Your kids will never play for a perfect coach. After 16 years of sports breeding, I have learned how Some coaches operate, wisdom I wish I had before my kids started playing.
1. A coach who has his own son on the team struggles with objectivity.
Being a father AND a coach is difficult. The coaching parent might be too harsh on his child to demonstrate his fairness or might play with his child more than others who are better athletes.
That it is possible for parents who have trained for years prior to becoming a parent/coach, because they have the competition ingrained in them, but it’s not easy. I saw my husband (a trainer for many years before he became a father) struggle with this problem. It all boils down to one simple question: Is the coach/parent willing to do what’s best for the team, not what’s best for the team? his little boy?
2. Coaches can make preseason promises that they don’t keep.
Sometimes coaches will tickle an athlete’s ears with promises like, “I’m counting on you to be a true leader on the team” or “You’re going to be a key person on our team this season.” image to make a child think that he will play a lot and will play in the position he wants, simply because he needs players in the team. But once the season begins, the boy realizes that those words were not meant. If this happens to your young athlete, ask the coach to explain his preseason statements; if your athlete is in middle or high school, let him do it. Coaches must be held accountable for their lurid promises.
3. Coaches won’t always make sense.
Sometimes you may question your knowledge of the game and will not agree with your game calls or player substitutions. But remember, what you see from the stands may not match what the coach sees from the sideline. It may seem like the coach doesn’t make any sense, but you can be sure that he has his reasons, valid or not. He spends hours with the kids at practice and knows his players very well. Ask questions, if necessary, without judgment, but keep in mind that you will never fully know the mind of any coach.
4. Coaches do not treat all athletes equally.
At my daughter’s volleyball games this year, it became very obvious to me that her coach was chewing on some players more than others, my daughter being one of them. It didn’t seem fair. Why does the coach scold my son more than so and so, who does the same things? My husband, who has been a coach for 27 years, helped me understand that good coaches sense how much pressure an athlete can be pushed. Perhaps the coach feels that his child can take more pressure while other children will crumble. Coaches often demand more from kids they know they can do better and leave others alone who feel they have reached their peak. Helping your child understand this will make it bearable for him.
5. The children label the coaches.
Good athlete. lazy boy Bad pass. Weak kicker. Slow. Sometimes they even tag an entire team.We just can’t hit the ball. We just can’t get through, we don’t have any defense. Coaches who negatively label kids and teams need to stop focusing on what can’t do and work on weak areas to help them improve. If your child has a coach like this, encourage him to ignore the coach’s labels and work on improving his own skills.
Lest I be accused of also labeling all coaches, let me emphasize that not all coaches engage in these behaviors. Some may not have any of them; another one or two or more. But as parents, we must enter the season of sports parenting with our eyes wide open to the drama, the challenges, the frustrations of the game, and be ready to make the decision.