Potpourri of Coaching Thoughts...Continued...
It's that time...the last post reached a hundred views, so someone must be paying attention. Time for another.
As promised, I will go to the high school level, where I spent many years, and give my thoughts on administrations, parents, club ball scene, head coaches pay, and pay/respect for assistant coaches.
Administrations- all coaches can expound at great length on this topic. The main job of a principal and an athletic director in athletics is to hire and support good coaches. The primary reason so many coaches quit annually is not "to spend more time with the family". That is coach-speak for the administration doesn't support me. A good principal and AD will have a copy of the philosophies of all their coaches and have read and understood them. A red flag for any administrator is a coach who does not have a written philosophy, or a coach who does not adhere to their own written philosophy. A red flag for a prospective coach are principals or AD's who never ask for or question a coach on their philosophy. Another red flag for coaches is an interview "committee" which has parents, players, other teachers, etc. Your most important support comes from the principal and the AD- period. They need to be the decision makers for your job and need to understand your philosophy. Generally, a good coaching philosophy is a set of life skills that go beyond the sport, and is also a road map for creating a successful, competitive program. I had twelve different principals in my twenty plus years of high school coaching and only two of them had any interest in discussing my coaching philosophy- Dr. Kathy Back at Camelback, and Dr. Harold Slemmer at Mountain Pointe. Both were excellent administrators who, once they understood my philosophy and discussed with me, gave our program outstanding support. Both only lasted two years for me before moving on to other jobs. The rest of the principals I had never showed any interest in discussing philosophy. And, I had fourteen different athletic directors in that span, and only ONE ever had any discussion with me on my coaching philosophy- Dick Baniszewski at Mountain Pointe. These days, Athletic Directors are assistant principals who many times get shoved into a job that they don't really want. Sports involve a lot of after-school hours and competitive situations that many administrators don't like. I had a bunch of ADs who would have rather not had the job. And, of course, they had no interest in discussing coaching philosophies. "Just don't bring me problems" was their most common refrain. Incredibly, only one of the twenty six administrators I mentioned asked "what would it take to have the best program in the state?" Support from administration means knowing your coaching philosophy, agreeing with it, helping you get what you need to implement it, and holding you accountable to it. Anything less means it is the moment "to spend more time with the family".
Parents- the necessary evil. Here is a list of do's and don'ts:
DO- be supportive of your child by giving them a pat on the back, whether they play or not.
DO- listen to your child talk about how they feel they are doing.
DO- be there to support their commitment with rides, punctuality, and whenever possible, financial support.
DO- help the booster club by volunteering time or money to help the program. Your child appreciates that kind of involvement.
DO- attend games, no matter if your child plays a little or a lot, or not at all. If they are hurt and cannot play, go to the game anyway. It teaches your child a lot about commitment.
DO- encourage your child to talk to the coaches about how they are doing and how they can improve.
DO- communicate with coaches in the appropriate manner and time if you have a desire to talk about YOUR child's attitude and abilities, and how they are doing generally. Call and make an appointment, or send an email or text.
DO- sit in the stands and be supportive of the team.
DON'T- be an antagonist if your child complains about their place on the team. Statements like "I know you're better than Bob, the coach must be nuts", are harmful. Encourage your child to communicate with the coach.
DON'T- sit in the stands and bitch and moan about the coaching, the players, or the officials. You may think that will do some good. It does not. I had many players tell me privately how embarrassed they were about this kind of behavior by their parents.
DON'T- go above the coach the first time there is a problem. The AD and the principal will generally ask "have you spoken with the coach?"
DON'T- try to talk to coaches about playing time. If you have sat through every practice and game, then the coach may be willing to share his thoughts on that issue. If not, then you must trust the coaches who are with your child everyday. Many kids come home and tell their parents that they don't know why they are not playing. That is usually incorrect, as the coaches have probably shared that information with the players on a daily basis. The child just doesn't want to talk about it with their parents. There are a lot of things that teenagers don't want to share with their parents, face it. I have three children and I heard "I don't know" a lot.
DON'T- try to talk to a coach about your child just before a game, during halftime, or immediately after a game. They will not appreciate that.
DON'T- try to talk to a coach about your child during practice, either. Make an appointment.
DON'T- expect a booster club to be a vehicle by which coaches favor one player over another. It is not.
DON'T- lend your "expertise" without being asked. I was at South Mountain CC one year watching my son play against another valley Juco. A parent approached me prior to the game and said to watch the opponent's offense. He said "you need to run this at Mountain Pointe". After that college was pounded by SMCC by about 30, I cruised by the parent on the way out and said "are you sure you me to run that?" It was a subtle way to let the parent know how unappreciated his advice was.
Pay, assistant coaches respect, and the club scene next time...
