quote:It doesn't take very much to be a high school coach who only worries about his players during the spring season
"It doesn't take very much to be a high school coach who only worries about his players during the spring season."
I only pick this quote out as an example of what I have been hearing.
It takes a LOT of effort and dedication to coach a team on the field. The coach needs to deal with the fundamentals, field conditions, fund raising, player attitudes, pushy parents, educational issues (i.e. grades), critical ADs, cliques, team spirit, etc. Such a 'normal' coach should NOT be criticized as lazy or uninterested in kids. He can be, and often is, a shining example of an adult trying to raise kids.
Much of the promotion stuff is about recruitment. A coach who develops a pipeline to the next level oftentimes think it will help "build the program". Translation: The coach gets the better players from the lower level, because the parents figure it is an easier road to the next level. This distortion of the concept of the 'level playing field' corrupts the whole system.
Suppose ALL promotional efforts by coaches were banned by the high schools? My logic suggests to me that it would allow a better chance for the good HS players to try to achieve based on merit, not contacts. Although the exceptional players will almost always be found, there is a second level of good players that are often overlooked by the next level - they would need to play a lot of summer ball, go to tryouts, etc. to be 'discovered'. I would bet that the next level would be better than it is today, if they had a larger, and fairer, sample to look at.
Please don't diss the HS coaches who are trying to do the right thing. It sounds arrogant to me.