren't always unbiased). Of course, other factors being constant, the ideal head coach would be a non-parent head coach. Ideally, you don't have to resort to using daddies as assistant coaches, but that's not realistic in many areas. If the head coach must be a parent coach due to a lack of long-term availability of high-quality non-parent coach types, then I think it is imperative that the coaching staff not be filled with daddy coach buddies of the head coach, say from a single travel ball team. The reasons should be obvious. Yes, this should be monitored by the AD, but what if the AD is complacent in this regard?

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

Yes, this should be monitored by the AD, but what if the AD is complacent in this regard?

Then it's time for a conversation with the principal. Still don't see a reason for the board to be involved unless it's recurring problem, and even then they should address it with the principal.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Then it's time for a conversation with the principal. Still don't see a reason for the board to be involved unless it's recurring problem, and even then they should address it with the principal.

It is a recurring problem due to a complacent AD. The board has pushed it to the principal level, but has inquired what a good policy in this regard would look like. Maybe it's more guidelines for ADs to follow to keep them from getting complacent in this regard.

 

[1bucketmom]

I don't know if this is a new phenomenon in HS but one of our high schools went from daddy ball to mommy ball as the coaches kids graduated.
If they are good coaches
If tryouts are well document and held properly
If DDs have earned their spots.....

Then a policy isn't needed. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case.

The other phenomenon happening is the HS coach having a travel ball team. Now there lies conflict of interest...

 

[Doug Romrell]

The other phenomenon happening is the HS coach having a travel ball team. Now there lies conflict of interest...

This is the situation here, and it's the main reason the school board is looking at it. The head HS coach (daddy) has a travel ball team. The daddy coach assistants in the HS program (3 this coming season) are all from the head coach's travel ball team. The AD condones this. It does, in my mind, raise questions.

Maybe this is where the focus of district policy should be.

 

[Easton33]

This is the situation here, and it's the main reason the school board is looking at it. The head HS coach (daddy) has a travel ball team. The daddy coach assistants in the HS program (3 this coming season) are all from the head coach's travel ball team. The AD condones this. It does, in my mind, raise questions.

Maybe this is where the focus of district policy should be.

Not sure I see a conflict of interest here unless they are paying the coach. It actually sounds like he has assistant coaches that know what he wants and expects from his players. Seems like a better case for them to help than to stay off the field.
The only high schools around here that don't have a TB program are the ones that are consistently at the bottom of class. Seriously, it was like a reunion for the ones that haven't seen each other since TB. If you want a consistent winning program, you need to have a TB team. As long as it doesn't break any of the state rules, as HC of HS must be an AC for TB, you should be encouraging this off season play, not regulating it.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Not sure I see a conflict of interest here...

Would you care to let us know if you are a daddy coach in a high school program? If you are, I can understand why you might not see a possible conflict of interest here.