@TN DAD posted:Thank you very much for this reply. This is very good information. What could or should be expected from a stipend coach?
What I would expect - nothing. Kids play high school sports as a fun extracurricular to represent their school and play with friends. If his coach showed up for practice at 4:00 on the dot and left at 4:45, but won a state championship, I wouldn't care at all. If he went 5-20 that wouldn't fly.
What I would like to see -
1. Setting the team up with winter workouts at an indoor facility from Jan 1 - Opening Day (March)
2. Individual coach/player meetings before opening day and exit meetings after the season ends where roles and expectations are defined
3. Help placing marginal and younger players in travel programs. I think the work with the guys who struggle or don't produce as much is more important than taking care of the studs. The studs are likely studs from travel ball and outside training. It is the kids who don't play summer/fall but could be decent who can help a good team win games they might not be expected to.
I know mine wanted to be college athletes. They did the work necessary to get to that place, they weren't going to rely on a HS coach for a few months during the year when they were working with people on their own. The truth is they weren't going to be following a HS conditioning program in July when they could have been at the WWBA instead.
People wonder why there are so many problems with HS ball? You really expect someone making $1800 for the season to go rake a field in July when his team won't be playing there until March. God bless those who are willing to build a program, but the money is often only good enough to motivate someone to do just enough not to get fired. The truth is that the money is in club ball, which is why you see a lot more teacher managers than guys who know what they're doing. These guys do pretty good things, and mine were fortunate to have decent coaches who were looking out for the kids and their best interest, but unfortunately the money just isn't there within the school to entice enough good guys to stick around.