It's that time...the last post reached a hundred views, so someone must be paying attention. Time for another.
As promised, I will go to the high school level, where I spent many years, and give my thoughts on administrations, parents, club ball scene, head coaches pay, and pay/respect for assistant coaches.
Administrations- all coaches can expound at great length on this topic. The main job of a principal and an athletic director in athletics is to hire and support good coaches. The primary reason so many coaches quit annually is not "to spend more time with the family". That is coach-speak for the administration doesn't support me. A good principal and AD will have a copy of the philosophies of all their coaches and have read and understood them. A red flag for any administrator is a coach who does not have a written philosophy, or a coach who does not adhere to their own written philosophy. A red flag for a prospective coach are principals or AD's who never ask for or question a coach on their philosophy. Another red flag for coaches is an interview "committee" which has parents, players, other teachers, etc. Your most important support comes from the principal and the AD- period. They need to be the decision makers for your job and need to understand your philosophy. Generally, a good coaching philosophy is a set of life skills that go beyond the sport, and is also a road map for creating a successful, competitive program. I had twelve different principals in my twenty plus years of high school coaching and only two of them had any interest in discussing my coaching philosophy- Dr. Kathy Back at Camelback, and Dr. Harold Slemmer at Mountain Pointe. Both were excellent administrators who, once they understood my philosophy and discussed with me, gave our program outstanding support. Both only lasted two years for me before moving on to other jobs. The rest of the principals I had never showed any interest in discussing philosophy. And, I had fourteen different athletic directors in that span, and only ONE ever had any discussion with me on my coaching philosophy- Dick Baniszewski at Mountain Pointe. These days, Athletic Directors are assistant principals who many times get shoved into a job that they don't really want. Sports involve a lot of after-school hours and competitive situations that many administrators don't like. I had a bunch of ADs who would have rather not had the job. And, of course, they had no interest in discussing coaching philosophies. "Just don't bring me problems" was their most common refrain. Incredibly, only one of the twenty six administrators I mentioned asked "what would it take to have the best program in the state?" Support from administration means knowing your coaching philosophy, agreeing with it, helping you get what you need to implement it, and holding you accountable to it. Anything less means it is the moment "to spend more time with the family".
Parents- the necessary evil. Here is a list of do's and don'ts:
DO- be supportive of your child by giving them a pat on the back, whether they play or not.
DO- listen to your child talk about how they feel they are doing.
DO- be there to support their commitment with rides, punctuality, and whenever possible, financial support.
DO- help the booster club by volunteering time or money to help the program. Your child appreciates that kind of involvement.
DO- attend games, no matter if your child plays a little or a lot, or not at all. If they are hurt and cannot play, go to the game anyway. It teaches your child a lot about commitment.
DO- encourage your child to talk to the coaches about how they are doing and how they can improve.
DO- communicate with coaches in the appropriate manner and time if you have a desire to talk about YOUR child's attitude and abilities, and how they are doing generally. Call and make an appointment, or send an email or text.
DO- sit in the stands and be supportive of the team.
DON'T- be an antagonist if your child complains about their place on the team. Statements like "I know you're better than Bob, the coach must be nuts", are harmful. Encourage your child to communicate with the coach.
DON'T- sit in the stands and bitch and moan about the coaching, the players, or the officials. You may think that will do some good. It does not. I had many players tell me privately how embarrassed they were about this kind of behavior by their parents.
DON'T- go above the coach the first time there is a problem. The AD and the principal will generally ask "have you spoken with the coach?"
DON'T- try to talk to coaches about playing time. If you have sat through every practice and game, then the coach may be willing to share his thoughts on that issue. If not, then you must trust the coaches who are with your child everyday. Many kids come home and tell their parents that they don't know why they are not playing. That is usually incorrect, as the coaches have probably shared that information with the players on a daily basis. The child just doesn't want to talk about it with their parents. There are a lot of things that teenagers don't want to share with their parents, face it. I have three children and I heard "I don't know" a lot.
DON'T- try to talk to a coach about your child just before a game, during halftime, or immediately after a game. They will not appreciate that.
DON'T- try to talk to a coach about your child during practice, either. Make an appointment.
DON'T- expect a booster club to be a vehicle by which coaches favor one player over another. It is not.
DON'T- lend your "expertise" without being asked. I was at South Mountain CC one year watching my son play against another valley Juco. A parent approached me prior to the game and said to watch the opponent's offense. He said "you need to run this at Mountain Pointe". After that college was pounded by SMCC by about 30, I cruised by the parent on the way out and said "are you sure you me to run that?" It was a subtle way to let the parent know how unappreciated his advice was.
Pay, assistant coaches respect, and the club scene next time...
