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Reply to "punishments relevant to the offense"

Freddy, we are not private, just very rural and small. about 120 kids in the high school (20-30 per grade level.) In the case of this freshmen, he has a very involved family, plays all sports, and his mother substitutes and volunteers at the school. so a pretty upstanding family in a community with limited resources. In some sports, particularly at the middle school level, we may or may not even have a team from year to year. in that case, if we have a couple really motivated kids, they may join up on the team of the next school in our district (15 miles away, this kid had done that for soccer.) last year I had 13 kids join the team. and i ended up losing 1 big contributor to other issues in school, but ive been in touch and making sure he is on track for this year. these kids come from a community so small that they have never actually had to try out for a sport, they just join the team. that freshmen kid is a sophomore now and is looking much better in the other sports ive seen him play since, I'm hoping for a much different look from this kid this year. I know they will be getting a much better look from me. I've thought about sitting him down and talking about how what our old principal did was wrong, but I dont think i will. i think i will present a similar situation at our parent night this year and explain the actions i will take and why so everyone knows up front and i dont have to dig up ancient history or point fingers. 

 

BC, this is exactly the type of thing im talking about! as you mentioned, benching can nip it in the bud in the short run, but, in this day and age, can build resentment and tear down what is already a really small, fragile team. I'm from this town, I teach in this school, and i plan on being a fixture here (our school is notorious for being somewhat of a revolving door for teachers fresh out of college, kids have had a different basketball coach for the last 5 consecutive years.) I want to really build a strong program and lasting relationships with the kids. it seems like thats exactly what you have done. running and benching shows that you wont tolerate it, i want to show that, as well as the fact that i care and have stock in the kids. I'd be happy to have a copy of your code of conduct! thanks!

 

however, to play devils advocate BC... is your team more successful in the W category now than it was when you coached with fear?

 

Golfman, i think that the general consensus among most coaches is that after a tough loss you should mostly just talk about the little things you did succeed with in the game and try to reinforce the positives and not send everyone home on any worse of a note than the loss itself. It is certainly not a good time to call out individuals..learned that one the hard way. Thank goodness it was a resilient kid.

Personality traits are a part of the game, they can be contagious, and can be a blessing or a curse depending on the trait and the player. these need to be coached and reinforced just as much (sometimes more) as any part of the game. you don't think that pitchers need coaching with their composure on the mound, for instance? A freshmen making an executive decision to try and steal in a textbook bad situation without a sign is certainly a violation of team rules. I think we can all agree on that.  

 

 

Thanks again everyone.

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